Working for Francesco Pazzi was the last place she expected to find herself. She expected even less to grow to like the job. Falling for him was the biggest surprise of all.
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Word Count: 1300
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Over the course of a year, much transpired.
Francesco married Novella Foscari and made a lasting tie with Venice that would greatly benefit all of Florence. Even after a few months of marriage, they remained irrevocably in love with each other. Despite his budding relationship with his wife, he never betrayed me to her. My service to him remained a secret, but then again my service was rarely needed.
Dealings with the Medicis also improved. Lorenzo counted on Francesco for anything that came up, and the two rekindled a friendship that had been cut too short when they were children. In fact, Lorenzo even named Francesco the godfather of his first son, Piero, when the babe was born.
Francesco's relationship with his uncle suffered, withering away till they rarely spoke at all. I thought it for the best, though it did put a slight strain on my master.
Even with everything going on, I grew bored. Francesco did not need me to spy for him as often. There were fewer schemes in Florence, and I almost regretted the fact. To cure my boredom, I worked alone and learned many things on my own.
I learned that Giuliano Medici was having an affair with Simonetta Vespucci, the woman married to an important Priori councilman.
I also learned that Lorenzo had a lover at one time, but he gave her up to work on his own marriage. A wise decision.
Jacopo Pazzi settled in and refrained from scheming for the time being, but I suspected he was merely being more discreet about it. Whenever Francesco or Guglielmo was around, he pretended to be a wounded animal just waiting for his family to accept him again.
One day while Francesco went to meet with Lorenzo, his wife slipped out to meet with Jacopo. I followed to listen while the woman and her husband's uncle discussed the strains in the family. She naively tried to console the man who preyed on her soft heart.
Before she left, Jacopo pressed her, "You weren't at the wedding of the Forli's first son Angelo a few years ago, were you?"
"No, why do you ask?" She appeared affronted by the question.
"No reason. But you are quite sure?"
She nodded confidently. "Quite. On reflection, I'm sure I do not even know them."
Something about the interaction felt off. I recognized the scheming edge in Jacopo's tone, and Novella seemed tense as she hurried out of the home to rush back to her and Francesco's home across town before her husband returned.
Later that day, I was sure she hadn't even mentioned the visit to him, for he didn't seem aware when I pried during our weekly meeting. As expected, he had no new jobs for me, so I promised to continue working on my own and keep a lookout for anything suspicious. It felt wrong to bring up his wife's secret liaison with Jacopo since I did not want to meddle in their marriage, so I did not mention it.
