“I’m a little less certain about that part of the operation,” confessed Miro. “It can be done of course, but-” Miro glanced around at the faint, moonlit masts of their small flotilla “-but it is difficult to see how we will get so many ships safely away, without any falling into Spanish hands.”
Harry finished pouring out another round of wine. “Piece of cake. Do to them what they did to us in Rome.”
Miro frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, they had lots of vehicles too-carriages, there-but they still had us running a four-way wild goose chase while playing ‘find the pea.’”
Miro realized he was the only one not drinking, but didn’t care; Harry had shown him the answer, the way they could escape. In fact, if Miro’s rapidly evolving calculations were correct, they’d not only be able to get out all the ships and their crews, but also “Estuban,” Owen Roe seemed to say from a great distance, “what’s wrong? Why the lunatic smile?”
“Oh, nothing. Just enjoying the genius of Harry’s plan.”
Lefferts had a sour expression on his face. “Just don’t forget how my last plan ended up. Genius, my ass. If I was a genius I wouldn’t have gotten so many people killed.”
Miro shook his head. “ You didn’t get anyone killed, Harry. That was the work of a clever, deceptive, and well-prepared enemy, not you. This time, it shall be you-and the rest of us-who outwit them. And even if you insist you are not a genius-well, your escape plan most certainly is.” Miro patted him on the shoulder. “It is genius. Pure genius.”
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Pedro Dolor looked from Captain Vincente Jose-Maria de Castro y Papas at one end of the table to Castle Governor Don Sancho Jaume Morales y Llaguno at the other. “You asked me to delay my return to Palma, Governor. Here I am, as you requested. Now: why did you ask me to sit in on this meeting?”
“To rein in your factotum, Senor Dolor.” Don Sancho glowered at the captain.
Dolor sighed. “What now, Governor?”
“Ask him yourself.”
“I am asking you, Governor, since, on the four prior occasions you asked me to intervene with the captain, the only ‘fault’ I could find was that he issued lawful orders that offended your inflated sense of self-importance. So you will answer my question and, in so doing, justify why I have been detained. Again.”
The governor became quite red, but complied. “He has a Jew waiting outside the gate of my castle. A foul old Jew who has not reconciled to the Church. He does not eat pork, he-”
“A moment, Governor. Are you saying that Captain Castro y Papas has summoned a converso to sit outside your walls, simply to annoy you?”
“No, damn it! This Jew-David Asher-is a doctor, and foul-tempered to boot. He refuses to follow many of the requirements placed upon xuetas in order to prove the earnestness of their conversion-”
Don Vincente sighed. “It is well known that in the matter of conversos, public display proves very little, either way. The Inquisition itself has said as much. Besides, I am told that he refrains from eating pork due to health reasons.”
“Yes-those articulated by Leviticus, no doubt!”
Dolor folded his hands in front of him. “Governor, I did not ask for a character assessment of this David Asher; I asked why you believe Don Vincente has requested him to come here. Since you seem unable or ill- disposed to answer me directly, allow me to employ some deduction: since this xueta is a doctor, I presume he is here in a professional capacity. Consequently, I presume that he has been summoned to assess Giovanna Stone’s condition.”
“Yes-and without my permission! Captain Castro y Papas did not even bother to inform me of Asher’s arrival today. I wouldn’t have known the odious Jew was here if it wasn’t for loyalty of my sergeants.”
Which Dolor confidently translated as: if it wasn’t for the bribes I started paying my own soldiers to snitch on the comings, goings, and doings of the new captain and his men from the fort. “I see. Captain Castro y Papas, although you are not formally required to clear such actions through the governor, why did you not do him the courtesy of announcing that this visitor was coming to Castell de Bellver?”
“I did, Senor Dolor. The governor elected not to acknowledge it. He simply countered that the man had already been invited here and had refused to come.”
Ah. Now the scent of truth was starting to rise up beyond the ordure of the governor’s righteous indignation. “Can you explain what you mean?”
“Of course. When the governor’s efforts at locating a xueta physician began stalling last week, I inquired why. Don Sancho was not willing to explicate. I was compelled to, erm, seek independent explanations for this puzzling state of affairs.”
Dolor nodded, understanding Castro’s implication: I had to speak to the xuetas themselves to learn what was happening.
“From those sources, I learned that the governor was offering the physicians half the recompense we had agreed upon. The xueta physicians-who are, I point out, only allegedly Jewish-were unwilling to perform the task at any sum. Most of them were reluctant to become involved in the treatment of what the governor insists upon calling a ‘true’ Christian woman. The xuetas convincingly explained how involvement in such cases can often backfire upon conversos such as themselves.
“However, the best of these physicians-whose name I had passed on to the governor but whom, for some mysterious reason, he approached last-was the only one not to reject the commission outright. However, he was every bit as reluctant as his peers and had several stipulations-”
“Which were utterly outrageous!” the governor screeched, his jowls quivering.
Dolor might have sighed. “What were these stipulations?”
“He required at least two assistants to help him with medical procedures and getting up the hill and the stairs: he is in his late seventies. He also wanted an inordinate amount of spirits on hand.”
“Spirits?”
Don Vincente nodded. “Yes; pure alcohol. He calls it ethanol. It is an up-time term, which signifies-”
“It signifies witchery, or I’ll be buggered by a bull!”
“Ethanol is the up-time term for ‘medical alcohol’ is it not?”
Don Vincente shrugged. “Perhaps, but I think that may apply to what they call ‘methanol.’ In any event, Asher indicated that for now, he only has access to large quantities of ethanol. It is apparently quite effective at preventing infections.”
Dolor had heard this before. “Did the xueta require anything else?”
“No, but the appearance-”
“Governor, I suggest you worry less about appearances and more about your responsibilities.”
“I am, Senor Dolor-and I answer to the Carthusian Monastery for my actions, as you may be aware. So I elected to seek out a physician that was more pleasing both to God and the authorities of His Majesty. And I was fortunate enough to find one, residing for a time here in the Almudaina.”
Don Vincente cleared his throat. “If I may, Senor Dolor?”
“Yes?”
“The physician to whom the governor refers was promoted to his current position after concluding his service to the aristocracy on the mainland, where, within the last year, he bungled three births, losing two of the mothers in the process. One was the niece of a prominent nobleman.”
“A prominent nobleman who was well-known in court, I take it?”
“Very well known in court, Senor Dolor.”
“I see. So, given the prospect of having this bungler from the mainland attending the prisoner’s parturition, you decided to take matters into your own hand concerning the hiring of the xueta physician?”
Don Vincente shrugged. “Their doctors are quite proficient. This one is said to be the best.”
“And also the most uncooperative,” put in the governor. “At the captain’s repeated urging, I finally relented
