But that was not to be.
揇o you still have a lock on the laptop??he asked, his mind returning to the problem at hand.
揟hey抮e moving south. And, so you抣l know, I am happy.?
Good to hear.
He headed after the laptop, but stayed back, down a narrow side street lined with rows of shops that sported residences above. Plenty of people moved all around. More than enough cover.
揑 handled things all wrong,?she said to him. 揑 had my doubts for several months before the wedding. I should have said no when you asked and explained my dilemma then. But I thought it all an illusion. Something I could ignore. I was wrong.?
If she抎 left him for someone else there were emotions at the ready. Jealousy. Anger. Bitterness. Resentment. But to join a convent and devote your life to God? That one did not come with instructions. Her going radio-silent afterward had actually helped, since at the time he hadn抰 known what to say to her anyway. Instead, he dealt with the pain privately and, over time, learned to live with it. His family helped. Thank goodness he抎 had them. Now, all these many years later, he knew that her rejection was not personal in any way. Far from it, in fact.
揃ali would have been great,?she said.
He agreed.
揟hey抳e stopped,?she told him in his ear.
He halted too.
揝till not moving,?she said. 揟he dot is blinking over the Novotel Gent Centrum. A hotel.?
Which made sense.
They had to flee to somewhere last night.
Okay. The bait had been taken.
Now set the hook.
Chapter 28
To the most revered Charles VII, by the grace of God most high King of the Franks, your faithful and humble bishop sends greetings and the courage of Charlemagne. Concerning those things you have charged me to do, I wish Your Nobility to hold as a certainty that I have neither allied myself with the enemies of your crown, nor have I shown friendship toward them. In accordance with my vow to prize you with sincere affection and to strive to place myself at your command, as time and place require, my only desire is to protect you in the affairs of Toulouse.
But if you would take up the arms of your right hand and the shield of your protection and raise yourself to deal a blow for the aid of Toulouse, more firmly and freely would we follow the path of your armed forces. It is not only I who mourn, all the people are consumed with unspeakable sadness as we see our land, which the vigor of the kings of the Franks adorned with liberty, be in danger of falling to the English or the Moors to whom it does not belong. Let not Your Highness be affronted that I dare speak thus to you, most dear lord. For the more I am the special servant of both the Lord and your crown, the greater is my sadness when I see that crown fall from the height of its due state.
Not only in Toulouse, but from the Garonne to the Rh鬾e, I see adversaries hurrying to accomplish their boast, that by subjecting the members of your kingdom to servitude they will more easily make its head totter. Good king, take on your vigor. Bring your strong arm to our region, that the audacity of your enemies may be put down and your friends may be comforted. Do what is necessary so that the prelates and princes of our region, along with les Vautours, guard Toulouse both when you are there and when you are absent. Strive to restore it to its due condition. I ask, and others plead, that you give no heed to the cost of doing this, for you will recover a hundred times whatever you spend, and your name, which is now but a shadow among us, will be exalted by all. Valete, valeant qui vos amant.
Vilamur laid the ancient document down.
It had sat safely within the diocese抯 archives for centuries. He抎 come straight over after ending the call with Cardinal Fuentes. He was curious whether any reference to the words les Vautours was anywhere among the olden records. A few years back everything on file had been digitized and scanned electronically. So it had taken the archivist only a few moments to locate the sole reference. A letter from Pierre du Moulin, who served as archbishop of Toulouse from 1439 to 1451.
The archivist had also placed the letter in historical context.
The Hundred Years?War was then waning, but the English from the west and the Moors from the south continued to ravage the Languedoc. The French did little to stop the carnage, satisfied with the chaos those raids created among the southern nobility, who抎 always harbored an independent streak toward the monarchy. So the local bishop, fearful for what was happening around him, penned a plea to a distant king. Apparently the letter never found its way from Toulouse north to Charles VII. Good thing. The king might have taken offense with the valediction, which struck the archivist as thick with irony. Valete, valeant qui vos amant. Goodbye from those who love you. But, as was explained, valete meant 揵e strong?as well as 揻arewell.?So the king might not have appreciated the implication of weakness.