Read Online A Brood of Vipers by Paul Doherty - Free Book Online

asked.
    'The son, Alessandro, is all bombast, but still very dangerous. He has ambitions of making the Albrizzi as great as the Medici in Florence.'
'And Enrico?'
    'A silent one, but still waters run deep. He is not an Albrizzi but a member of the powerful Catalina family. His mother died from the great plague just before Savonarola appeared in Florence. His father and elder brother were mysteriously murdered. Lord Francesco took Enrico into his own house. 1
    'And Enrico's marriage to Francesco's daughter Beatrice united their fortunes.*
'Oh, well done, Onion-Eater!'
'And did Enrico welcome the alliance?'
'He does sometimes resent the Albrizzi shadow, but he holds his own. He has won the favour of Giulio de' Medici, Cardinal Prince of Florence.' 'Does he love the Lady Beatrice?'
    'He's infatuated. She is as hot as a bitch on heat. I have seen her bedsport. She'd please any man.' 'You seem to see everything,' I murmured. 'There are advantages to being small, Onion-Skinner!' 'And Preneste?'
'Cunning and sly. He has a finger in every man's pie.'
'Which leaves the Lord Roderigo,' Benjamin said.
    'A cruel, ambitious man,' came the reply. 'A bounding ambition with the talent to match. If he had his way, the Medici would be driven out of Florence and the republic restored under Lord Roderigo Albrizzi.'
    We ceased talking as a servant clattered by, her wooden clogs crunching on the gravel path on the other side of the boxwood.
'But why the murder?' I asked.
    'God knows,' Maria replied. 'It could be the work of any or all of them. Handguns - arquebuses of the German sort - were ordered by the Lord Roderigo from gunsmiths in London. Before you ask, Onion-Smeller, yes, one of them could have been used in the destruction of Lord Francesco.'
'But why?' I asked.
    'Oh, Onion-Cruncher. Giovanni is Lord Roderigo's creature. Alessandro? Well, there was bad blood between him and his father. Beatrice resented her father's constant lectures about her morals, but probably cares about nothing as long as she is happy in bed. Preneste will support whoever holds power. Enrico may have found out about his wife!' Maria chuckled. 'But, if you are a gambling man, Shallot, I'd bet that the Lord Roderigo's ambition lies at the root of this evil.'
'And what about you, Maria?' I retorted.
There was a scuffling in the hedge. I repeated my question.
'She's gone,' Benjamin said. 'And we too must go.'
    We walked out of the pleasance, following the winding path around the palace. We passed the kitchens, where the air was sweet and cloying with the smell of meat pies, chickens, capons and pullets being baked for the evening's banquet. I was going to speak, but Benjamin put his finger to his lips. We went through the stables, busy with farriers and grooms cleaning the horses after the recent hunt, and into a small grazing paddock. Benjamin led me through this, down to a little brook. He stopped and looked carefully along the bank. We were alone - it was late afternoon, the king had returned and everyone was busy preparing for his next round of pleasure.
    'So you were right,' Benjamin said. 'The Albrizzis are a brood of vipers.'
'But what if Maria is a liar?' I asked.
    'She could well be. I am still not sure what is the shadow and what is the substance in this matter.'
    Benjamin sat down on the grass. He plucked a small cowslip and studied it carefully.
    'So much beauty in something so small,' he murmured. 'Is Maria like that? Or is she a liar, someone sent to lure us to our deaths?'
    I sat down next to him. 'What concerns me, Master, is the puzzle behind these deaths. We go to collect Throckle and he has committed suicide for no apparent reason. Then we are brought to London to investigate the assassination of a Florentine nobleman.'
    'Throckle's death may be connected,' Benjamin replied guardedly. 'But it's the manner of Lord Francesco's dying which puzzles me. In such assassinations, the murderer and the victim are always close.' He looked at me. 'Roger, have you