“But for all your prattle, Giulia, you know how to keep secrets. Unlike envoys and maidservants, who trade in gossip.” Rodrigo turned to look at me, hands clasped behind his back, and his face was very serious now. The candle flames danced merrily over the jewels in his robes, the pontifical throne with its gilding and carving, the cards and wine cups left behind by the frightened guests. “Mi perla, I know you don’t like the idea of a French husband for Laura. No mother wants to see her daughter sent far away to a strange land. But marriage is a matter of state and must be considered without a mother’s vapors. A French alliance would lay the foundation for Our future with France, and—”

“The French took me captive, Rodrigo!” I erupted onto my feet. “They took me captive and held me ransom and could easily have had me raped or murdered. You said you would have the French King’s head if he’d touched even the hem of my dress—and now you want to give them Laura? Ship her off to be raised in the French court instead of by her mother—”

“Now, now, Giulia. I wouldn’t leave you bereft like that.” He clasped my shoulders again, and my heart eased a little. “There’s another matter to consider, and that’s my grandchild. The baby has been sent to the country with a wet nurse for the time being, but that will not do for much longer. The child needs a mother.”

“The child has a mother,” I couldn’t help pointing out acidly. “And a father!” Foolish Lucrezia—

“Lucrezia cannot keep the baby, and she knows that. So you will raise my grandchild, Giulia. Raise it as your own.”

My lips parted, but at first I could think of nothing to say. “Do you think anyone will believe Lucrezia’s child is mine?” I scrambled after the old lie I had written. “I am carrying my husband’s child even now!”

“I think you may have been fibbing about that.” He pinched my chin in reproof, giving a glance to the voluminous skirts I’d been wearing for months to cover my flat belly. “I’ve seen you pregnant before, you know. If you were carrying his child, you’d be round as an apple by now! Still, the rumor will be useful for when you return home with a baby. I’ll draw up a private papal bull for its parentage, dictate that the baby is yours and mine. My grandchild will have a mother, and you’ll have another baby to raise if Laura goes off to the French court.”