Chiara – Revenge and Triumph (62 page)

Three letters awaited them at Palazzo Benincasa, another plea from Averardo di Bicci, urging her to come to Florence. One from Casa Baglione, addressed to Jacomo and Veronica. The youngsters instantly withdrew into a corner to read it. The third from Lady Maria. She reported her distress upon hearing tales that Niccolo had not heeded Lord d’Appiano’s advise to treat the tenants with due consideration. Instead, it told that his men were beating up anybody who protested and were forcefully confiscating property of tenants who were in arrears with the excessively high rents Niccolo had imposed. There were also rumors that the Santa Caterina was engaged in piracy. The letter sounded like a plea for help.

It’s your fault,
a voice deep inside her accused.
If you had not run away, this would never have happened.

Wouldn’t it have happened anyway, once they had sent me to an early grave?
another responded.

You have to help them. Do something!

I now have responsibilities to my new family which comes first. I promised myself never the put them into danger again.

So why did you steal the document signing Elba over to them? Wasn’t
that to challenge them in court? Did Messer Faranese die in vain?

I didn’t kill him. He had a weak heart.

So battled her inner voices, and she again felt bad about what happened to that old man. Maybe, she should take up that unfinished task at the end of the summer, after Jacomo had left and they had settled down on a farm. Maybe, they could even buy Castello Gianbucca and the land around it. Alda and Pepe had liked it there and it was only fifteen leagues to Perugia where Jacomo would be — a two-day ride at the most.

She pushed these thoughts aside. Right now, there were other things that needed her immediate attention. Signor Benincasa had begged them to give another performance of
commedia erudita
, but Chiara was reluctant to stage
Electra
.
How about Amphitruo?
she wondered. The translation was finished. In fact, she, Jacomo, and Veronica had gone over it already twice, making minor changes, some simply clever play on words, others more pleasing verses.

That evening she put it to the players. Rather unexpectedly, Orlando was the only one who showed little enthusiasm.

"Why can’t we play
Phormio
?"

"I told you. We already did it here, with Ser Mario, that actor from Siena who came especially here just for that."

"Then let’s do
Electra
."

"
Electra
is too problematic. Half the audience is either bored or distressed, whereas Amphitruo is a clever comedy in a similar vein to
Phormio
, and is almost guaranteed to be a success. What do you have against doing a new play? Don’t you find it exciting?"

"It means memorizing sheet after sheet of dialogue."

"So?"

 "And then practicing it
ad nauseam
. I would rather avoid that."

"Getting lazy, are we," mocked Alda.

He cast her an annoyed glance. "Why make it difficult if we could have it easy? I’m for giving
Electra
."

Chiara looked at each of the others in turn. One by one they all replied "
Amphitruo
".

Frustrated, Orlando shouted: "You’re a useless bunch. You always cave in."

"No, we don’t," retorted Veronica.

Jacomo nodded vigorously. "The truth is that most of the time, what she suggests is right and works."

"Exactly," added Alda.

"Orlando, it’s your choice whether you want to remain part of I Magnifici for the short time we may still exist. If you would rather quit, I can try to get Ser Mario. I’m confident that he would be willing to come here if I pay for his trip and the time."

"Oh, no, I didn’t mean it that way."

"So we do
Amphitruo
. Orlando, I count on you to stage it."

* * * 

Jacomo, Veronica, and Chiara spent the next two days prompting the other three, and then they started rehearsing. Signor Benincasa sent out invitations to friends and acquaintances, many of them nobles, some as far away as Mont Elcino and Siena. The number who accepted was so large that they had to shift the stage into the piazza between Palazzo Benincasa and the Franciscan Abbey on the other side.

A mild breeze had cooled the worst of the afternoon heat and little white clouds floated across the sky when they took the stage in front of more than three hundred spectators seated on benches in a half-circle. The abbot had allowed his monks to attend. He could hardly do less since he himself was sitting in the front row next to Signor Benincasa. As usual, their props were minimal — several dark colored sheets of cloth onto which Alda had drawn features with white chalk — trees, the corner of a house, an interior, only hinting at the subject, rather than giving it detail.

As Chiara entered the stage, a nightingale began his song from the roof of Palazzo Benincasa. On the spur of the moment, she changed her opening lines to thank the bird for the song and implore it to continue regaling the valued audience with more of the same. She got a big hand for this, which scared away the bird, to more amused chuckles from the spectators. There were a few minor hiccups. Pepe twice forgot his line and Chiara improvised, starting it, pretending to read his mind. She doubted that anyone even noticed. They were called back four times to accept the applause.

Cold refreshments and a good drop of local wine got the spectators to mingle with the players in the piazza after the performance. There was usually a small circle of people around each, eager to talk to them. Chiara left Veronica to fend for herself — she had purposely allowed herself to be drawn away. The girl needed to gain confidence. She occasionally observed her and was reassured when she saw her animated face and heard her clear laughs that had the quality of a bird song.

Many of the spectators were disappointed that the troupe had not shown the knife act beforehand, and Chiara promised that they would do it the following day on Piazza Grande. Signor Benincasa invited the guest to visit the Etruscan display, taking them into the palazzo in small groups.

She only learned later on that he had invited the spectators to add to his own purse. The troupe was staggered when Jacomo, as usual, counted its content — fifty eight florins, in gold and silver coins. Even Orlando was mollified when she handed out eight florins to each. He proposed a toast to the corago, and she felt that it was genuine.

* * * 

Responding to Signor Benincasa, she visited the palazzo the following morning. He again thanked her for the privilege to have been the first to hear the play, and then he asked her, what she guessed was the real reason for the invitation, whether she intended to sell the Etruscan artifacts.

"I have not given it much thought yet."

"It would fulfil my dearest dream to buy it, provided the price is within my reach. I guess you have had other offers already. Casa Medici showed keen interest."

"Yes, Signor di Bicci has approached me, but right now I am not ready to part with it yet. I want to weigh it carefully and there are other things that require my attention in the near future. So, I would appreciate if I could leave it in your safe hands for another while, maybe till next year, if this is agreeable with you."

"Lady Chiara, I feel honored that you are willing to leave it in my trust. I admit that each morning I wander through it, admire it, discover new aspects, new enchanting details, even about the way you asked me to arrange the pieces — that is how you found them in the vault, isn’t it?"

"Yes, exactly, except that there they were closer together since the vault was very small."

"I am the envy of all my acquaintances and more. I don’t think that I have met so many important people in my whole life as these last few months. They come from all over, Florence, Pisa, Siena, Piombino; recently Lord Baglione from Perugia came with Lady Amelia and Master Luigi, the young man you brought to us when Contessa d’Appiano was here. His Lord was full of praise for you."

"Was he? Signore, would you permit me to admire my little treasure once more. I am also curious to hear about your discoveries."

"Oh, Lady Chiara, you do not have to ask. I would be flattered to show you. Your company is always one of my greatest pleasures."

* * * 

The next day they moved into Castello Gianbucca near Chianciano. Ser Gianbucca promised Chiara that he would think about selling the property to her and what price would be fair.

After a few days of rest, they offered shows three times a week to the visitors at the Aqua Santa baths — rotating the knife act with skits,
Phormio
, and
Amphitruo
. Rather than simply ask for donations, they charged admission, one silver coin. Children were admitted free.

"We will play to empty seats," Orlando predicted.

"I’ll bet a florin that you are wrong," exclaimed Jacomo. "How few would you consider to mean empty seats?"

"Don’t be a fool, Orlando," cried Alda. "You’re going to lose."

"Orlando, I’m willing to bet that we get more than forty people to our first show, each one paying a silver coin."

"No, I won’t bet against you. It would be unfair to take a florin from you. You need your money for your studies."

"Getting cold feet, Orlando," said Chiara, winking to Jacomo. "Or are you willing to take my florin?"

"With your luck? I would be foolish to bet against you. Anyway, you would simply invent some trick to get the people there."

"You don’t have much confidence in your corago, do you?"

"Forget that I ever said it, Chiara. I should know by now that your crazy schemes always work."

In fact, when it became known that I Magnifici were in town, people flocked to their first show, willingly paying the silver coin. And it did not stop there. Every show drew more than eighty people. Some even attended the same play more than once. They netted four to eight florins per show, little compared to what they got for private performances, but a huge amount when compared to the small takes of a few
solidi
other traveling troupes managed to collect.

August turned into September. On one of her weekly visits to Monte Pulciano, a letter with the Casa Salimbeni seal awaited her. What could they want from her, she wondered as she broke the wax? In flattering tones, Signor Salimbeni wrote that he had heard nothing but praise about I Magnifici’s new play
Amphitruo
and would be honored if she accepted his invitation to offer it at the loggia of Casa Salimbeni in Siena.

The second paragraph intimated in rather veiled language that Casa Salimbeni would also be interested in exploring a closer union with Casa da Narni and that it was his understanding that Contessa d’Appiano very much approved of this possibility.

Gaetano! Not again!
was her instant reaction. Even if the offer to play in Siena was tempting, the prospect of having to fend off a marriage proposal with Gaetano made it impossible for her to take up the invitation. Lady Maria would put her under immense pressure to agree to a betrothal to Gaetano. Moreover, she was again in exactly the same position as last time. She had a task to complete that would require all her energies, nor would she go to Siena unless she had a written assurance from the current Podestà that no legal steps would be initiated against her over the Sanguanero affair. However, she felt that she had to tell the other players. Even Orlando for once sided with her. He definitely had no desire to set foot into Siena again in the foreseeable future.

She agonized long on how to turn down the offer without offering insult. In the end, she decided that partial openness was the best strategy. She answered that she felt greatly honored by the invitation and regretted not being able to take it up for reasons of safety for herself and the troupe, in view of the affair with Casa Sanguanero, and that other urgent matters required her to travel to Perugia and beyond.

* * * 

End of September, they stopped their shows. The number of people visiting the baths was dwindling and the time had arrived for Jacomo to prepare for his law studies in Perugia. Chiara had the impression that deep down he had always feared it would not happen. He, the orphan of poor tenant farmers, attending one of the most prestigious universities? And now that the moment had arrived, he suddenly showed pangs of regret to leave the people that had become his family — more of a family than the one he grew up with near Cagli.

Chiara was to accompany him to Perugia. She felt it was important to help him get settled in, that he needed her moral support for this new phase of his life. Veronica begged that she be allowed to go along and Chiara welcomed her company. So on the last day of September, four of them said goodbye to Alda and Pepe. She and Veronica for no more than two weeks, Orlando for good. He had bought a horse so he could accompany them to Perugia before continuing to Florence, while they had rented a horse for Jacomo, since the one that Lord Baglione had given to Chiara awaited him there — they had left it in the care of Luigi before going to Rome.

Alda was crying and repeatedly hugged Jacomo and the young man shed a few tears too. She made him repeat his promise that he would visit them during the summer break, no matter where they were.

They traveled via Chiusi, crossing the Chiana by ferry, and late the following day arrived in Perugia, where Orlando made his farewell, while Chiara and her two charges called on Palazzo Baglione.

Lord Baglione and his family had just returned from their summer retreat in the hills. He welcomed them in person and then let his wife make the arrangements for their stay. Chiara did not plan to stay more than a week. While Jacomo was assigned the room next to Luigi, she and Veronica shared one.

* * *