Page 27

J ulia and Gianluca walked across the drawbridge to Caterina Sforza’s castle, bought tickets at a retrofitted office, then entered a walled courtyard several stories high, constructed of narrow bricks that had faded to a soft orange over centuries.

The castle was quiet and still, and there wasn’t another tourist in sight.

Julia looked around, getting the uncanny feeling she was safe here. Her breathing was normal, and so was her heart rate. It was a relief, even if it was hard to understand. Maybe because the walls were so thick and she was decidedly Inside. After all, the castle was a fortress. Caterina’s fortress.

Julia kept her thoughts to herself as they entered a dim, cavernous corridor, where it was cooler. The walls were of stone and rough plaster, crumbling in spots, and the floor was brick, set in diagonal patterns. There were no windows, but the darkness was companionable rather than frightening.

Gianluca smiled as they walked along. “I can play tour guide, if you like. I studied for our field trip.”

“You did?” Julia asked, surprised. Her research into Caterina Sforza last night had been interrupted by a blue ghost, a vision, or whatever.

“I’m a librarian, so it’s my job to be a know-it-all.” Gianluca grinned crookedly. “I don’t want you to think I’m mansplaining, as my sister says. She’s a feminist, so’s my mother. That’s why I’m so enlightened.”

Julia smiled. “Go for it.”

“So, to begin.” Gianluca gestured to the rooms as they walked along.

“This castle is Rocca di Ravaldino and it was Caterina’s home for most of her life.

As you know, she was the daughter of the Duke of Milan, came to Forlì from there, and was married at fourteen to Girolamo Riario.

The Riarios were a noble family, but not as noble or important as the Sforzas.

He was a power-hungry guy and takes his place in history as an organizer of the Pazzi conspiracy against the Medicis, which failed.

Another noble family, the Orsis, later murdered him. ”

What? Julia stopped walking, struck by the similarity to her own life. “Caterina’s husband was murdered?”

“Yes, stabbed to death.”

No! Julia flashed on Mike, falling to the sidewalk.

Gianluca paused, eyeing her. “What? Have I said the wrong thing?”

“No, it’s okay.” Julia was surprised he noticed, then decided to explain. “Well, my husband Mike was murdered. I was mugged, and he died protecting me.”

“My God.” Gianluca recoiled, grimacing. “I’m so sorry, I assumed it was natural causes. Please forgive me.”

“No apology’s necessary,” Julia rushed to say.

“That must’ve been horrifying.” Gianluca’s dark gaze searched her face, his expression undisguised empathy, which touched her.

“Thanks, but please, finish what you were saying about Caterina.” Julia didn’t want to trauma-dump , a term her therapist used, but she didn’t understand how that was different from confiding in someone.

“Okay.” Gianluca nodded, cautiously. “Caterina ruled alone after Riario’s death, and this castle was designed by her and built to her specifications.

She was truly ahead of her time. She once said, ‘If I must lose because I am a woman, I want to lose like a man.’” Gianluca paused.

“But she was also a mother and had a domestic side that’s embodied in this castle.

You’ll see what I mean when we get to the top.

That vantage point lets you see the part of the castle that was the most special to her. ”

“Let’s go,” Julia said, on impulse. “We can start there and work our way down.”

“Good idea.” Gianluca turned around in the dim room, but there was more than one exit. “I forget how to get to the top. You’d think they’d have signage.”

“I think it’s this way.” Julia followed a hunch and ended up leading Gianluca through an archway and down a cavernous hall.

“How do you know where you’re going?” Gianluca looked over, puzzled. “I’ve been here twice and couldn’t have told you which archway to take.”

“I’m guessing.” Julia didn’t understand it herself.

“You have an excellent sense of direction.”

“Maybe,” Julia said, but she didn’t. She led Gianluca down another hallway, then the route became obvious and they walked together from room to room.

Each one was bare and dim, with tiny windows in thick walls and a brick floor.

Their footsteps echoed on the hollow stone, and there were no other tourists at all.

They turned the corner, and Julia came face-to-face with a fresco of the Sforza coat of arms, which had the same blue vipers and black dragons as the one on the ceiling over Rossi’s bed. She shuddered. “You see this, the Sforza coat of arms? There’s one in my bedroom in the villa.”

Gianluca’s eyes rounded. “Are you serious?”

“Yep, a fresco of the Sforza family tree, starting with Caterina’s mother and her father. Rossi, who might be my grandmother, commissioned it.”

“So she really believed it. And if she’s your grandmother, you’re a Sforza, too.”

“Weird, huh?”

“No, awesome .” Gianluca grinned. “I love Italian history, and you are Italian history.”

Julia laughed, which she hadn’t in a long time.

“You know, Rossi could very well have been a Sforza.” Gianluca’s eyes flashed with interest behind his glasses. “Caterina was illegitimate and she also gave birth to illegitimate children, in secret.”

“She did?”

“Yes, after the death of her husband, she fell in love with Giacomo Feo. His brother Tomasso was the castellan here, which is like the manager.” Gianluca warmed to his topic as they resumed walking down the hall.

“Caterina and Giacomo had children together and eventually married, declaring their children legitimate much later. Caterina hid her pregnancies from the Forlivese because she would have lost her right to rule. She eventually found true love with a Medici, who was her soul mate. He loved books as much as she did.” Gianluca smiled.

“Obviously, her love of books speaks to me.”

Me, too. “So Rossi’s claim that she was a Sforza could be true?”

“Yes, for sure. Children born outside of a marriage couldn’t be claimed because of the influence of the Church. Births were recorded under new names or went unrecorded.”

Julia remembered that Lombardi had said the same thing, back in Milan.

“It’s because there were so many illegitimate births in those days.”

“I guess I’m illegitimate,” Julia blurted out. “I think of myself as adopted, but I was probably born outside of a marriage.”

Gianluca cringed. “What’s the matter with me today? I’m trying to impress you and—”

“No, not at all,” Julia rushed to say. “What you said has a weird application to me. I never thought of it in a historical context.”

“Well, I majored in history and tend to see everything that way.” Gianluca smiled. “History is about the story of human beings over time. We fall in love, and sometimes we make children. It’s profoundly human.”

Julia liked his view. “Agree. Now let’s go to the top.”

They ascended brick ramps that led to one landing after the next, then climbed a cramped, narrow set of stairs, so narrow they fit one person at a time.

Julia went first, reached the top, and emerged into the warm sunshine.

Wind blew her hair wildly, and she looked around.

There was a brick wall at the perimeter with a crenelated stretch.

Gianluca came after her, his hair blowing, too. “Quite a view, huh?”

“Yes.” Julia scanned Forlì from above, a lively clutter of red tile roofs, a church spire, and buildings dotted with cypresses, palm trees, and umbrella pines. Closest to the castle were apartment houses, little shops, and the traffic rotary lined with parked cars.

“These are the battlements, or the ramparts, of the castle.”

“It’s beautiful up here.” Julia found herself taking a few steps down the walkway, which spanned the length of the castle, with arches spaced at regular intervals. Something made her stop in the middle, for some reason.

Gianluca arrived at her side. “This is where Caterina took her famous stand.”

“What stand?” Julia asked, not completely surprised. She’d known it.

“Florentine history is the story of wealthy families fighting each other for power. When Caterina became a widow, she had to defend Forlì alone. The town was valuable because of its location between Florence and Milan, and the Borgias and the other royal families wanted to rule it.” Gianluca paused.

“Caterina faced down an invading army at Rocca di Ravaldino. I mean physically faced, as a commander, a ruler, a warrior , on this very spot.”

Julia felt a tingle. The thought that Caterina herself was guiding her popped into her mind.

“The army demanded the castle in return for one of her children, whom they had captured and taken hostage. You know what she did? She famously lifted her skirt, showed them her privates, and said, ‘Kill him, I can make more!’”

“What?” Julia recoiled. It felt wrong. “She didn’t mean it. She must have been bluffing.”

“I believe that, too. It was simply the most outrageous thing a woman of the time could say, and she knew it. But that story was recorded by historians, all men, chief among them Machiavelli. He made her look like a bad mother, for all time. He did it for revenge.”

“Revenge for what?”

“Because she had previously outwitted even him. He thought she would give up her castle and tried a subterfuge to seduce her. She let him think it was working, then tricked him and threw him out. It humiliated him, since everyone knew about it, even his idol Cesare Borgia.” Gianluca’s dark eyes twinkled.

“Anyway, she saved the castle, vanquished the bad guys, and got her children back.”

“Wow.” Julia could see why Rossi idolized Caterina.