Page 409 - The Grotesque Children's Book

Chapter 76.

Six years later

Six years after Santi del Meglio’s murder, that is to say

Wednesday September 16, 1587

Years later, trial finally began in the case of Dr. Ludovico Valerius, accused of having
attempted to poison Bianca de’ Medici, the Duchess of Tuscany. Bianca, at the moment, was
still alive, but barely, shivering, feverish, often delirious, bloated and pop-eyed. She blamed the
doctor for her state, citing that she had entrusted him with her health, but he had instead slowly
over the years poisoned her, and now it was too late for her. For her and, in fact, also for her
husband, Francesco de’ Medici, whose health was not much better. He, too, was bloated,
shivering and feverish. With Duke Francesco, it was harder to tell whether he was delirious, or
merely an exaggerated version of his own eccentric personality.

The Medicis of course, at any point during the previous years, could have had the doctor
silently killed or exiled, but they felt they wanted a more public and lingering accusation, as a
deterrent for future assassins who might have an eye on ascending the Medici throne.
Specifically, Francesco was most worried about his brother, the Cardinal Francisco, the next in
line. Francesco had every intention of cleansing his body of the doctor’s evil arsenic and
continuing his reign for fifteen or twenty years more, so he was using the doctor’s trial as a
public warning for Cardinal Francisco to keep his distance or suffer the consequences.

Francesco had a new plan now. Put the doctor on trial, find him guilty, then spend a
month in Villa Medici in Poggio a Caiano and emerge healthy and whole, purged of the poison
from his system and with a balanced humidum radicale.

Did Francesco actually believe his own doctor had poisoned him? Well, the short answer
is yes. Years ago, he would not have believed so, and even now he would not bring himself to
the conceit that Valerius had had any malicious intent. Francesco did not believe that Valerius
had had any intent to harm either him or Bianca. Quite the opposite. Francesco thought the
good doctor had meant his scientific hummery-flummery about hypotheses and experimentation
to be in Bianca’s best interest. “But you simply do not use human beings as experimental testing
grounds!” he had bellowed. “Strike that. You do not use Italian Royalty as such. Do what you
wish with the underclassed.” (Yes, by now you probably want to see him poisoned as well. So
did many an Italian. He could have had his choice from any number of would-be killers upon
whom to pin the attempted murder, many of whom would probably have enjoyed the honor and
even thanked him for it.)

Dr. Ludovico Valerius was not among those who felt lucky to be accused of murder, let
alone murder of his own patients. Once I survive the trial, my reputation is ruined. No one will
hire me again. I must prevail! I must prove my innocence. He worked obsessively on his
defense, every waking hour. For he believed in such innocence, yes, he did. Bianca had

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