Bride of Vengeance

- Charming, Gino, charming. - My Lord Duke.

Well, what duties have I left undone as usual?

- My Lord Duke... - Give my good Gino 10 florins.

Silver, I trust?

I have a reputation for extravagance to maintain. Gold!

Proceed.

My Lord Duke, Cesare Borgia has invited you to Rome.

His invitation is still unanswered!

- But, My Lord Duke, the Borgia! - Ignore the Borgia.

Ignore?

But, Duke, how can we ignore the man who wants to conquer the world?

Already his troops have overrun Imola, Forli, and Pesaro.

Cesare Borgia menaces every one of the 32 independent states in Italy.

- My Lord... - Count Peruzzi?

May I speak bluntly?

My dear old friend, as bluntly as you please.

I can no longer keep silent. Believe me, I mean no disrespect.

But for these many months past, you have been a changed man.

In our hour of great peril, with Cesare Borgia on the march,

you've become frivolous, indolent and neglectful of your duties.

You dawdle away your hours in a locked and guarded foundry casting a statue.

You spend money on this effigy

that might better be spent to strengthen our defenses.

It's a statue of the god, Jupiter. A present from me to the city.

And I'm shocked at Ferrara's ingratitude, and deeply hurt.

I'm sorry you think so little of me, my old friend.

It is not I who think little of you, My Lord, but Cesare Borgia.

The bull will first trample upon the weak.

Why else would he insolently summon you to Rome to appear before him

as one summons a servant?

Peruzzi, what are you saying?

My Lord, the summons was not insolent, it was most gracious.

And graciousness compels you to accept!

- So, you want me to go to Rome? - Your acceptance is long overdue.

And let the bull sweeten my wine with arsenic?

Even the bull would not murder a guest.

Well, they say he murdered his own brother.

It was never proven, My Lord.

- Merely a family quarrel, I suppose. - Yes, My Lord.

Perhaps you're right.

It may be only that the bull desires my company.

But I must confess, I have long waited to look upon his sister, Lucretia.

They tell me she's a lily, a veritable tiger lily.

A lily whose petals drip poison.

But messieur Filippo is the connoisseur of antidotes.

Snake bites, tarantulas, hemlock. I've cures for them all.

But I confess, I long to test my skill against Borgia venoms.

Then you'll accept his invitation?

Never! Magnificence, I beg of you, be your father's son.

The bull will make war on us when and if it suits his convenience.

We cannot stay him with appeasement.

If we must die, let it not be groveling at this tyrant's feet in Rome.

Let us die standing here, in Ferrara, like men.

In the gallery! Guard the doors!

- Men of arms, to the gallery! - Seal off the entrances!

Watch the stairs!

The horns of the bull are long.

The assassin is still at large, My Lord.

Continue the search with all available men.

Yes, magnificence.

We leave at once, Filippo.

Whatever the bull's intention, it'll be easier to discover it

face to face with him in Rome.

- Easier, My Lord, but more dangerous. - Dangerous?

The Duke of Ferrara, who has lately become notorious

as the greatest fool in all Italy?

An excellent disguise, My Lord.

Trust me, I shall wear it with a flourish.

Mercy, My Lord Cesare, mercy!

Let him go free.

But he must, of course, leave pledges with us

to ensure that he no longer slanders Madonna Lucretia.

- And those will be? - His tongue and his right hand.

Do I please you, my brother?

You were always at your best in my colors.

- Gemma. - Yes, Excellency.

My black pearls. And hurry, death is getting impatient.

- Yes, Your Excellency. - Well, that's my dog, Fury, not Death.

- Death? - My pearls against your chain it's Fury.

Hold that dog. Quiet there!

Take your pearls.

But you won.

What I win is yours, sister. My lovely sister.

- You're very generous today. - I like to see you happy.

I want you to have your heart's desire.

And if I desire something you do not possess?

I would possess myself of it.

Suppose I ask for a state of my own, a great state.

Venice, perhaps, or Milan or Florence? Which one should I ask for, brother?

Ask for them all. Ask for every state in Italy,

all combined in one great nation under the banner of the bull.

- Cesare... - Our banner.

- Can it be done? - You believe in me?

I do. But so many states.

Many or few, if I can deal with them one by one.

Madonna Lucretia has marvelous taste.

Where does she find these exquisite figurines?

They find them in tombs. They're all over the place.

They're excavating...

Is that why the Duke of Ferrara is here? Have you spoken to him yet?

I'm letting him worry.

He doesn't look worried.

I resent this.

Here, in eternal Rome, you stole into your gardens

and dig up statues as if they were turnips.

Now, in Ferrara, we have to fashion our own.

How unfortunate.

My dear Duke, you have my deepest sympathy.

- Tell me, cousin Alfonso... - Eleonora?

Why do you play the fool here in Rome?

Do I seem more foolish than usual, my beautiful cousin of Mantua?

Don't fence with me, Alfonso. I'm a D'Este, too. You're in danger here.

I brought messieur Filippo with his antidotes,

but it's heartening to know that I have another ally here.

You can count on me. I've made several useful connections during my visit here.

Money opens lips as well as locks even in the court of Cesare...

All the same, I should like to show you my big Jupiter

when next you visit my little Ferrara.

- When do you take his little Ferrara? - Never fight for what you can buy.

Or buy what you can get for nothing. Shall we go?

Without the beloved and princely Bisceglie?

Where's my husband, Gemma?

He's having his mustache perfumed, Madonna.

And telling the barber how he always kills the boar.

Fifty ducats he kills the boar today.

A hundred and fifty he kills the boar today.

A thousand that I kill the boar today.

- My sweet. - Our Cesare won't risk his money.

- Not against the best hunter in Italy. - He's jealous of you, darling.

Everyone's jealous of me, and with good reason.

No, no, please. Stop it. No, no, we must leave.

You fool!

My pearls! Now I'm very angry with you!

I'll buy you 20 ropes of pearls.

I don't want them, Cesare gave these to me.

I'll never forgive you.

Then you leave me no reason to exist!

You lunatic, you'll kill yourself!

- Am I forgiven? - No.

- Then farewell! - No!

It's the prince.

Lucretia, you're a wicked girl.

Someday you'll tease him so, he'll somersault himself right into his grave.

Gemma.

- Bravo! - Bravo!

He'll break his neck one of these days, that Neapolitan monkey.

God forbid.

Then Madonna Lucretia would be inconsolable.

I'd dry her eyes.

Don Michelotto, the prince Bisceglie is my brother-in-law

and my close friend, and I dislike your tone.

I'm a better man than that jumping jack of Naples will ever be.

You can hardly expect me to agree with you, my friend.

- Officially. - The man's a centaur!

That's better, My Lord.

Now, when do we march? My men are getting restless.

We're moving north against Venice.

Venice, why?

With Venice and Naples in my pocket, no other state would dare withstand me.

That's all very well, but Ferrara lies here between us and Venice.

Will they fight if we march through their territory?

I've asked the Duke of Ferrara here to discuss the matter with him.

I hope to persuade him not to oppose us.

And if he won't be persuaded?

The Roman fever is notoriously prevalent this year.

They say it is caused by exhalations from the swamps.

And if the Duke of Ferrara should...

Whoever succeeds him may be more inclined to discuss matters my way.

My Lord Duke, you promised me a state.

Yes, but the health of his Highness of Ferrara comes first.

He'd risk his life...

Bravo!

Hello to Ferrara.

He's quite an acrobat, your brother-in-law.

Forgive me for delaying our conversation.

Conversation?

My purpose in inviting you to Rome...

You want to buy my Jupiter. I knew it!

I need your friendship, not your Jupiter.

Certainly, certainly, certainly, certainly.

And this, I must impress upon you, is a secret.

Better not tell me. I know myself.

A glass of wine, a pretty woman, and where's your secret?

Bravo! Bravo!

I'm moving against Venice.

But why, when Rome is so comfortable?

Therefore I need a military alliance,

permitting my troops to enter Ferrara to set up a base of operations there.

I see.

Well, unfortunately, I'm really not too familiar with these matters,

but I believe Ferrara already has a military alliance with Venice.

- Break it. - Break it?

Break it?

But my dear Duke, we are friends.

But, well, my people, they don't know you as I do.

- And it isn't as if I had... - Enough...

- Do you read Latin? - Enough for a duke.

Read this, then.

Well, I should translate that very roughly,

as "Cesare or nothing."