“Did you,Madre?” Bianca asked softly.
Her mother flushed. “It is true,” she admitted. “Your father was not my first love.”
“You were a good daughter,” Bianca said. “You did what you had to do, and you married the Florentine merchant who was willing to overlook the paucity of your dowry as the youngest child of a Venetian prince. Your parents saw that you came to know your husband before the marriage. My father is kind, and he understood your position. He respected you, and you gave him enough fondness to create a family, and the respect to which he was entitled. But you have never loved my father with the same passion that I love Amir,Madre, and I know you will not deny that, for you are too honest a woman.”
“I see that I have underestimated you, Bianca,” Orianna replied. “You are far more astute than I would have suspected until this moment. But the fact remains, Prince Amir is not a suitable husband for you, nor will he wed you. He is an infidel. He is tolerated in Florence because he is the sultan’s grandson and an honest merchant. But if he were to violate the laws of the state he would be expelled and forbidden to return.”
“Do you threaten Amir,Madre?” Bianca asked her mother. “You surely know he stands high in Lorenzo di Medici’s favor.”
“Even the di Medici are not foolish enough to defy the state or the Church. They keep their power by retaining the favor of the majority of Florentines. If they lose that favor, they lose their power, Bianca. Do you really believe they would favor a friendship over their own power? You are not that foolish.”
“You would make me marry some stranger when I am in love with another man?” Bianca queried her mother. “Do you care nothing for my happiness? Was not my sacrifice for our family as Sebastiano Rovere’s wife enough? Do you think I will ever forget my wedding night with that monster, or the nights of debauchery that followed as he introduced me into his perversions, or the beatings I received when I resisted? Now you would force me to wed another man who will have charge over my very life and death when I prefer to remain a free woman? I would die first,Madre! Do you understand me? I would prefer death. Force my hand in this matter and you will find yourself burying me in that great marble tomb that belongs to the Pietro d’Angelo family.”
Orianna was shocked by her daughter’s words. “Bianca! You cannot mean such a thing. Suicide is a sin in the eyes of the Church.”
“What you propose when you suggest destroying my happiness is a greater sin in the eyes of God,” Bianca shot back, angry now. “I would not care if Pope Alexander himself ordered it, I will not remarry,Madre.”
It was at that very tense moment that Prince Amir arrived. He had not come by the beach this time but had ridden along the narrow path that served as a road to both villas and beyond. He saw Agata half hidden, listening to the conversation on the terrace, and moved quickly past her, for Bianca’s raised voice was almost edged in hysteria. He wanted to learn who distressed her so and put an immediate stop to it. Brushing past the surprised Agata, he stepped out onto the terrace. “Beloved!”
She ran to him immediately, and his arms closed about her. Then his eyes met those of another woman, a woman he recognized at once as Orianna Pietro d’Angelo.
“Prince Amir,” Orianna said.
“What have you said to upset Bianca?” He wanted to know.
“You are bold to interfere with a mother and her daughter,signore,” Orianna replied. She reached for her goblet, only to find it empty.
“I love your daughter,signora,” he said.
“I know you do, and she loves you, Prince Amir. But your liaison is unsuitable, as we both well know. Bianca is inexperienced, but in her heart she knows it too,” Orianna told him. “She must remarry as soon after the mourning period as possible, for Rovere is over and done with. I have come with that end in mind, but my daughter will not listen. Perhaps if you explained to her the impossibility of your situation she would understand better, and do her duty by her family. My father is even now seeking a suitable match in Venice for Bianca. I had always meant for her to marry into Venice.”
“But I wish to marry Bianca,signora. My lineage is more than suitable. My own mother was the daughter of an English merchant. It is from her I have inherited my talent for trade. I have made myself a wealthy man,signora.”
“Impossible! You are an infidel!” Orianna said. “There is nothing that can overcome that fault but for a conversion to our Christian faith. I know you will not convert any more than I, or Bianca, would. Therefore, there is no hope for you,signore. I am sorry, but you certainly understand my family’s viewpoint in this matter.”
“I would take her back to Turkey. I will not ask that she renounce her own faith,” he said. “She will live in my palace, the Moonlight Serai, in the hills above the Black Sea, and she will want for nothing. I shall never cease loving Bianca. You surely understand love,signora. Help us! Do not attempt to part us, I beg of you. But should you try to separate us, I will fight you with every resource that I have. I shall not allow anyone to take my beloved Bianca from me.”
“Madre di Dios!”Orianna said. “You actually believe it is possible for such a marriage to take place or to succeed under any circumstances?Never!I will not allow it to happen. I will do whatever I must to prevent such a travesty. Love is not enough! It just isn’t. You are a pair of romantic fools, but I will not allow Bianca to ruin her life. I protect what is mine! Be warned,signore, that I have my resources too. I will use them to prevent any marriage between you and my eldest daughter. If you truly love Bianca, then help her to accept the reality of this situation. Do not foolishly lead her on. She will never be yours,signore, but for this short sweet interlude that you have shared together.”
Chapter 9
Both Bianca and Amir were shocked by the vehemence in Orianna’s voice, by her strong words. For a moment they remained silent, and then Bianca spoke.
“Madre, do you not want me to be happy?” Bianca asked her mother.
“You would not be happy as his wife,” Orianna said. “Oh, at first, perhaps, but once you realized all you had given up and left behind, you would be miserable for everything you had lost and would now be unable to regain. And what of the other two wives he has? Oh yes, I know of them. I cannot allow you to make such a mistake, Bianca! I will do all in my power to prevent it!” Then, rising from her seat, she left them together on the terrace and stormed back into the villa, brushing past Agata who, seeing her coming, just managed to jump out of the way.
“I have never seen her like that,” Bianca said, amazed.
“She is a woman who believes in what she says, and thinks she is protecting her child,” Amir replied. “Did you not tell her that I had already asked you to marry me, and you had refused?”
“No,” Bianca admitted. “The opportunity hadn’t previously come up, but then it was suddenly there. Besides, if I returned with you to Turkey, why could we not go on as we are now,amore mia? I am content.”
“We cannot go on as we are because you would live in my home. I would have you on an equal footing with my two wives, Bianca. As my lover you would not be equal in rank to them, and you must be. I cannot rid myself of either Maysun or Shahdi, for they were gifts from the sultan, who received them from political allies. He honored those allies by giving them to me, so I must keep them. They will be your companions, and though you will be my third wife you will remain first in my heart, a distinction they will understand. They know their places, and are content.”
“Could we ride and walk together there as we do here?” she asked him.
“Yes, but not if we lived in the city. That is why I prefer the country, among other reasons. I like the freedom I have, and I know you will too. Yet you will be safe,” he promised her. “Come with me, Bianca. Here, your family will not stop until they have separated us, and forced you into another marriage of their choosing. Your mother is a very strong woman, beloved. Stronger than many men. She truly believes what she has said to us. I see it in her eyes.”
