"That, d'Aquino will find even easier to detect than heresy," said Ugolini.
A small, amused smile played about David's lips. "Do you not think I have prepared myself for such a conversation? We need a respected man who can write letters and give sermons warning Christendom against the Tartars. If Fra Tomasso can be convinced the Tartars are dangerous, and if I can offer him something he wants badly enough, he might be the man."
"He and his fellow Dominicans will eat you alive," Ugolini moaned.
"I can accomplish nothing hiding here in your palace." David gazed down at the cardinal, unruffled.
Sophia sat perfectly still, hands folded in her lap, looking down at Ugolini's beautiful Persian carpet. But the quarreling made her writhe inwardly. If they could not agree, if they were not careful in their planning, if they started to hate one another, they surely would end by being torn to pieces on the public scaffold.
"Let us speak about the young French count," she said. "He, too, might be a man we can use. I did my best to attract him to me today."
If he thinks there is hope of my seducing Simon, he will not be so quick to want to kill him.
David's eyes held hers for a long moment. "That is what I want you to do. That was why I was angry, not understanding this courtly love." His face was somber. "That is what I brought you here for."
She nodded, thinking, If only you could be my lover. There would be nothing courtly about it, and it would bring us both great happiness.
But only a moment ago, had she not been thinking of Simon, fearing for Simon's life? Had she not almost felt love for him?