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"So," I said, as I rose, "in Constantinople it will be the public spectacle?"
"The precise ma
"And the name of the man to be killed?"
"Enrico Gravina."
I took my leave on this, satisfied that I had prevailed upon them to give me the information I demanded. I did not myself believe that these orders had come from the King, he was at a level high above. It seemed to me that this Spaventa, and those who had thought of hiring him, and Atenulf who was entrusted with the fame of it, and I who would carry the money, all belonged with my friend Muhammed, creatures feasting and fighting below the surface of the dark water on which the King's silver barge rode serene, enveloped in light. Yusuf's words came back to my mind: He is just, unjust things are done in his name… But this was not unjust, the traitor deserved to die. Would it not be a worthier thing to abduct him, bring him to trial in the King's court before the people he had wronged? This would not be beyond the power of resolute men. But it was not our King Roger who decided, he had no knowledge of it, it was the creatures below the surface. Why did I labour so to keep the knowledge of this death that was pla
XIX
That same day I went to Yusuf and gave him a full account.
"So Wilfred sought to settle the matter with four words of Latin," he said. "That is very typical of the Roman clergy. For them, Latin is the magic formula. No matter what the problem, by expressing it in Latin you have solved it before you reach the verb. And this faith is founded on the very thing that should give them pause, the fact that so few words are needed. Latin is excellent for inscriptions on tombstones, where space is lacking. But no one should dream that such conciseness serves the interests of truth, rather the opposite is the case, truth is obscured because no room is left for doubt. The Arabic language is far superior, it is looser and more ample. We do not see truth as a dead butterfly to pin down, we follow the path of its flight through the fields and forests where it lives. "
He was silent for some moments while the pleasure these comparisons had caused him faded from his face. "Wilfred of Aachen," he said. "Wilfred of Aachen was for some years a monk at the monastery of Groze on the Moselle. Among the community there was Gerbert, who has had great advancement since and is soon to become the Pope's Rector at Benevento, a very important post, which is in the grant of the Roman Curia, but usually given to an Italian, not a German."
"Perhaps in his native place there are those to recommend him."
"Yes, perhaps so."
I had not told Yusuf of my meeting with Gerbert and his companions in the Royal Chapel, not thinking it of any importance, but I had told him of seeing Gerbert and Atenulf in close conversation together in the courtyard of the church of San Giova
"A triangle?"
"Gerbert and Atenulf, Atenulf and Wilfred, Wilfred and Gerbert."
It seemed to me more in the nature of a circle, but I did not say so. "I see, yes. Well, as I have told you, lord, they were very unwilling to explain their purposes."
"Of course, you made it a matter of your own dignity, you did not declare you were acting on my orders."
"How did you know this, lord?"
"I did not exactly know it, but I know you, my fine fellow. Well, it makes no difference. They were expecting you to insist, whatever the reason. They would have been disappointed if you had not."
I stared at him. "Disappointed?"
"They knew well that Yusuf Ibn Mansur would require to know these things before releasing money through his own chancery."
"But if they knew it, why play these games?"
"It was not exactly a game, or at least not one that is played for amusement only. Think, Thurstan, my young man. Must I be for ever giving you lessons? These years with me and still lacking in suspicion? Or is it that your mind was on other things?"
As I looked at him now in silence, at a loss as to how to reply, it came to me that my mind had indeed been on other things and that this was something useless to speak of to Yusuf, he would never understand because he would never be seduced by his imagination. Perhaps Atenulf was cleverer than I had thought, cleverer than he wanted known. The gifted and versatile Spaventa, the demon-led traitor sawing at the chains, the King in his silver barge…
"You are full of duty," Yusuf said, "and you are careful to fulfil orders, and you are brave, but you are too open, too su
"Yes, of course. By their seeming unwilling I would be the more likely to believe."
"Exactly. In this our world a readiness to speak is taken for the mark of the liar. You had paid a price, you see. You had asserted yourself against Atenulf's greater authority, you had insisted in face of his displeasure. We always value more what we have paid for, is it not so?
And the conclusion of all this?"
"If they wanted me so much to believe it…"
"It is the less likely to be true, yes. Good, we are coming closer. But we must not fall into the opposite error of supposing it to be false. It is in accord with Atenulf's care for the King's fame. We must simply keep in mind that the reason they have given may not be the true one."
"Then the money may be intended for some other purpose?"
"It is possible, yes. And since the payment is to be made through the accounts of our Office… you see?"
"Yes, I see well. We may be held to account for the use to which it is put."
"There were two of them. Why was Wilfred needed? As I understand from you, he did not take much part in it. But the oaths of two weigh against the oath of one, if it comes to swearing. We can be sure no one else has made public mention of this money or this mission. So it might in the end be made to seem that the purposes were ours from the begi
He paused at this and narrowed his eyes and thrust out his hands with the palms upwards, as if to receive some blessing or guidance from above. "Only God sees equally the hidden and the revealed. There are those who work against us, who would wish to see me discredited. We are watched by famished eyes, Thurstan, the eyes of wolves. They want me dead, but it is not only that: they want this Diwan. They would fall on it, dismember it, tear it limb from limb, sharing out the powers and prerogatives that belong to us and gorging on them. The Royal Diwan is not a monument, it is not like a castle with strong walls, it has no defence but the King's favour. Chanceries are born and die, they unite and divide, they come into being or cease to be at the will of the King – and those close to him. If our enemies succeed, the diwan al-tahqiq al-ma'mur will exist no more, not even as a memory. We must judge it safer now to break this money into smaller sums and find entries of an i