Torquemada Read Free Page B

many learned men, you know that.”
    â€œThe learned men!” Columbus cried. “God above us, what do the learned men know? Have you discussed it with sailors, with fishermen? My noble Lady, I abase myself – still I must say to you that sailors have known for centuries that the world is round. This is not a new idea. Have you ever heard of the expression – hull-down on the horizon – a ship with sails showing but body hidden by the curvature of the earth? Have you never heard of that expression? I abase myself before you. You are the Queen of Spain. I am nothing. Nevertheless—”
    Isabella looked up deliberately and decided to notice Alvero. She clapped her hands with pleasure. “Alvero – my dear, good friend! To come so far and so quickly for a woman who doesn’t know her own mind! Alvero, come and rescue me. This man is destroying me. This man is Columbus. He is a madman. Come to me, Alvero.”
    Alvero strode to the platform but stopped short of it and kneeled on the floor. He genuflected with real humility. This was a game he played with Isabella, yet he did not object to it. There was a strange relationship between the two of them. Isabella came to him and drew him to his feet. She instructed him to kiss her hand and he did so dutifully, and then, in a whisper in his ear, she asked him about Juan.
    â€œWho is he, my dear Alvero? He is good-looking but he seems to have no character.”
    â€œMy daughter’s fiancé.”
    â€œWell, I think your daughter could do better. Is she a pretty girl?”
    â€œVery beautiful, your Highness.”
    â€œThen she could certainly do better. Anyway, bring him here to me.” The Queen pointed to Juan and crooked her finger. “Come here to me, young man. No, don’t stand there like a fool, come here to me. Come over here and kneel down in front of me, the way your father-in-law did,” and then to Alvero, “I am afraid he is a fool, Alvero.”
    Juan came to the Queen and knelt down at the edge of the platform as he had seen Alvero do; but the Queen decided that she had lost interest in him and she took Alvero’s hand and led him up onto the platform and introduced him to Columbus. Alvero was pleased to see that if Christopher Columbus of Genoa was mad, he at least had a sense of humour. His mouth twitched and he shook hands firmly with Alvero. They liked each other. They both of them felt that. Isabella began to whine, explaining once again to Alvero that this was Signor Christopher Columbus of Genoa in Italy and that he plagued her. He had driven her to a point where she could not exist with him and she could not exist without him.
    â€œHe is willing to become a good Spaniard,” she cried petulantly, “but he cannot swear his allegiance to a Queen, no, no, no, Alvero, he must make us an Empress and find us a mighty empire in the Indies.”
    â€œI know of no woman more suited to be an Empress,” Alvero began.
    â€œI would have you whipped, you stupid man,” Isabella cried. “You think to flatter me? Every primping, strutting male in Spain practises the flattery of his Queen. Only it doesn’t become you, Don Alvero. Talk sense. You are a merchant – I think the most intelligent merchant in Spain. That’s why I sent for you. He wants a fleet of ships. Where shall we find ships or the money to buy them?”
    â€œShips, my Lady? The way to the Indies by ship is closed.”
    â€œEastward, yes,” Columbus said, “but, Señor Alvero, I propose to sail westward around the earth.”
    Both Columbus and the Queen watched Alvero’s reaction. He was staring at Columbus, less surprised than intrigued by the man’s notion. It was hardly a new notion. As Columbus said, a good many people, as a practical matter, knew that the world was round. Isabella now explained that it was his obsession. “The earth is a ball,” she said. “He