"I have been looking for a chance to meet Messer Giancarlo. Tonight I waited outside the Monaldeschi palace, hoping that you would emerge from the reception in a good mood. While I and my fellows were hanging about the palace, we chanced to see those brigosi lurking in the shadows nearby. When you came out, it was you they chose to follow, so we followed them. When you went down this alley, we took to the rooftops, the better to surprise your enemies." "Why were you looking for me?" Lorenzo asked gruffly. "I heard that you pay well for men who are adept with sword and dagger and who ask no questions about what they might be hired for." "I also like a man who does not talk much," said Lorenzo. "You talk a great deal." "Yes, Messer Giancarlo." Sordello lowered his eyes. Again, that disarming humility. The man was resourceful and quick-thinking. He was arrogant one moment, humble the next. "How did you come to Orvieto, Sordello?" Daoud asked him. "I served Sigismundo Malatesta, governor of Rimini, until his death," said Sordello. "Since then I have not found a suitable master. I was traveling south, thinking perhaps of offering my sword to King Manfred, when I heard of you, Messer Giancarlo, while passing through Viterbo." Daoud felt uneasy, hearing that Lorenzo's recruiting expeditions were being gossiped of in the cities around here. And how easily Sordello had been able to make the connection between Giancarlo and David of Trebizond. Just as Tilia had said, it was impossible to hire men without attracting attention. He realized Lorenzo was waiting for him to speak. "You may walk with us to Cardinal Ugolini's mansion," Daoud said. When they emerged from the alley, there was no sign of the Filippeschi. Two of Sordello's men walked in front of Daoud and Lorenzo, and Sordello and the other man followed behind them. The wine had worn off altogether, but Daoud felt a throbbing pain behind his eyes and a great need to sleep. "Well?" Lorenzo said, keeping his voice low. "The man wants us to hire him." "We need more men, and we want clever street fighters," said Daoud. "He is that." "Yes, but he is the type of man I detest," said Lorenzo. "I did not need him to kill that Filippeschi bravo for me. He acts before he thinks." "After tonight we may not have to attack the French directly," Daoud said. "On the other hand, we are sure to have further need of bodyguards, and I think Sordello and his three companions would suit. Let us give ourselves time to think. Tell him you will meet him and give him our answer in two days." XXVI It could not be worse, Rachel thought. She could not be more degraded. An old man, and a Tartar. Were the Tartars even human, she wondered, or was she about to commit the further abominable sin of mating with an animal? The door had closed behind him with a terribly final sound, and he was standing in front of it, showing his teeth, large and strong and very white, in a broad grin.