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Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 78
They lived in different rooms, but they invariably spent their nights together. However, in the morning, before the arrival of the maid, Lucretia always returned to her bedroom, where Mario's small bed stood next to her bed.The kid was taught to call his father uncle. Stefano did not imagine how painful it would be for him to hear such an appeal. But he could not change anything and was glad at least that both - both Lucretia and Mario - were nearby.The son grew by leaps and bounds. By the age of six, to the great surprise of his father, he showed artistic abilities and an interest in painting. The boy sat at the table for hours, painting landscapes, portraits and still lifes.Stephanio was puzzled. He perfectly remembered how, a hundred years ago, his little son François was addicted to the same thing."What is this, a coincidence? Or is there something in my nature that gives my children a love of painting? What a strange joke of nature."He hired teachers, including an artist, an
Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 79
As soon as he got out of the Old Oak, Stephanio jumped on his horse and galloped towards him. With every moment it became more and more difficult to stay in the saddle, the street blurred before his eyes, passers-by seemed to increase in size, and only by a huge effort of will he reached the inn, ran up to the second floor and locked himself in his room.Quiet joy seized him, he fell on the bed and began to look at the beams of the ceiling, feeling how he was filled with inexplicable bliss. Here the walls shook slightly, someone walked around the room, again and again, but this did not frighten him. On the contrary, he loved these incomprehensible creatures, loved everything that was around, he wanted to go downstairs and kiss the owner, go out into the street and hug everyone he met. Peace and happiness filled the soul, overflowing.And yet his mind was clear enough to understand: all this is just a consequence of the drunk elixir. You can’t run anywhere, you just need to lie down an
Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 80
The new Pope was much younger than his predecessor and led a much more open lifestyle. He gave receptions and large audiences, so Stefano often saw him. The pontiff was a tall, dark-haired man with regular features, a mustache and a small graying beard. He carried himself with exceptional dignity and elegance, knew theology perfectly, could speak long and beautifully on theological topics, and even wrote poetry.More than once, looking at him, Stephanio thought:"How easy it is to touch this person and become the Pope yourself. He is quite young, active, I would be comfortable in his body. But how interesting is it to get everything ready without going your way to the top?"But one day a simple thought interrupted all thoughts on this topic: having moved to the Pope, he would lose Lucrezia and Mario. "No, that's completely impossible. I have to get the power myself."Stephanio went to all the open receptions that the Pope gave, kept close to him and tried in every possible way to attr
Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 81
Andrea Calvo did not even want to think that Nagyo would become Bishop of Trevia. On the contrary, he decided to apply for this place himself and turned to the Vincini family for support. Those, mindful of the future relationship, promised to help.Very soon, Stefano became aware that a wealthy banking family was busy with the bishopric, which he considered almost his own. He made inquiries and quickly learned that Andrea Calvo, his old enemy, was behind it."Hasn't he calmed down? No, it can't be a coincidence. Of course, he knew that I was aiming for this place, and decided to get ahead of me. Well, we'll see."Despite the fact that Stefano had good patrons - several cardinals and Francesco d'Este, who had recently become the Duke of Modena and Reggio, promised him support - he was well aware that it would be difficult to cope with such a family as Vincini.At the next meeting with Roberto, who was late in Rome on business of the bishopric, Stephanio asked if he had met with Calvo.
Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 82
Returning home, Andrea was horrified by what he had done. The blind fury that had seized him after the appointment of Nagio as bishop and the annulment of the marriage of Camillo with the girl Vincini had passed, and now he was at a loss. It seems that his mind really got confused, since he decided on such a thing. A priest who kills a woman right on the street, where someone could see him... What if he had been caught there? It's scary to think. And what a sin! It's one thing petty mischief, and quite another - murder.Andrea was not sure that he had gone unnoticed, and therefore he suspected that Nagyo might find out who was responsible for his grief. And I decided to make sure.A few days later, having buried love, Stefano sat by the fireplace and stared blankly at the fire. An almost forgotten bitter smile froze on his face. Someone knocked on the door, the maid ran to open it, but he did not hear it: all his thoughts were about Lucretia."Hello," came a harsh voice.Stephanio rai
Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 83
The head of the Jesuits, Father Muzio Vitaleschi, decided that the order did not have sufficient influence on the Inquisition, and for this purpose, with the consent of the Pope, transferred many brothers from their positions to the tribunals. In one of them, Rimsky, Andrea Calvo was appointed.Although Andrea's career at the university was going well, and he was already a professor, the new position caused him jubilation. Belonging to the Inquisition made him almost omnipotent. Now he will figure out how to take revenge on the hated Nagyo!Calvo began serving in the tribunal, and two years later he managed to rise to the rank of assistant to the head, not least thanks to the influence of General Vitaleschi.What do you say, Guido? Lorenzo Vincini asked his brother.“I don’t even know,” he muttered thoughtfully, still holding the letter in his hands. Who is this Mario Ricci? Artist? Ugh, it's disgusting to even say. On the other side...Guido was seated in a massive armchair by the ta
Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 84
During his next visit to Rome, Stefanio unexpectedly met Roberto Bantini at the Quirinal Palace.“Owl,” Stephanio rushed to him and then noticed that the old friend was dressed in cardinal clothes. The Bishop stood up in amazement, as if rooted to the spot.“Yes, yes,” Roberto smiled, “now I am a cardinal and I live here in Rome.“Congratulations,” Stephanio said sincerely. Of course, he felt a little annoyed that Bantini was ahead of him, but in fact he was glad for his friend. It's strange that I haven't heard about it.- Really weird. Where you stopped?- Cardinal Dethy's.Why not Mario? I heard he got married...“I don’t want to disturb the young ones,” Stephanio laughed.- Well, next time I ask you to me.- Well, since you are in Rome now, then, of course, I will not pass by.***“My dear Andrea, the unfortunate brother Siro writes to you. I still live in Mantua with a few servants, and my position is unenviable. However, I took up the pen not to upset you with the details of my
Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 85
Dr. Gold sighed raggedly, his lips trembling.“Wait a second, John, now I’ll catch my breath and continue. I'm sorry, it's hard to remember.“Of course I understand,” the vicar nodded hastily.Ten minutes passed before Gold spoke again:- At first I was going to call on Roberto Bantini to inform him of what had happened and change clothes. But when Algardi told the details of the case, I decided not to waste time and immediately went to the inquisitorial tribunal.However, the gatherings refused to let me in: by the evening, if there were no urgent interrogations, the priests and secretaries dispersed. I tried to convince them, explained that I was the Bishop of Trevi and I needed to see a prisoner on urgent business, but they only laughed, because I was in secular clothes.Desperate, I was about to go to Bantini's to change into a cassock and return again, but at that moment the heavy sashes of the window above our heads parted and a voice was heard from above:- Let him go.The guar