Chiara – Revenge and Triumph (71 page)

His face was stern when he entered the room and addressed her. "Lady Chiara, why did you not tell me that you almost certainly put your own life at risk in order to save Mercurio from being torn to pieces by that boar?"

"My apologies, my Lord. It did not seem that dramatic, nor that important to me. And besides, Mercurio would have done the same for me. I am sure he must have exaggerated."

"As he always does when he tells tales about Chiara," added the countess, chuckling.

"My Lady, I am not joking. This is the largest boar I have ever seen, so large that it would put the fear into most men. And Mercurio told me that you were no more than ten paces from it when you shot that monster and it then charged you instead of him."

"Oh, Chiara, why are you always so reckless." She rushed over and embraced her. "And I am again so thoughtless, chiding you when you have gone through such dangers."

How she yearned to be held by motherly Alda right then, rather than the stiff body of the countess. "Thank you, Lady Maria, for your concern. There was really no time to be reckless. It all happened too fast."

"I have no doubt that you saved his life," the count continued, "and if your aim had not been so perfect, you both might be dead. I do not know whether I should chide you for the complete disregard for your own safety or thank you for saving my valued retainer."

She lowered her gaze and murmured: "You could do both or neither, my Lord." Then she raised her face and met his eyes.

For a moment, he looked thrown and then smiled. "I will thank you, Lady Chiara."

"As I already said, Messer Mercurio would have done the same for me."

The countess turned to her husband. "My Lord, I am sure that you will be very cross to hear that Niccolo Sanguanero has sailed out of Piombino at dawn this morning, no doubt in the clear intention to escape your prompt and just punishment."

"Yes, Captain Fiorini informed me of that at the gate. Lady Chiara, I regret that his punishment will have to wait until he is apprehended."

"My Lord, it does not matter. Unless his men are also caught and confess, it will again be a question of his word against mine. And unfortunately, in addition to the man I killed, I would only be able to recognize one other."

"Where is the dead man?"

"I left him where he fell, on the slope of the hillock north of the gully." A fright shook her. Her mind had already formed the words ‘We threw him…’ and she barely stopped herself at the last moment.

"I will send men to recover him, and once we catch up with Niccolo Sanguanero and the others, we will make them talk, I assure you, Lady Chiara."

"Torture? … A confession under torture does not proof guilt, but only the fear of pain, my Lord. You might as well put me under torture and I will admit that my accusations are all made up. If pressed hard enough, I might even admit that I spent the night in a cave with the devil."

"Chiara, how dare you?" cried the countess, while the count’s eyes were blazing under knitted brows.

Chiara lowered her head. "My Lord, I apologize for my insolence," and then she raised her face, adding: "I beg for the punishment I deserve."

She did not waver under his stern gaze.

"No, Lady Chiara, I will not rise to your challenge."

He turned on his heels and left the room.

"What has got into you, Chiara, to make my Lord so cross?" reproached the countess. "You have changed. I don’t recognize you anymore."

"Please, my Lady, I apologize humbly. I am sorry to have earned his Lordship’s displeasure."

"Maybe these last few days have taken more out of you than you admit. I order you to go to your room and rest."

"Thank you, my Lady, I will go immediately."

She curtsied to leave when the countess’ soft chuckle made her look up.

"I must admit you really shook my Lord as I have never seen him. He will think hard and long about what you said and come to the conclusion that there is much truth to it. Go now, Chiara, you deserve a rest."

But rather than go directly to her room, Chiara went down to the stables to check on her mare, who greeted her with an eager nicker.

* * * 

Time dragged on over the next three days. With the judges still in residence, she was banished from the court meals, the same as Barbarigo. But she did not mind and enjoyed the conversation with the scholar.

As the countess predicted, Lord d’Appiano’s anger only lasted a day and his conduct returned to his previous benevolent tolerance and curiosity of her differentness. He never again referred to what he had termed her challenge, and in retrospect she could not but agree that it had been a challenge.

She spent some time each day on Latin lessons with Beatrice, who loved the method she had used to teach Veronica and Jacomo. The girl laughed and clapped her hand joyously when they came up with a clever verse and without noticing learned new Latin sentences and vocabulary.

At other times, she read or pretended to read, her thought often dwelling on Selvo. She wondered where he was, how he was faring. The money she had given him should last for at least six months and more. She loved him. There was no more that vague emotion, that ambiguity of not knowing what loving a man with every cell of her body meant. No, now she craved for his touch — the hopelessness of that love, of that need for him, a raw wound of despair. She would never see him again. But her effort to hide that inner turmoil paid off. The countess did not remark on her behavior any further, except praising her for how she taught Latin to Beatrice.

The courier from Siena did not arrive back on Saturday, as expected, nor did the Santa Caterina return to port, but that was expected. Lord d’Appiano raised his concern that the tribunal might not be able to sit on Monday. On Sunday evening, Captain Fiorini reported that the courier showed up just before the gates closed and had gone directly to Messer Chiamora. The countess could hardly contain her curiosity about whether he had brought back the proofs demanded by the judges.
He has not,
was Chiara’s silent answer. If she had experienced any misgivings about fraudulently accusing Sanguanero of forgery, they had disappeared. She would not stop until she was in full possession of her inheritance again.

* * * 

The tribunal opened its session promptly at nine in the morning. The hall was filled to capacity with many spectators standing along the back wall. Chiara’s first glance, when she entered the hall, went to the place of the defendant. She saw only Chiamora, and his whole demeanor and neglect of dress betrayed his extreme state of agitation and distress.

"So it is true that Niccolo Sanguanero has disappeared," murmured Barbarigo, after they took their places. "You have won your case, Lady Chiara."

The three judges entered with solemn faces, the people in the hall rose, and the judges briefly bowed to them, before taking their seats. Chiara noticed the senior judge look searchingly to the place of the defendant, narrowing his brows. Finally, he spoke: "Messer Chiamora, where is Signor Sanguanero?"

Chiamora rose. "Your Honor, I regret to report that his return to Piombino has unfortunately been delayed by adverse wind conditions. I humbly request the tribunal’s indulgence to postpone this sitting and reconvene in two-days time."

The three judges briefly conferred, and then the senior judge said: "We shall proceed without the defendant. Messer Chiamora, submit to the tribunal the documents that it has requested so that they can be duly inspected."

Chiamora was squirming. He repeatedly fiddled with his collar, as if it was too tight. The light from the window reflected off the sweat pearls on his forehead. He shifted from foot to foot. Chiara did not try to suppress her glee at his plight. She had not forgiven him his slur on her character.

"Yes, Messer Chiamora, proceed."

"Your Honor, it distresses me to report that notary Talmone, who has taken over the practice of notary Faranese, was unable to find a copy of the document in question. As my client pointed out previously, he had severed all ties with Messer Talmone for the very reason that Messer Talmone had already lost important documents of Casa Sanguanero on an earlier occasion. I have requested that a new search be undertaken immediately. A courier to this effect will depart for Siena later today."

"But you have the ledger that lists the date the document was recorded?"

"Unfortunately, your honor, even that ledger is missing."

"Missing? … Are the ledgers prior to the … hmm … the 30
^th
of October in the year of the Lord 1347, and the one after that date also missing?"

"No, your Honor."

"What is the date of the last document recorded in the one prior to the 30
^th
of October?"

A low squeak escaped Chiamora’s mouth before he closed it again.

"Yes, Messer Chiamora?"

"The 30
^th
of October, your Honor."

"The 30
^th
? And what is the date of the first entry in the next ledger?"

"The fourth of November, your Honor."

Suppressed laughter briefly swept the spectators.

"The fourth of November of which year?"

"1347, your Honor."

"So why do you say that a ledger is missing, since there is no apparent gap in the dates, Messer Chiamora?"

"The last entry on the 30
^th
is at the bottom of the very last page."

"So? Messer Chiamora, I do not understand the significance of that."

"There must be another ledger with entries for that date and the first three days of November, your Honor."

"You want us to believe that notary Faranese would have opened a new ledger just for additional entries of the 30
^th
?"

"Yes, your Honor, it could be possible that he has done that, since the entry for the document in question is missing from either ledger."

"Messer Chiamora, I submit to you that the reason there is no entry is the same as for the absence of a copy of the document, namely that Messer Faranese was never involved in it. In blunter words, the document signing the property of the late Seignior da Narni over to Signor Sanguanero is a forgery, and your client forged the signature on the document."

Chiamora protests were drowned by the laughter in the hall.

"Messer Chiamora, you may sit until I call you again," said the judge, his voice laced with anger.

Chiamora literally collapsed in his chair. The judges conferred for a bare few seconds and then the senior judge spoke again.

"Claimant, defendant, and counsel rise."

Chiara stood up. Chiamora tried to rise, but fell back onto his chair. He had to be helped up by the clerk, who remained standing beside him.

"This tribunal declares that the contested document is a forgery and rescinds its previous judgement in favor of the defendant. It now declares Lady Chiara, as the sole heir of the late Seignior da Narni, the rightful owner of the property in question on the island of Elba. The defendant is ordered to relinquish forthwith all rights and cease occupation of said property. This tribunal also requests that Lord d’Appiano immediately indicts Signor Sanguanero for fraud."

I’ve won, I’ve won,
but it felt like a pyrrhic victory. She had debased herself to the same level as Sanguanero.

28

Elba, February 1351

Niccolo had failed in his attempt to kill me and fled. The proofs he needed to rebut my claim of having forged my father’s signature I had long ago turned into ashes. The judges had reinstated me as the legal owner of my inheritance, but legal ownership does not imply possession.

Lord d’Appiano summoned Niccolo’s lawyer to the palace. There was no need for threats. The man immediately volunteered all he knew, fearing that he will never be paid for all his work. Niccolo had returned to Castello Nisporto on Elba, he claimed. His last words to the lawyer were that he will burn it to the ground, rather than hand it over to me.

I did not expect Lord d’Appiano to get Elba back for me by sending a group of soldiers to evict Niccolo, in spite of Lady Chiara’s pleas to him, nor was I willing to risk having my little castle destroyed by Niccolo out of spite. I was sure that at the first sign of soldiers being sent over, he would do it. Who was to tell if he did not have spies in Piombino who would inform him of any move along that line?

No, if I wanted my land back, I had to do it by stealth and cunning, my strongest weapons. I had to wrench it away from him before he knew what was happening, and I counted on the loyalty of my father’s tenants to help me and thereby get rid of their oppressor. Also, I figured that his greed would hold him from doing anything as long as I did not make a move to take possession, but that he would continue squeezing the tenants even more mercilessly, not realizing that this would be working to my advantage.

So, disguised as a priest, I went to Elba, to mobilize in all secrecy a group of tenants, the aim to overpower the steward and his men at Castello Nisporto before they could damage my home, but it was not to be.

* * * 

The countess did not want to let Chiara go. She insisted that in time Lord d’Appiano would give in to her pleas and evict Niccolo Sanguanero by force if he did not hand over the property as ordered by the tribunal. But she feared that if Chiara left now, all he would ever do was to send a notice to Niccolo ordering him to heed the verdict of the tribunal.

She also seemed puzzled why, after all the efforts of having her inheritance reinstated by the tribunal, Chiara would now return to her people in Chianciano rather than see the whole affair to its end.

"Chiara, I sense that you are hiding something from me. I fear that you are again plotting one of your dangerous schemes. Confess!"