Magnificat (54 page)

“What is the worst of it all is that they are calling him mad. Mad! As if a man undertaking such a mission must be mad to do it. Once a man has thought of it, he must be mad not to act.” He stopped moving and glared at McEllton. “You probably think so, too, that he is mad, in your lapsed way. You must be like that French jurist, the one who gave the long analysis last night on the news. You’ve decided that Cardinal Gemme broke under stress, or something like that. You support the theory that Cardinal Gemme was irrational.”

“I don’t have an opinion, and I don’t know enough to subscribe to any theory. And I don’t care enough to learn much more.” said Clancy McEllton, wishing that Greene would arrive and take the Cardinal off his hands.

Spurred by his headache, Cardinal Hetre paced more frantically. “This entire thing is a disaster. Their plans were ill-conceived, and Cardinal Gemme botched the work completely. It has forced us to curtail our actions and their plan failed. We might have proceeded undetected until the work was over.”

“That’s probably true,” said the other man. He wanted to make his notepaper into an airplane and see if he could hit the moving target of Cardinal Hetre with it. The man was impossible, all but hysterical in his hatred of Pope An, but unable to commit himself to the necessary actions to end her reign.

“According to Gemme, there were others in it with him. Sinclair for one, I think. The Irish are a mercurial race, aren’t they, and they are preoccupied with death. There’ve been items in the paper about Cardinals Sinclair and Gemme.” Cardinal Hetre turned abruptly away, sickened by what he said. “Why would he reveal the names?”

“How do you know he really gave away anything. Perhaps he made them up, to make him seem less guilty? Maybe he chose the names of men who said things he agreed with,” suggested Clancy, drawing squares around Cardinal Sinclair’s name. He was not surprised that Cardinal Gemme had had accomplices, or that he had revealed names, since he took so much pride in what he had attempted to do.

“But why implicate those men? Cardinal Dellegos—who pays any attention to him? Cardinal Sinclair has some impact in the world, but Cardinal Dellegos? Croatia can’t bring itself to decide what part of the country it wants to keep and what part it wants to throw away. Why should Cardinal Dellegos be drawn into anything like.…” He waved his arms. His head was surrounded by fangs and he had to force himself to keep from shouting as relief for the pain.

“Perhaps he thought doing something on a wider scope would help his country come to its senses?” Clancy scribbled a few more meaningless notes, then heard his telephone ring. He rose with alacrity to answer it.

Rufus Greene promised to arrive in a few minutes, and wanted to be prepared for the state of mind of Cardinal Hetre. He listened to Clancy’s deliberately vague phrases, knowing how to sort out the real information.

“Tell him that we will have to be more careful and more thorough now because the police have been alerted, and they are not so foolish as Cardinal Hetre would like to believe.”

“I shan’t put it quite that way,” said Clancy, “but I’ll get it across, believe me.” He put the receiver down and gave Cardinal Hetre a brief, carefully edited version of what Mister Greene had said. “He’s in as delicate a position as you are, in some ways. He’s going to be joining us shortly. He has to make a call to International Vision, Ltd.”

“Excellent,” said Cardinal Hetre. He swung around to watch Clancy more closely. “I am not able to think clearly. I have prayed for guidance but none has come. I am too demanding, and God does not respond to demands.”

“What’s the problem now?” Clancy asked, permitting Cardinal Hetre’s determined prodding to take effect.

“How am I to deal with Cardinal Gemme? I have received permission to visit him next week.” He moved his bony hands through the air as if clutching for something he alone could see. “He and I have always disagreed, but now we find ourselves in agreement. Yet he is confined for doing what I have lacked the courage to do. I have to know what is expected of me.”

“You and Mister Greene will decide that between you,” said Clancy, feeling grateful that he would not have to deal with any of those negotiations. “In the meantime, I’m going to do a little snooping around the College of Cardinals, to find out if it’s true about Dellegos. If he has been part of one plot, he might want to join another.”

“Or he might seek to betray us,” said Cardinal Hetre with contempt. “What can you expect of such a man as Dellegos? We would be more sensible to ask someone of the stature of Cardinal Ochoa or Cardinal Bakony. Both those men have political as well as religious reasons to support the discrediting of the Chinese woman. You ought to talk with them.”

“I might, if Dellegos doesn’t turn out. And there are advantages to someone like Dellegos, because he isn’t obvious.” Clancy sat on the corner of the luncheon table. “That’s my work, Eminence.”

“But Dellegos has been part of a plot, or so it appears. Whatever his role, he was aware of danger to the Pope and said nothing, that would appear to be certain. He will be reluctant to be drawn into another one after what has become of Cardinal Gemme.” It was the only thing Hetre thought would penetrate the wall of skepticism that so completely isolated him.

“That he might, if he knew what I was asking and why. But if he still believes that the Church ought to be rid of Pope An, then there may be a way for us to enroll him.” He sighed once. “I suppose I’ll have to use poor old Uncle Neddy again. No wonder he went into a monastery, and a silent one at that.”

“Does it bother you that your uncle will not see you?” asked Cardinal Hetre suddenly.

“It did, but not any more,” said Clancy, unperturbed by the question. “I used to think that he didn’t see me because he wanted to break with the family. But after all the lunacy of the last couple of years, I guess what Uncle Neddy wants to be free of is the whole world. He found the only way he could to shut it out. Poor old fart.” He paid no attention to the shock in Cardinal Hetre’s face. “I told my cousins who worry about him that he doesn’t like publicity.”

Cardinal Hetre was about to chastise Clancy for this irreverent attitude toward so important a member of his family, then thought better of it. Rufus Greene was about to arrive and it would not be wise to greet him with disagreement. He decided that it would be best to keep to a matter that was important to them both. It went against every principle he knew, but Cardinal Hetre was learning to deal with these worldly men. “You’ll have a better understanding of this than I do,” he said to flatter Clancy’s vanity. “And to tell the truth, I haven’t been following the papers very closely, not about Cardinal Gemme. The only thing I know is that he is being held at a hospital while his mental state is evaluated. What has the press said about the likelihood of Cardinal Gemme’s standing trial?”

“It doesn’t sound real likely.” Clancy was not very surprised that the whole Cardinal Gemme mess was being kept under wraps. “No one wants him to talk very much. The psychiatrists are debating over the legal responsibility of his actions, and there’s the medical question of the injury to his shoulder and back. From what the hospital has released, Cardinal Gemme might have lost some mobility from the penetration of the shoe-heel.”

“What damage?” asked Cardinal Hetre, holding still so that his headache would not make him feel dizzy.

“Apparently there might be some nerve damage. She drove that heel in pretty deep and it got near the spine. According to the scans they did, one of the nerves was unsheathed. That’s all the report said. There’s been no discussion of a prognosis. They aren’t saying much about his mental state yet, just hedging their bets.” He hitched his shoulders. “And between the regular doctors and the head doctors, I don’t think Cardinal Gemme will ever see the inside of a courtroom. They’ll probably arrange for close, personal attention at a hospital somewhere in Switzerland, or Sweden or another of the neutral countries. He’ll be taken good care of, and kept away from the public. And if he isn’t nuts now, he will be after a couple years of that kind of treatment. No mess, no publicity, no embarrassment. That ought to satisfy everyone.”

“But what of Cardinal Gemme? Won’t there be any official testimony at all? Won’t he be permitted to make an official statement, at least to the Church?” In spite of his determination not to be shocked, Cardinal Hetre was just that. “There will be no opportunity for Cardinal Gemme to explain his actions, and no test of them. How could it be allowed to happen.”

“Allowed? It’ll be
encouraged
. And most everyone will think it’s a great idea. Except the Pope, I’d bet, and some of the police,” said Clancy at his most charming and cynical.

Cardinal Hetre again suppressed the urge to dispute Clancy’s statement. He was determined not to make himself appear as demented as Cardinal Gemme had clearly become. He folded his arms, pressing inward so that he might lessen the urge to vomit. “Isn’t Mister Greene supposed to be here?”

“That he is,” said Clancy, wishing that Greene would come through the door and take Cardinal Hetre off his hands. “I guess International Vision, Ltd. has more to tell him than usual.”

“Who are they, do you know?” asked Cardinal Hetre.

“You mean other than connected somehow to the American Reverend Robert Williamson and all his various enterprises? No, I don’t know who they are. I find it best not to ask such questions, Cardinal.” He scribbled Williamson on the pad and surrounded it with question marks. “People who want to stay hidden—it’s best if that’s the way it’s done. So long as they’re on our side, we accept what they offer and don’t get drawn into their workings. You uncover too much, and you’ll be covered over.” He laughed at his observation. “They aren’t afraid of Cardinals, Cardinal. They aren’t afraid of anything but exposure.”

“Reverend Williamson has been gaining many, many…followers.”

“Converts?” suggested Clancy, and felt relief as the first short rap on the door announced the arrival of Mister Rufus Greene.

He came into the room, anonymous and dapper as ever, his very neatness giving him a kind of invisibility. He looked from Clancy to Cardinal Hetre and felt the animosity between them as if there were thunder in the air. He twitched a minuscule smile to both of them, then gestured to the three settees in the center of the room. “Why don’t we all be comfortable?” he suggested, giving a quick glance toward Clancy.

“How can we do that?” asked Cardinal Hetre even as he sank down on the tapestry-upholstered cushions. “How can anyone be comfortable in such a world?”

“Why, one learns how the world works,” said Greene in his usual unruffled way. “And when one knows that, one goes with the workings rather than against them. You can accomplish more when you are not fighting all the current. It is the principle of aikido.” He put his carrying case down. “Please. Let me show you what I have brought with me.”

“What have you brought?” asked Clancy, by way of encouragement.

“I have obtained—it would not be discreet for me to say how—a copy of the statement provided by the Eurocops assigned to this case. Never mind how they came into my hands. I have it on excellent authority that this is what is being submitted to Vatican Security. It makes very interesting reading.” As he spoke he drew out a large bundle of printouts. “Italian first, then French, and then English translation. You may find it interesting to pay special attention to the comments I have highlighted.”

Clancy picked up one of the long sheets and skimmed through it, whistling once as he came upon something that interested him. “It isn’t over yet.”

“How do you mean that?” Cardinal Hetre was reading much more slowly, as much to be sure he grasped all the significance of the statement as because his headache was increasing steadily.

“Well, if half of what Cardinal Gemme has said is true, we will have no difficulty in finding others to help us,” Clancy said, pointing to a reference to Cardinal Llanos of Managua. “Most of the Latin Americans are having a great deal of trouble. You don’t read about it very much in the papers, and lots of it isn’t reported at all. The upper churchmen are conservative, most of them, all tied into the political regimes, one way or another. They are trying to stave off changes. But a great many of the priests and monks and nuns are solidly on the side of the Pope’s reforms.”

Mister Greene nodded emphatically. “Yes, an excellent point. Many of those Cardinals have a great deal to lose if the reforms are permitted to take hold. Their people have not yet learned how sweeping those reforms are, and so they are confused; and they do not necessarily support the Pope because they dislike Orientals.” He folded his hands over his watch-fob and vest. “Don’t you think we can turn this to advantage?”

“Yes, if we make sure not to permit the same kinds of mistakes that Cardinal Gemme and his group have made,” said Clancy. He set the printouts aside. “There are times when you have to leave things to professionals.”

Rufus Greene leaned back on his heels. “I don’t know if it’s been on the news yet, but there was a major food riot in Rio de Janeiro last night. It has nothing to do with the Church specifically but the unrest and uncertainty brought about by all these changes have increased the instability in Brazil to the point that the government might well be compromised.” He looked from Clancy to Cardinal Hetre, his face wreathed in smiles. “Don’t you see? The Latin Americans will be the key to this.”

“But what makes you think this will happen?” asked Cardinal Hetre, wanting to shake Greene and set him straight about the Latin American Cardinals, who were as diverse in their politics as they were in social origin. Three of these Cardinals had survived bloody revolutions in the last five years, and all three of them had made peace in different ways.

“It will happen because they are already closer to the edge,” said Mister Greene, adding, “I know you don’t believe me, Cardinal Hetre. But as you have your areas of expertise, so I have mine, and this is one of them. You may know the inner workings of the College of Cardinals, but I have a body of information about the Church and its position in the world today, particularly in Third World countries. I wouldn’t say what I have if I didn’t actually believe that I am correct.” He swung around to look at Clancy. “We will review the possibilities later. For the time being, we must learn all that we can from Cardinal Hetre. Without his knowledge we are lost.”