Madame Serpent by Jean Plaidy Page B

Guards and the palace lackeys until it came to the ears of the bishops and cardinals, and through them, it reached Monsignor, who in his turn passed it on to the Master of the Household, his Excellency, whose duty it was to live close to the Holy Father himself.
    His Holiness was furious. He hated Ippolito― hated him for his handsome
    face, his charming manners and his popularity. He knew that, if he were not very careful, he was going to have trouble with Ippolito. The stubborn youth had tried to turn his back on an brilliant career in the Church, and all because Alessandro had been made ruler of Florence. Ippolito would be another such as his father and Lorenzo the Magnificent. Ippolito did not fit into the papal schemes.
    Now, Caterina did. Great wealth and power were to come to Clement
    through this girl. Her marriage was his first consideration now, and great plans were afoot.
    The Pope looked at his long hands and seemed to see pictures of men as on playing cards that he would hold fan-shape and wonder which to play. There was the Duke of Albany― not a good choice, for he was Caterina’s uncle by marriage; there was the Duke of Milan, ailing and old enough to be her
    grandfather, though his declining fortunes went against him rather than his age.
    The Duke of Mantua? The life this man had led was similar to that led by
    Caterina’s own father and that which Alessandro was now leading in Florence.
    Such a marriage was not desirable. Caterina’s father had made a grand marriage with a lady related to the royal family of France, and what had happened? Death for the parents, after the birth of one child― a girl, Caterina― who had by a miracle escaped the result of her father’s sins. No! He wanted a husband who was rich and powerful, though power and birth came before riches, as it was with Medici wealth that he should be drawn into the net. There was the King of Scotland. But that was a remote and poor country.
    It would cost me more than her dowry to bring me news of such a place! he said to himself. There were others. The Count of Vaudemont, and even the Duke of Richmond, illegitimate son of Henry VIII of England. The Pope frowned on illegitimacy, although he himself was illegitimate and had risen to power in spite of it.
    But now into the marriage market had stepped a dazzling bargain. A bride
    was wanted for Henry of Orleans, second son of none other than the King of France.
    When His Holiness had heard of this, he had kissed his fisherman’s ring and asked the Virgin’s blessing. The house of Medici allied to the mighty house of France!
    First sons had a way of dying; some were hurried to their deaths. The wives of second sons could become queens. Queen of France! Breeding children that were half Medici, and ready to be very kind to their mother’s family! If this marriage could be arranged, it would be the brightest event that had ever taken place in the Medici family. The marriage of Caterina’s father to a connexion of the Bourbons would be nothing compared with Caterina’s marriage with the
    house of Valois.
    He must go carefully. He had spoken of the proposed French marriage to the Emperor Charles, who, laughing slyly up his sleeve, had suggested the Pope try to bring it about. He thinking that a sharp rebuff from France would do Clement good.
    Does a royal house mate with such as the Medici? They were rulers of
    Florence, it was true, but they had their roots in trade. No, thought Charles.
    Francis would laugh down his long nose at the effrontery of the Pope, and make some witty remark at his expense. But there was something Charles had
    forgotten which the Pope remembered. There were always ways of tempting the French King. He had ever cast covetous eyes on Italy and if Clement promised the Duchy of Milan as part of Caterina’s dowry, he might bring this about.
    Tentative negotiations were already going forward, and the Pope was optimistic And now this news. This crass stupidity. These absurd