Lucrezia and Alfonso are a handsome couple, I thought as I watched them dance. This wedding had been a long time in the making, and no one was more pleased than I. They’d been married in a small ceremony in a chapel in the Vatican, and the enthusiasm with which the couple said their marriage vows was plain to all.
As their dance ended, I rose and went to the floor, smiling as I approached the newlyweds. “May I steal the bride for a dance, good sir?” I said to my new brother-in-law.
He bowed and grinned amiably. “Of course, Your Eminence.”
“None of that,” I said, clapping him on the shoulder. “We are brothers now. You must call me Cesare.”
“I shall, brother!”
Alfonso turned to escort out his sister in turn, and we all took our places for the next dance.
“Oh, I do hope you and Alfonso shall become great friends, Cesare,” Lucrezia said as we danced. “I love both of you so.”
I smiled. “I am happy you are happy, Crezia. More than I can say.”
I had been alarmed when I’d heard of her depression after the death of her lover Perotto. I knew she would be upset, but I’d thought that surely she’d come to see that it was better this way. She could live her life with her new husband and not fear any threat. However, that had not been the case. And I lived in fear that one day, she would learn it had been me who’d had Perotto killed.
But I had tried to put it behind me. Lucrezia was happy, and never again would I have to hurt anyone she loved.
“You were right all along, brother,” she said as I spun her. “This was the right path for me. The divorce and the new marriage … all of it.”
“That will teach you to doubt your elder brother,” I teased.
“It will indeed.”
When the dance ended, the musicians struck up a slower one in its place. “One more, Crezia,” I said, holding on to her hand.
She beamed up at me. “Of course.”
As we danced, I asked her, “Do you remember the promise I made to you, when we were both very young?”
“You promised me many wonderful things, as a good elder brother should.”
I laughed briefly, but grew serious. “Yes, but I mean: do you remember the day I swore I would never let you be parted from your family? From me?”
She laughed. “Of course I do! I was so small and fearful of what marriage and being a woman might bring. You were so sweet to reassure me, Cesare, as always.”
“And,” I said, drawing her closer, “I have kept my promise. You and Alfonso shall reside in Rome, and you need never leave us.”
She smiled merrily. “Oh, Cesare. I would follow Alfonso anywhere.”
The dance ended, and she curtsied and I kissed her hand. I watched her walk back to her husband, positively radiant with joy, and wondered why I suddenly felt so out of sorts.