Chiara – Revenge and Triumph (68 page)

"Esteemed Professor, I now would like you to address the judges anew with a claim that the document signing over the Elba property is a forgery. Here, look at these signatures. This one is my father’s twenty-five years ago, on the marriage contract with my mother. And that one is his signature on my marriage contract with Casa Sanguanero, dated just six months prior to when he purportedly signed the contested document… Place it on top and compare. The two signatures twenty-two years apart are almost identical, both firm and elegant, whereas this one," and she pointed to the contested document, "is hesitant, with slight corrections, as if someone had tried to imitate it, and his seal could easily have been removed from another document. He corresponded with Casa Sanguanero on several occasions. Note that even the witnessing signature of Messer Faranese and his seal look slightly fudged."

He studied the three signatures for several seconds. "Indeed, this one looks like an imitation, … but why would your father have a copy of a forgery in his possession?"

"I have wondered about that too. My only conclusion is that it was forced on him, so that I would find it in his papers after his death, which is exactly what happened. As I told you, one of the last things my father said to me is that he agreed to the marriage because Messer Sanguanero threatened to have me killed otherwise. So maybe he accepted the document because he thought that this would save my life. Would it not be almost certain that finding this document I would accept that I had lost my inheritance?"

"Yes, most people would… But why did you not tell me this before. All we then would have needed to do was to challenge Casa Sanguanero to produce the notary’s register and his copy. If it is a forgery, they could not, … unless the notary was a party to the deal. But I knew the late Messer Faranese. He was an upright man, in spite of his sullen manners. He would not have committed a fraud, and the fudging of both his signature and seal looks suspicious."

"Esteemed Professor, proving that the document is a forgery lacks elegance; it has no aesthetic form to it, whereas creating an important legal precedent is both elegant and aesthetically pleasing."

The frown lines in his forehead deepened for a short moment, his eyes grew puzzled, and then slowly a delighted glow took hold. He nodded repeatedly. Taking the three scrolls, still unrolled, he approached the dais. Chiamora had just finished going through his list of expenses.

"Ah, Professore Barbarigo, how kind of you to come," he exclaimed, switching to the vernacular, "here is a copy of the costs my client claims."

Barbarigo refused to take the sheet, addressing instead the senior judge. "Your Honor, I wish to reopen the case along a different line."

"You do, Professor?" replied the judge, not hiding his annoyance. "This is most irregular."

"Your Honor, the evidence is sufficiently compelling to warrant that the case be reopened or a new case be submitted. But since the tribunal is still sitting, it seems more appropriate to do the former."

"What is this about reopening the case, Professore?" cried Chiamora. "The judges have delivered their verdict; the case is closed."

Barbarigo ignored him and continued to speak to the judge in a low voice that Chiara could not hear, showing him the three scrolls. They were joined by the other judges. Chiamora pressed in on them too. A hush had descended on the spectators. The countess looked at her questioningly. She could only respond by smiling. Finally, the three judges resumed their seats, and Barbarigo joined her again. Chiamora returned to Niccolo and spoke to him. The latter became highly agitated, casting her another hateful glance, which she returned with a stoic expression. He interrupted the lawyer repeatedly, gesticulating wildly with both hands.

The clerk called for silence and the senior judge spoke again: "The tribunal has seen fit to suspend its judgement until a matter of serious contention has been settled. The claimant has submitted that the signature of Seignior da Narni on the document in question may be forged —"

The sudden clamor in the hall drowned his words.

"Silence, silence," repeated the clerk, stamping his staff several times on the wooden dais.

"The tribunal therefore requests the defendant to provide irrefutable proof that the signature is genuine by submitting the ledger and the copy of the document held by the notary who witnessed and certified the signatures. This tribunal will reconvene in a week’s time."

* * * 

The countess cornered Chiara immediately after she returned to the living quarters of the castle. "Chiara, you are the most devious person I know. First you lead the tribunal and all of us through a most fascinating spectacle and, when all seems lost, you play a card that you kept hidden from everybody, I presume even from Professor Barbarigo, and everything is up in the air again… And do not tell me now that you are sad that I see you in this light." The latter was said with a smile.

Chiara’s only response was to return the smile.

"But I must say, you were superb. I was so proud of you. I know that you may have seen this simply as playing another role, a real one this time, but you came through as genuine and truthful. I am certain that even the judges believed you. I did so hope that they would find the courage to declare in your favor."

"My Lady, I realized that I had only a slim chance —"

"— and that is why to had a second line of attack. But will it be another false hope?"

"We will have to wait and see whether Niccolo can produce the proof." He won’t, but her face betrayed nothing.

"How can you remain so detached? How could you sit there as if you too were only another spectator, when all the horrible things that had happened to you and all the naughty things you did were aired, and when that despicable Messer Chiamora tried to malign you so injustly? I was sitting on needles all the time and remain all anxious even now. I doubt that I will be able to sleep until next week, and you only smile."

"Messer Chiamora was simply doing his job, not too cleverly, I must say, and my training as an actor —"

"But how will I ever know when you are genuine? Are you always hiding behind the actor?"

"My Lady, I never hide behind the actor when I am with friends, unless it is for their own protection. I don’t think I could do it without giving myself away. But the larger the audience, the easier it gets."

"You see, for you this whole thing was nothing more than another spectacle, a live comedy in which you played a part."

"And what a part it was, Lady Chiara," exclaimed Count d’Appiano who had just entered the parlor. "The judges were most impressed."

"Thank you, my Lord."

"Ah, I was hoping to see you, my Lord," exclaimed the countess. "I am impatient to know what happens now."

"The judges have ordered Signor Sanguanero to produce the proofs. I offered to have an escorted courier sent to Siena, and thanks to Lady Chiara we now know that even that distance can be covered in two days if need be. He did not take my offer kindly. In fact, he was fuming. Lady Chiara, I advise you to watch your back. He also said something about the notary who had drawn up the contract having died more than a year ago and that he had severed all connections with the practice of his successor because that man had either destroyed or lost several important documents of Casa Sanguanero, and he did not trust him."

The fool, doesn’t he realize that he’s playing right into my hand?

"This sounds more like he knows the proofs cannot be found because they don’t exist," remarked the countess.

"That thought has occurred to me too, my Lady. Anyway, my offer to him stands, and he said he would let me know before tonight, so the courier could be off at first light tomorrow morning and be back in five days. Look at it from the bright side." He turned to Chiara. "Lady Chiara, we will be able to enjoy your delightful company for a few days longer."

"Oh, I would not have let her disappear right after the tribunal’s verdict. I intend to keep her with me for a few days. Maybe I will finally be able to convince her to get married."

The count winked at Chiara.

"Just smile, my Lord. I will get there. This time she will not escape."

"My Lady, I look eagerly forward to this contest of two evenly matched minds," he replied, grinning as he walked away.

That night, the count confirmed that Niccolo had agreed to make use of his offer. Chiara took advantage of the courier to also send a note to Alda and Pepe, informing them of what happened and of the delay to her return.

27

Piombino, February 1351

As I feared, the judges hesitated to create a precedent that would have allowed me to contest the document signing over my inheritance. But if Niccolo Sanguanero thought that he was off the hook, he still did not understand my tenacity. In a way I felt like a ferocious dog who, once he had his teeth sunk into his prey, would not ever let go. If I could not challenge him as to the validity of the document since it had been obtained fraudulently, I was now challenging my father’s signature as a forgery. Do two wrongs make a right? Deep down in my heart I knew it did not, but I told myself, neither did one wrong left undone. I convinced myself that I was only paying Niccolo back in kind. He had cheated my father. I was going to undo that wrong by cheating him.

How stupidly people behave when pushed into a corner. He may have guessed that I had outplayed him. So he figured that if he got rid of me he would be in the clear. He almost succeeded in the first, although I doubt it would have led to the second, nor had he learned anything from his previous encounters with me, namely that a cornered fox may outsmart a pack of hounds led by a dumb master. But looking back, I should be grateful that he did what he did, because, my precious Selva, you would not exist, and I might never have known the all consuming fire of love that made me throw into the wind all that an unmarried noble maiden values and wants to preserve until it has been sanctioned before God. The sailor, a slave, who had brought me water on the Santa Caterina was one of the hounds, and he hardly hesitated when I offered him a chance for freedom. I fell under his spell and gave myself to him, knowing it would only be for the moment, that once the night was over, he would leave, never to come back. Such thoughts were then far from my mind. There was only him and nothing else existed.

* * * 

Life within the confines of the Palazzo Appiano had become somewhat of a trial. Wherever she went, people seemed to stop talking, as if she had been the topic. She was greeted with excessive deference, followed mainly by silence. Few struck up a conversation or contributed actively to it when she did, the count and countess, Beatrice, Mercurio, and Barbarigo the only exceptions. But even the latter spent most of his time in his room, stating that as a result of the trial he was reworking his arguments for a revision of the laws on inheritance. Nor was Chiara keen to give Lady Maria too much opportunity to work on her about marriage. In fact, she was surprised that the countess did not broach that topic on the first morning after the trial. And in the afternoon, she went on a ride on the peninsula north of the town. She welcomed Mercurio’s company. He had been ordered to watch over her. She got him to talk about his life as a young soldier. They climbed Monte Gigante. Her heart contracted seeing Elba revealed in its splendid serenity for the first time since her arrival at the coast, the prominent peak of Monte Capanne to the west, the steep sides of Volterraio across the waters of the straits. Tears came unbidden.

"It will be yours again, Chiara, I’m certain," Mercurio said softly.

"Thank you, Mercurio. I won’t rest until it is." She let the tears roll down her cheeks, unashamed, grateful to be understood.

"Have you ever seen the monastery at Populónia?" he asked, pointing north to the fortifications perched on top of the cliffs, just barely visible at the horizon.

"No, but I would like to visit. My father told me that the settlement dates back to Roman times."

"That is correct. It would be an easy day trip."

"Will you take me there, Mercurio?"

"Chiara, it would be my greatest pleasure."

Next morning, they were under way after breakfast, riding leisurely over the heights of the peninsula. In contrast to the gray overcast of the previous day, a stiff sirocco had chased away all clouds. A blue sky was mirrored by the even darker blue of the sea. On top of Monte Massoncello they rested, enjoying the clear view toward Elba. They could even see the dark outlines of Corsica on the horizon. The monastery of Populónia in all its starkness came into view against the blue horizon from the last of the three hilltops, Poggio Grosso, less than half a league north. It was still well before midday, when its walls loomed a few hundred paces beyond the sparse trees.

"The entrance is from the other side," Mercurio said, while at the same time from the right they heard the angry snorting of a wild boar. Mercurio seemed alarmed. "Let’s get away. I have seen them attack horses."

He put his stallion into a canter, right into the path of the largest pig she had ever seen. The horse reared, kicking the boar and throwing its rider off at the same time. Chiara’s instant reaction was to free her bow when she saw the monster rush from the bushes, while at the same time pulling an arrow from her quiver. She aimed at the animal, just as it charged the fleeing riderless horse a second time. The arrow struck the boar in the neck. Bloodcurdling squeals sent birds into flight, but the wound did not slow the colossus as it changed course toward her. The mare shied. She barely managed to stay in the saddle, while ripping the horse away. The boar’s tusks missed its hind legs by a hand width before the colossus crashed, skidding on the ground. It raised itself again on wobbly legs, squealing all the time, and then slowly fell over to its side, snapping the arrow in two. The eerie silence was only broken by the frightened snorting of her mare. Chiara prepared a second arrow, but the boar shuddered a few times and then lay quiet.