Chiara – Revenge and Triumph

by Gian Bordin

The countess’ face lit up. "Very astute. That might work. You may want to add that distancing themselves from these people will only enhance the esteem they deservedly enjoy… Maybe I should say that. It will have more effect."

  "I would be in your debt… I also would like to get an audience with Lady Baglione, Lord Baglione’s mother. He seems to value her advice."

  "Chiara, you astound me — no, how silly of me — it should not astound me anymore. That is what you have always shown, perceptiveness in what moves people. I am aware that you even use this on me. Now Chiara, no use to deny that. I do it to. Trying to sway Lord Baglione through his mother may just tip the balance in your favor. But how do you know all this? Oh, I guess you milked Master Luigi for information."

  "Yes, my Lady, he is the source."

  "He is a nice young man, and I cannot express it strongly enough that I am glad he got out of this unfortunate affair unscathed. He is in awe of you, and I am convinced he will speak for you to both his mother and his grandmother."

  Both women looked pensively at each other, then the countess said: "I forgot to ask you. That clever young man in your troupe — is his name Jacomo? — has he fully recovered from his wound? It would be a shame if he were crippled."

  "Thank you, Lady Maria, for asking. His wound has healed well, and I am very relieved and grateful that he has regained full use of his arm. He has become like a brother to me."

  "How did he join your troupe?"

  "He and his sister lost all their family in the plague and when I saw them in Cagli they were starving. It reminded me of another desperate girl outside the walls of Pisa who was facing the same prospect —"

  "— and you took them in. Mind you, it was your gain. He is very clever as a clown and the girl is exceptionally sweet."

  "They are more than that. They are both highly intelligent. In the eighteen months they have been with us, both learned to read and write and are making big strides in Latin."

  "Then you have done well with them."

  * * *

  Chiara ignored the stares and whispers, as she ran the gauntlet of the large crowd that had assembled in the spacious court of Palazzo Casali, Luigi at her side. The young man’s strained smile did not hide his nervousness. Lord Baglione stepped forward to greet Lady Maria and then offered his hand to help her dismount. Chiara, by then standing behind her and holding the reins of her mare, studied him carefully. There was some resemblance with Luigi, but he cut a more impressive figure, a man sure of himself and used to command.

  "My Lord," said the countess, "I have the great honor of bringing back your son, Master Luigi. As you can see, he is in good health and good spirits." She turned to Chiara. "And it is my pleasure to introduce Lady Chiara to you."

  Chiara curtsied, just short of conveying subservience, saying: "Lord Baglione," and then met his gaze firmly. She knew, he was sizing her up and she wanted him to know that she was a proud woman that he would not be able to dismiss lightly. His look briefly strayed to the bow and arrows attached to her saddle.

  A hush had fallen on the people assembled, as everybody watched their silent exchange. Then Lord Baglione smiled and said: "Welcome, Lady Chiara." It seemed as if the cloud weighing upon the assembly had been lifted.

  Lord Baglione now faced Luigi. "Son, it is good to have you back. Your mother is waiting anxiously to embrace you."

  "Father, I will go to her right away." He waved to Mercurio, who came forward with the three horses of the fallen retainers, their weapons strapped to the saddles. "Lady Chiara wishes to return the arms and mounts of Ser Piero, Ser Tomaso, and Ser Franco to you."

  She had agreed with Luigi that he was going to do that, against Lady Maria’s advice that this could only inflame things. It was a calculated move to reinforce both her strength as a foe as well as her desire for peace, and she saw that she had been right in her assessment. Lord Baglione looked at the weapons in the empty saddles and then his gaze returned to her. The expression in his face revealed heightened appreciation.

  "I thank you, Lady Chiara, for this token of respect."

  She bowed slightly, remaining silent. Luigi, hesitating, watching apprehensively this strange duel between the two, finally tore himself away and ran over to his mother, who was standing on the steps leading up to the palazzo entrance, a hand on his little sister’s shoulder. He briefly embraced her and then picked up the six-year-old girl, kissing both her cheeks. She beamed and kissed him back. He waved to a white-haired woman in the window of the upstairs floor.

  Lord Baglione’s mother? wondered Chiara.

  While the stable hands took away their horses, they were introduced to Lord Baglione’s wife, Lady Amelia, and her daughter. The little girl curtsied to Chiara and then said softly: "Lady Chiara, thank you for saving the life of my brother."

  She bent down to the girl. "You love him very much, do you? He told me that he loves you to. You can be proud of your brother."

  The girl beamed happily, nodding vigorously, and Chiara caressed her cheek. She was aware that this little exchange had been carefully observed by Luigi’s mother. When she rose the woman briefly smiled, but she felt that it was a forced smile.

  Chiara was assigned a room next to Lady Maria, sharing it with Heloïse. As she prepared herself for dinner, she reflected on how things had gone so far, and felt reassured.

  * * *

  At dinner, she was finally introduced to Lady Teresa, Lord Baglione’s mother. In fact, she was assigned the seat next to her, sharing, as was the custom, the dishes with her. As usual, the diners only occupied the outside of the big U-shaped seating arrangement. The inside was left free for the servant to serve them. She did not have to wait long for the matriarch to begin her probing.

  "So, you are the famous or infamous Chiara da Narni. I had expected to see a giant of a woman, not a courtly lady."

  "My Lady, I am really only a young woman who would like to live in peace and harmony with my betters, and hopefully soon start a family of my own."

  "I must admit, I find it difficult to reconcile what they tell about you with what I now see in front of me. My grandson spoke very highly of you and begged me to support you. So convince me that you deserve that support."

  "Lady Teresa, I am a proud woman, with a strong sense of justice. These may be my major failings as a woman. Four years ago, I was an innocent young girl, much like Lady Heloïse, dreaming of a valiant young knight to carry me off. Those dreams were shattered when my father told me that I was to marry Niccolo Sanguanero."

  "But he is, or rather was, thanks to you, as good a party as any girl could wish."

  "That is what it may have looked to an outsider, but he had never shown but contempt for my family. I only learned at my father’s deathbed that the reason he had agreed to the marriage was because Signor Sanguanero had threatened to renew a vendetta between our two families."

  "Yes, the vendetta that was put to rest when your grandfather married one of my cousins. But go on, did you not flee Elba?"

  "Yes, my Lady, I did, only to fall right into the hands of Signor Sanguanero. While I was locked into a cabin, I overheard them talk about what to do with me. They were going to let me drown, but only after violating me first."

  "And did they violate you?"

  Chiara locked eyes with the old woman. "The old man did."

  "And that is when you blinded him."

  "Yes, I knew that unless I escaped, I would be violated again and then drowned. I used the first weapon that came to hand and then jumped into the sea. I was lucky to find a piece of cork to help me stay afloat to swim to the coast. And a year later I found out that Casa Sanguanero had forced my father to cede my inheritance to them based on lies."

  "And that is when you took it upon you to destroy them in a way only a woman can."

  "Yes, my Lady."

  "And what about my two distant nephews? How did they have the misfortune to meet you?"

  "Lady Teresa, one tried to rob us. I did not even know that he was a
Baglione —"

  "Would you still have killed him, had you known?"

  "Yes, he was a common road bandit… And the other threatened to kill me."

  "I am told he was burned."

  "I took the first weapon within my reach, an oil lamp, and threw it into his face."

  "So, you only ever defended yourself."

  "Yes, except for exacting a heavy price from Casa Sanguanero for stealing my inheritance."

  "Let me ask you one more question. What will happen if my son refuses your peace offer? How will you react?"

  "My Lady, I will only defend myself if attacked, as I have done in the past. I have no interest in seeking revenge. However, if any of my troupe are hurt or killed, I will use all my cunning to exact revenge. Nobody in your family will feel safe any longer."

  "You dare threaten the Baglione family just like that?"

  "Lady Teresa, it is not a threat. It would be beyond my control, like the inevitability of a ball bouncing back when it hits a hard surface."

  The old woman scrutinized her for a long moment and then said: "I will think on all this. I appreciate your openness, your loyalty to your people, and I also greatly admire your courage. Few would have dared to approach my son in the way you did, including that fascinating mental skirmish in the courtyard this afternoon."

  "My Lady, I bear no grudge against your house. I did not even know that there had once been a vendetta between the Sanguanero branch of the Baglione families and my family. As I said, I would like to have one day children of my own. Which mother wants to expose her children to the senseless killing of a vendetta that nobody even knows anymore what it is all about?"

  "True, very true. I am grateful that you spared my grandson."

  "It would have been on my conscience for the rest of my life." She bent her head in humility.

  * * *

  Next morning, Lady Maria, Chiara, and Heloïse were invited by Luigi to take a ride into the countryside surrounding Cortona. They were accompanied by two Baglione retainers, as well as Mercurio and one of his guards. It was a leisurely excursion through olive groves, vineyard, and deciduous forests. Chiara was not really in a mood for it. The meeting with Lord Baglione, scheduled for the late afternoon, was heavy on her mind. She was impatient, wanting to have it done and over with, and then get back to Chianciano as quickly as possible, to be with her own. So the beauty of the landscape was largely lost on her. She wondered again, as she had last night while seeking sleep, whether it would have been wiser not to have said that she would hit back if any of her troupe suffered. It had come out spontaneously, the way she felt.

  She donned the same dress that she had worn at Niccolo’s betrothal party, the four decorative knives in their sheaths on her broad belt. When she joined Lady Maria to meet with Lord Baglione in the loggia of the palazzo, she noticed her glance straying to the belt, producing a fleeting frown.

  To her surprise, both Lord Baglione’s wife and his mother were also present. He bowed to Lady Maria and only nodded to Chiara.

  "Lady Maria, please be seated," he said, offering her one of the two chairs eight or so paces opposite the ones where his mother and wife sat. "And Lady Chiara." He pointed to the chair to the left of Lady Maria. He then sat in the high-backed chair between his mother and his wife.

  "Lord Baglione, Lady Teresa, Lady Amelia, thank you for your willingness to meet with us," the countess opened the parley.

  "Lady Maria, I could hardly have refused Lord d’Appiano’s wise request." He turned to her. "Lady Chiara, I understand that you have come to me as a supplicant, and I have agreed to hear you."

  The haughty tone of voice struck her as a bad omen. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Lady Maria’s sudden retraction of her folded hands. She let the actor take over, keeping her head high, meeting his gaze unperturbed, a warm smile on her face. "Indeed, I come as a supplicant, for a just cause, an offer of peace between your family and mine, whatever is left of mine. If ever there was animosity between the two families, I would not even know its cause, nor do I feel any obligation to assume the burden of that meaningless animosity. I have no ill-bearing against you or any of your family, and as proof of that I have cared for your son after I injured him before I recognized who he was and I restored him to you in full health and good spirits."

  Lord Baglione raised his eyebrows.

  She continued: "The fight between Casa Sanguanero and Casa da Narni has nothing to do with Casa Baglione of Perugia. It was renewed by Massimo Sanguanero without the slightest provocation on the part of my father, after more than sixty years of peace between the two families. It was aggravated by violating me, and had I not fought back and escaped the Santa Caterina, he would have drowned me in the sea. Is Casa Baglione willing to defend a rapist of a seventeen-year-old girl? My plea is simple. Let there be peace between you and me, maybe even friendship, like the friendship I have forged with Master Luigi."

  While she spoke with a firm, warm voice, she locked eyes with him and it was he who first shifted his gaze to his folded hands for a moment.

  "You killed Ser Piero, my best retainer."

  "He came after me. I did not seek him out."

  "You killed my cousin, Gianfranco Baglione of Giogo di Scarperia."

  "A common bandit who wanted to rob us, who set his dogs on us and then threatened to slay us when we killed his dogs."

  "And Giuseppe Baglione in Assisi?"

  "He raised his sword to kill me. Would you have let it happen in my place, Lord Baglione?"

  "And after all those injuries to Casa Baglione you still expect that there can be peace between us?"

  "Yes, because I respect you; because I believe in your sense of honor and justice; because I deplore the senseless killing of people, like Ser Piero, in his prime, who was deprived of many more useful years of life, and for what? To defend a rapist? A road bandit? A misguided bully?"

  She noticed the contrasting facial reactions of the two women, Lady Teresa, a faint smile, Lady Amelia, a frown.

  "Lady Chiara, you use strong words."

  She lowered her head in humility, a very calculated gesture to give him ascendance.

  Lady Maria, who, with increasing alarm at the turn the parley was taking, cut in. "Lord Baglione, let me ask you: What does your house gain by declaring war on a twenty-year-old girl? A girl who so far has only defended herself and killed in self-defense; a girl who, by all accounts, has earned the admiration of a large part of the Tuscan gentry and influential merchants, such as Averardo di Bicci, the head of Casa Medici, not just for her courage of seeking justice, but also for her exceptional skills as a reviver of commedia erudita. It would pain me to see your house decried as supporting injustice when, in fact, I know that you have striven in all your past dealings to remove that slur from Casa Baglione of Perugia."

  He waved his hand in acquiescence.

  Encouraged, a conspiratorial smile adorned her face. "And how would it look for the prestige of your house, if further encounters between Lady Chiara and your retainers ended like the last?"

  He chuckled benevolently. "I must admit, not very good."

  "So, why don’t you grant Lady Chiara the peace she begs you for."

  "Lady Maria, I will grant Lady Chiara what she asks for. I would not want to incur the wrath of my mother for going against her wish. But I first wanted to test the mettle of this young woman, and I have come to the conclusion that there is more merit to have her as a friend than as a foe. Lady Chiara, let there be peace between us."

  "Thank you with all my heart, my Lord." She again lowered her head in humility.

  "I thank you too, Lord Baglione. I counted on your sense of honor and justice," exclaimed Lady Maria.

  "Naturally, I cannot speak for Casa Sanguanero."

  "Nor did I expect it, my Lord," replied Chiara.

  "However, I will write a letter to my nephew, Filippo Baglione da Camerino, setting out my position. It might influence his own stance, although being married to Lucia puts him
in a difficult position. Do you know Lady Lucia?"

  "Yes, I became very fond of her, and my only regret in this whole affair with Casa Sanguanero is that I ended up hurting her, that I betrayed the trust she had given me."

  "What had you actually done to Casa Sanguanero that they are now threatened with bankruptcy? What we heard is a rather confused picture."

  "I would rather not talk about it. It does not put me in a good light."

  "Reluctance? That is a trait of yours that I have not seen so far."

  "I will tell you," exclaimed the countess, "in fact, I think it is important that you know how ruthless and cunning this young woman can be when somebody does her an injustice. Being a skilled actress, she transformed herself into a courtly lady —"

  "— but she is a courtly lady," interjected Lady Teresa. "It is rare nowadays to find a young woman with such impeccable manners."

  "Oh, yes, I remember she was the quickest learner I ever had. But a courtly lady you can predict how she will behave, and you may already have experienced that you cannot predict Lady Chiara. She always seems to be a step ahead of you." An amused smile played around Lord Baglione’s eyes. Chiara noticed the strange look his wife gave him. "Anyway, when I saw her on that fateful day when all was revealed, I was stunned. She almost fooled even me, posing as a young aristocratic lady from a rich Naples merchant family, looking for a husband who would take over her diseased father’s business. She even rented a fashionable mansion in Siena and had a marriage broker invite all families with eligible sons to a reception, but it takes little brain to deduce that Niccolo was the only target. The lure was a huge dowry, and to get it, Niccolo had to go halves on an ambitious trading venture that promised big returns. She refuses to tell me what devious schemes she used, but he fell for it. I heard that he even fell in love. He handed over to her so-called guardian a letter of credit on casa Tolomei for ten thousand florins —"

  "Ten thousand florins! Lady Chiara, you are a rich woman."

  She did not acknowledge his remark.

  "Yes, ten thousand, and by the time I unwittingly unmasked her at his betrothal celebration, Casa Tolomei had already paid out the whole sum. But Casa Sanguanero had also started buying goods at high prices in a rush to fill a galley, much of which remains unpaid since Casa Medici saw to it that they are unable to raise any more funds."