Chapter 16: Cesar Mercury
I woke up well before dawn, determined to find a solution to the intrusions of that scoundrel, Ricco Ermete, and to inform my Iryssa of his dishonourable manipulations. A carriage would been of great use to reach the smith’s shop in the briefest time possible, but of course at this hour looking for a carriage was as useless as trying to find a needle in a haystack.
I thus walked hastily, and I would have run if that had not made me appear as a sinister fugitive, and finally I reached the smith’s shop. I knew he would not be at work so early, but his shop was connected to the humble abode where he lived, and I gave three loud knocks on the door to make sure he heard. For a while he did not open, and so I knocked again, tapping my feet impatiently on the frozen pavement. This time the smith came at the door, manifesting his presence with an angry grumble.
“Who is it at this time? This is the smith’s shop, not an asylum for insane somnambulists!”, he spoke loudly
“Sir, I apologize for awakening you at this early hour. This is Cesar Mercury, and my rooms have been broken into. I thus need your urgent help to prevent further intrusions”, I replied as humbly as my nature would allow me to
The door opened. It was dark inside the shop and the smith’s face, unshaved and capped by flocks of hair disheveled by the night’s sleep, had a ghostly appearance behind the shivering flame of the candle.
“I regret the accident sir, but you could have nonetheless waited till a more civil hour before knocking at my door”, the smith said, still irritated but starting to soften.
“I apologize”, I repeated
“Well, since I am awake I might as well get my day started”, the man said
“I have to run some urgent errands, but I can leave you the address and the keys, and you could perhaps take care of this business for me”, I proposed, in a hurry to look for Iryssa
“The keys? Didn’t you just say that your rooms were broken into?”, the smith objected with a bewildered expression
“The scoundrel who breaks in the place picks the lock without breaking it, he comes and goes as he pleases as if he had the keys”, I explained
The smith studied me oddly, as if pondering if I was not truly mad after all.
“I need a new lock, a sturdy one, an unbreakable one”, I said, interrupting his unspoken thoughts, handing him a bagful of coins well more generous than needed.
The smith took it, weighting the sum with a growingly perplexed expression.
“You do not need to pay me the full amount now”, he replied
“I much appreciate your honesty, and this is why I wish you to have the full amount now. But please build me the best lock you can make, and go to the address I gave you as soon as humanly possible”, insisted
“Well sir, at your service. I will get dressed, because as you understand I was still in bed when you called on me, and I will begin working on your lock. I shall complete the task as early as noon”, the smith said, taking a step back to indicate that, as far as he was concerned, our deal was concluded
“I will come back here to have the key”, I added
“Oh yes, of course”, the smith said nodding
I nodded back, thanked him and left with hasty steps, feeling the eyes of the smith observe me as I walked away
It was still early for the apothecary shop to be open, but I decided to head towards it and wait in a corner close-by, from where I could observe the door unseen and hopefully meet Iryssa there alone, without the presence of her uncle or, worse still, of Ricco Ermete.
The circumstances happened to be on my side, somehow compensating me for the anguished turmoil of the previous days. I was not very far from the smith’s shop when I noticed a capped figure which, because of the supple graciousness of the movements, could only belong to a young woman. I wondered what a girl could do alone at this hour of the day, when a red lock of hair slipped out the vest’s hat. My heart began racing and I hastened my steps, wishing to see the girl’s traits with clarity before she took a turn or stepped in any door. As I did so Iryssa perceived my presence and turned, gasping with surprise when her eyes met mine.
“Ah!”, she exclaimed, and was probably about to add something when I interrupted her
“I was looking for you, I had in mind to come look for you at the apothecary shop…”, I began, before Iryssa interrupted my sentence
“At this hour?!”, she asked stunned
“Yes, yes, because I what I need to tell you is of the greatest importance”, I explained
Iryssa rounded her eyes and arched her brows in surprise
“Yes, of the greatest importance. The reason for which I am here is that I just called the smith to have him change the lock on my laboratory’s door and place on it the strongest one he can make. I will proceed to explain the cause for such extreme measures and my haste in obtaining a replacement for my lock, but I would wish to ask first…”, I was saying
“Why I am here”, Iryssa concluded for me
“Yes, why you are here, if I may ask”, I confirmed, almost startled by her boldness and intuition
“I am here because one of our best clients has fallen sick and sent his servant to ask for the same remedy I had prepared for his wife in the past, since the medicine had cured her so well. After I prepared the drug my uncle was hesitant to send me out with the dark. However he himself is ill, and I refused to let him get out of bed. So here I am, and here you are, hopefully satisfied with my explanation”, Iryssa concluded with a mocking smile painted on her face
“Certainly, I…I am certainly glad I found you, and perhaps I can walk with you awhile?”, I proposed shyly
“If you have the time to walk all the way to the shop I will prepare one of my morning infuses for you, since I doubt you had any food or drink since you woke this morning”, Iryssa told me, her smile motherly now, with only the slightest fleck of mockery
“Thank you, I would be delighted to”, I accepted, touched, once more, by the sharpness of her intuition, then added, almost abruptly, “As I was telling you I am changing the laboratory’s lock because Ricco Ermete broke in not once, but twice”
“Ricco Ermete? Are you sure you are not mistaken about the person’s identity?”, Iryssa exclaimed, stopping short and facing me with an astounded expression
“Unfortunately I am not mistaken Iryssa, since I even spoke to Ricco Ermete during both occasions”, I began
Iryssa was about to interrupt me, but I raised my hand for her to listen
“Let me explain. The first time I found him in my laboratory, and I asked irritably how he could enter my lab, and why he was there. He contended that the door was unlocked, and that he had entered supposing I was there. I felt some suspicion, but gave the man the benefit of the doubt. Yesterday I found the scoundrel in the laboratory again, and this time he got caught like a kid with his hands in the jam”, I said
“Truly?”, Iryssa asked
“Yes, his hands were full with my samples, and he had even stuffed samples in his pockets! How outrageous! Would you believe me if I told you that he insisted I was distorting his meaning and that his intention was not dishonorable as I thought?”, I raged
“I am surprised by what I am hearing. I have known Ricco for about one year now, he is a fairly quiet man who never shared much about his life, but never gave me any reason to doubt about his honesty either”, Iryssa said, eyes lowered, almost talking to herself
“I regret to give your grief, I know Ricco Ermete works with you and now you are finding yourself in an uncomfortable position”, I said apologetically
“But you should beware of him, and may I suggest that you speak with your uncle because it is not safe for either of you to have that scoundrel around, let alone to work elbow to elbow with him”, I continued, my tone more confident now, determined as I was to protect Iryssa
“I will ask Ricco to explain…”, Iryssa began
“But of course he will deny the facts, and when he’ll know you are aware of his misconduct he might turn into a greater peril than he is now”, I objected
“I might seem like a frail woman to you, but there is more strength in me than you expect”, Iryssa replied, her eyes looking straight into mine, with an almost defiant assurance
“I trust you Iryssa, but remember how treacherous the man is!”, I insisted, not wanting to offend Iryssa’s pride and yet fearing for her
“Every man and woman can be treacherous”, she said enigmatically, then seemed surprised at her own words, as if not she, but someone else, had spoken them
I felt as if I had been hit by an unbearable blow, and I perceived a piercing pain that was almost physical.
Iryssa saw the sadness of my wounded soul, and said, “Oh ignore what I just said, I myself don’t know what I meant…”, but as she spoke she appeared saddened herself by some sort of sudden realization
“Why don’t we just head towards the shop for that warm morning infuse”, she then continued, her tone cheerful and oblivious of the pervious moment. I was confounded by the swift change, but nonetheless gladdened by the mirthful turn in the conversation.
At last I was not able to receive my infuse though, because when we reached the shop Iryssa’s uncle was up from bed, grinding some herbs while still wearing his nightgown. We spotted his presence in the dimly lit shop from a distance, so Iryssa and I parted with the promise of seeing each other tomorrow.
“Tomorrow I will have few guests for dinner. These men belong to the exiguous group of illuminated souls elated by science, and they would be honoured by your company if you accept to join”, I said
“I will be enchanted”, she accepted, with an élan in her tone I did not expect
“I will send a carriage for you”, I said
“I have your address and I know my way”, she replied firmly, with a sweet smile painted on her blossom lips
I opened my arms in surrender, and she giggled, for the first time since we had met, walking away as a carefree kid.