Read Online Then and Now by W. Somerset Maugham - Free Book Online Page A

stories of the gallantries of great ladies. Then he took another line; he told her of Marietta, and how hard it was to leave her when she was pregnant, and how much he wanted to go back to Florence and his happy home. Serafina would have had to be a very clever woman to doubt that he was the good and devoted husband, the plain, honest man he made himself out to be. He listened with sympathetic interest while she told him of her husband's illness and death, the better days she had seen, and the responsibility it was to have two young children to launch into the world. Of course she thought him a delightful, distinguished and kindly man. When he told her that he was delicate, with a digestion that was the torment of his life, and that the food at the Golden Lion didn't agree with him, for he was used to Monna Marietta's simple fare, it was natural enough for Serafina to say that if he wasn't too proud to eat with her and her children she would gladly provide meals for him and Piero. This suited him very well, for it would save money and in other ways be more convenient. He left her with just the impression of himself that he wanted, went up to his room, and by the light of a candle read his Livy till he felt inclined to sleep.

10
    Machiavelli lay in bed late next morning. He read one of the cantos of the Inferno. Though he knew the noble poem almost by heart it filled him as usual with exaltation; he could never read it without being ravished by the beauty of its language; but at the back of his mind hovered the picture of Aurelia primly at work on her embroidery, and now and then he was obliged to put the book down and indulge in thoughts of some indecency. He wondered how on earth he could arrange to see her again. Of course it might be that on a second meeting she would seem less desirable, and in a way it would be a blessing, for he had enough to do without engaging in a love affair. on the other hand it would be a pleasant distraction from his political labours. His reflections were interrupted by his servant Antonio, who told him that Messer Bartolomeo was below and desired to see him. Sending down a message that he would join him immediately Machiavelli threw on his clothes and went downstairs.
    'Forgive me for keeping you waiting, Count, but I was just finishing a letter to the Signory,' he lied easily.
    Bartolomeo, with a slight gesture of deprecation at Machiavelli's use of his title, as though to say that it was a trifle of no account, was obviously flattered. He brought news. The strongest fortress in the Urbinate was San Leo; it was perched on a steep, isolated rock and was reputed to be impregnable. It happened that it was undergoing repair, and taking advantage of this a
number of armed peasants had rushed the gate and massacred Il Valentino's garrison. The news spread quickly and other villages at once rose in revolt. Il Valentino had flown into a temper when intelligence of this was brought him; it was evident that the rising had been instigated by the conspirators at La Magione, and that could only mean that they had decided to attack him. The Palace was in a turmoil of activity.
    'What are the troops the Duke can at present dispose of?' Machiavelli interrupted.
    'You'd better come and see for yourself.'
    'I doubt whether His Excellency would give me permission.'
    'Come with me. I'm going to the camp now. I'll take you.'
    It flashed across Machiavelli's mind that Bartolomeo had not come in a friendly way to give him information which in any case could not have been for long kept secret, but had been sent by the Duke expressly to tender this invitation. Like a hunter in the forest who hears a rustling in the undergrowth, Machiavelli was on a sudden alert, but he smiled amiably.
    'You must be a powerful man, friend, if you can come and go about the camp at your own free will.'
    'No, it isn't that,' Bartolomeo replied, with a semblance of modesty. 'The Duke has put me at the head of the citizens commissioned to