nothing else.’
The duke repeated the cliché as though it was a great profundity, but Ferruccio could not agree. ‘You speak as if your only objection to the First Apprentice’s ambition is that you are not him – have you ever considered that our very disunity is an asset? Etruria is cosmopolitan, and variety is more than the spice of life: it’s a curb to tyranny. Each state’s government and customs exist in close competition with others. Of course there are arguments to the contrary: united, we would be military stronger, less vulnerable to invasion, and yes, yes, all true – but all the same, we would be reduced.’
‘How dull it would be to constantly agree,’ Costanzo laughed.
Salvatore was coolly analytical about the brewing conflict. ‘Say what you will about the Concordians, they know how to plan inter-generationally. Papa always said it’s the only way to get anything done. Our banco didn’t grow in one lifetime, and Papa wouldn’t have been the man he was without
his
papa’s capital behind him. My bet is Captain Giovanni’s bridge was just one step in a strategy conceived long ago, maybe even as far back as Bernoulli’s day.’
‘They didn’t plan for Rasenna to revolt,’ the duke said pointedly.
‘No, but a plan like this isn’t overthrown by one setback.’
Ferruccio paused in his mastication to remark, ‘They’re as dogged as their bloody machines.’
‘The good doctor has trouble understanding such unity of purpose. Salerno is a democracy.’ The duke looked around brightly. He considered himself rather a wit, but this was more a consequence of being surrounded by terrorised sycophants than any quickness of intellect.
‘Better than a tyranny,’ Ferruccio growled.
The duke’s smile vanished. ‘Veii is a republic, like Rasenna.’
Salvatore had also had enough of Grimani’s patronising attitude. ‘Come, Duke, you may not wear a corna, but Veii is your kingdom.’
The duke was unwilling to concede the point in front of his subjects and temporised, ‘It’s true my family are influential voices – what of it? A select group rule in Ariminum, in Rasenna, in Concord – the only difference is that we do not require foreigners to believe its hypocrisies. Our citizens are content. Ask them.’ He turned to the row of elders. ‘Isn’t that so, Marsuppini?’
‘Entirely contented,’ said the magnate without looking up from his plate.
‘You see! Whilst it is true that they have sacrificed a degree of freedom for stability, they have the maturity to know a republic ruled by the Small People would soon vote itself into ruin. Dictatorship is the best solution in this imperfect world. All revolutionaries say their revolution is the last, but the momentum that brings them about carries them to excess, and that makes reaction inevitable and presently a fresh revolution is necessary. My people have chosen to get off that wearying carousel. I’m surprised that a son of Fabbro Bombelli doesn’t acknowledge their wisdom – but delude yourself, by all means, if it makes you happy.’
‘My father was no tyrant.’
‘But somehow your sister is. I’m not sure I understand the distinction.’
What remained of the meal was a tense affair, as was the week that followed.
*
As Pedro explained his drawings to the Veian masons and blacksmiths, he saw in the tight lips that mouthed thanks and felt in their weak handshakes that it was not just the Concordians who held Rasenneisi engineers in suspicion. He was free with his knowledge, but such profligacy makes the miserly wary and before long certain voices started to whisper to Duke Grimani that Pedro Vanzetti was a new Girolamo Bernoulli come amongst them. Had not the
Stupor Mundi
been contemptuous of the Guild traditions in his youth? Had not his hand been open before he made a fist?
It wasn’t just guildsmen who showered them with hostile looks. The Small People did their bit.
Didn’t they know
, Pedro wondered,
that he was
The duke repeated the cliché as though it was a great profundity, but Ferruccio could not agree. ‘You speak as if your only objection to the First Apprentice’s ambition is that you are not him – have you ever considered that our very disunity is an asset? Etruria is cosmopolitan, and variety is more than the spice of life: it’s a curb to tyranny. Each state’s government and customs exist in close competition with others. Of course there are arguments to the contrary: united, we would be military stronger, less vulnerable to invasion, and yes, yes, all true – but all the same, we would be reduced.’
‘How dull it would be to constantly agree,’ Costanzo laughed.
Salvatore was coolly analytical about the brewing conflict. ‘Say what you will about the Concordians, they know how to plan inter-generationally. Papa always said it’s the only way to get anything done. Our banco didn’t grow in one lifetime, and Papa wouldn’t have been the man he was without
his
papa’s capital behind him. My bet is Captain Giovanni’s bridge was just one step in a strategy conceived long ago, maybe even as far back as Bernoulli’s day.’
‘They didn’t plan for Rasenna to revolt,’ the duke said pointedly.
‘No, but a plan like this isn’t overthrown by one setback.’
Ferruccio paused in his mastication to remark, ‘They’re as dogged as their bloody machines.’
‘The good doctor has trouble understanding such unity of purpose. Salerno is a democracy.’ The duke looked around brightly. He considered himself rather a wit, but this was more a consequence of being surrounded by terrorised sycophants than any quickness of intellect.
‘Better than a tyranny,’ Ferruccio growled.
The duke’s smile vanished. ‘Veii is a republic, like Rasenna.’
Salvatore had also had enough of Grimani’s patronising attitude. ‘Come, Duke, you may not wear a corna, but Veii is your kingdom.’
The duke was unwilling to concede the point in front of his subjects and temporised, ‘It’s true my family are influential voices – what of it? A select group rule in Ariminum, in Rasenna, in Concord – the only difference is that we do not require foreigners to believe its hypocrisies. Our citizens are content. Ask them.’ He turned to the row of elders. ‘Isn’t that so, Marsuppini?’
‘Entirely contented,’ said the magnate without looking up from his plate.
‘You see! Whilst it is true that they have sacrificed a degree of freedom for stability, they have the maturity to know a republic ruled by the Small People would soon vote itself into ruin. Dictatorship is the best solution in this imperfect world. All revolutionaries say their revolution is the last, but the momentum that brings them about carries them to excess, and that makes reaction inevitable and presently a fresh revolution is necessary. My people have chosen to get off that wearying carousel. I’m surprised that a son of Fabbro Bombelli doesn’t acknowledge their wisdom – but delude yourself, by all means, if it makes you happy.’
‘My father was no tyrant.’
‘But somehow your sister is. I’m not sure I understand the distinction.’
What remained of the meal was a tense affair, as was the week that followed.
*
As Pedro explained his drawings to the Veian masons and blacksmiths, he saw in the tight lips that mouthed thanks and felt in their weak handshakes that it was not just the Concordians who held Rasenneisi engineers in suspicion. He was free with his knowledge, but such profligacy makes the miserly wary and before long certain voices started to whisper to Duke Grimani that Pedro Vanzetti was a new Girolamo Bernoulli come amongst them. Had not the
Stupor Mundi
been contemptuous of the Guild traditions in his youth? Had not his hand been open before he made a fist?
It wasn’t just guildsmen who showered them with hostile looks. The Small People did their bit.
Didn’t they know
, Pedro wondered,
that he was
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