5. the riches of santiago chapter 4. don paulo cardenal--the noble

7/30/2019 5. The Riches of Santiago Chapter 4. Don Paulo Cardenal--The Noble

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THE RICHES OF SANTIAGO

BOOK ONE

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Chapter Four:

The Cardenal Compound

The Don Paulo Cardenal emitted a satisfied grunt as the little blond

creature, so unusual for this part of the world, struggled under his

grip. Cardenal thrust slowly back and forth while tightening his

grip around the boys throat, both adding to his own pleasure and

muting the childs complaints. Just as he reached his climax, he

could almost feel the hyoid bond snapping under the pressure of

his hands. Pleasant warmth infused him as he released the now

lifeless body and continued his patient thrusting, deriving every

last ounce of pleasure from the experience.

His rank desires came less frequently these days, and thank God,

because this one would cost him dearly. Monsignor Douay would

be deeply offended, and nothing less than a major donation to


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the Cathedral would suffice, but Cardenal knew that Douay would

provide again the next time he needed relief. Oh, hed be full of

admonishments and warnings about the consequences if anything

should befall this wonderful little creature with a bright and

promising future, but hed deliver nevertheless, and extort his

pound of flesh in the aftermath. One day, Cardenal was certain,

Douay would overstep and Cardenal would send him to his own

private Purgatory. Perhaps hed send Aguilar for a visit. Or better

yet, perhaps hed arrange for one of the nuns to catch Douay in

flagrante, as it were, with one of these darling little creatures.

Really, did Douay truly think Cardenal was blind to Douays own

pleasures?

Cardenal rinsed himself off in a basin filled with water warmed by

the fire downstairs. He recovered his shirt and britches and began

dressing in front of a mirrored wardroom. He was an unusually

unattractive man in his mid-thirties with a mustache and beard that

grew in wispy patches and failed to conceal a weak and double

chin. Although taller than the average Spaniard, a habitual slouch

and accumulating pot belly conveyed the appearance of a lesserman. He avoided all manner of stylish clothing, favoring head to

toe black wool which, since he rarely ventured outdoors,

contributed to a cadaverous pallor. Still, his family position


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allowed him to think of himself as an eligible and highly attractive

bachelor.

He finished dressing and returned to the silent body lying in his

bed. He stroked the boys hair from his forehead and sighed as he

looked down on him. He looked so peaceful, perhaps for the first

time in his short life. Well, not in life actually, but no need to be

macabre. Hed brought a burlap sack into which he stuffed the

frail body and the bedclothes. Ordinarily his valet would see to its

disposal, but this time there was a certain warehouse that might be

a more useful location. That might require Aguilars involvement.

Hed have to think about that.

Aguilars financial demands were increasing. It was certainly past

time to replace Aguilar, but he was exceedingly competent,

making it simultaneously more imperative and more dangerous to

replace him. Someone with the skill to dispose of Aguilar would

likely be as expensive, and although perhaps not as intimidating,

but hed likely be every bit as formidable. Cardenal could not trust

just anyone with the job; failure would expose Cardenal toAguilars revenge and he had no doubts Aguilar would seek it.

Still, the financial demands were a problem.


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Gold was in short supply these days, a problem usually resolved

with the arrival of one of his familys ships from Mexico. The

Cardenal clan had long held a monopoly on the Nao de China, or

Manila Galleon, trade. Their ships would depart Acapulco laden

with silver dug from the mines of Mexico and Peru by the

indigenous slaves, and then sail to Manila where the silver would

purchase all of the riches of the Orient, silks, spices and porcelain.

The galleons would then return to Acapulco, the goods offloaded

and carted across Mexico to Vera Cruz and then home to Spain,

where they would be converted to gold by the massive European

demand for silks and spices.

But over the last several years, problems were intervening. As

always, ships disappeared during the long voyages across both the

Pacific and the Atlantic. More than a century before they had

learned to spread their risk by sending two or three ships at diverse

times during the year, and to have them protected by a convoy of

His Majestys fleet. Nevertheless, the sailing was difficult.

Despite stern orders to stay below the 30th parallel of North

Latitude, ships captains, cognizant of the bonuses from rapidcrossings, would usually venture further North seeking trade winds

to hasten their voyage. Although often quicker, the more northerly

trade routes were significantly more dangerous, many ships


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foundering in either the heavy seas or the unpredictable shores of

Alta California.

Losses of ships and crews, costly though they were, were

somewhat to be expected and planned for. They werent bright

people, Cardenal thought, else why would they find themselves in

dangerous waters and high seas? Although the scion of an historic

shipping clan, he himself rarely boarded a ship, and never to cross

an ocean. Although he would prefer to be coached from Cadiz to

Barcelona, he would occasionally, in the interest of saving time,

sail, but only after giving strict instructions that the captain should

never lose sight of land. It could hardly be surprising then, people

so careless of their own safety should be equally careless about

ship and crew. Crews were unimportant, sailors being an

inexpensive commodity; ships on the other hand were expensive,

both in the cost and the time to build. Hence losing one,

particularly one loaded with silver or costly goods put a strain on

family finances and resources. Ship insurers helped by reducing

some of the cost of lost ships and cargoes, but the best insurers

were in London and although the familys international contactsallowed for some contact with the British through intermediaries,

the political climate made insurance through London simply

unavailable for many of their voyages, thereby forcing the family


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to rely on less stable, and less reputable, insurers from Madrid or

Amsterdam.

The best protection against ship loss was to entrust their vessels to

the best ship captains, those who managed to cross the oceans with

the greatest speed but who could be relied upon to bring their ships

to port undamaged. Over the last century and a half, his family

had been particularly adept at hiring the best captains, at least by

the measure of quick and successful crossings, but of late Cardenal

was experiencing misfortune. In the interest of saving money, he

had eliminated the captains bonus structure. Too many of their

captains, or so it seemed to him, had begun to view their ships as

their own, using excessive bonuses to finance an elegant lifestyle

on two coasts in Manila and Acapulco. Many of these captains

supported wives and childrenin both ports. Eliminating the bonus

was the Godly thing to do. God wanted man to have one wife, and

if they were going to use bonuses to support a polygamous

lifestyle, an abomination according to the Church, then Cardenal

was justified in eliminating the bonus. After all, he paid them

more than they were worth even without the bonus. Unfortunately,since the imposition of the new pay structure, several captains had

deserted, crew and all. Cardenal had heard that a Portuguese

shipping company had hired some to sail ships around the African


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cape, a shorter journey, and one through much better charted

waters that allowed the ships to almost stay within sight of land,

but not one without its own dangers.

Nevertheless, the dangers of voyages and the perfidy of captains

were not, to Cardenal, the primary causes of his current

misfortune. That blame he laid at the feet of Spains reigning

monarch, His Most Catholic Majesty, Charles III. Just the thought

of his name could make Cardenal spit. The issue of a Portuguese

clan luring his captains away for a little extra money was just one

instance. No one expected these captains to have any loyalty; they

were mercenaries. But if Charles III had any courage or sense of

self-preservation, he should have demanded that the Portuguese

King, Joseph I, discourage his subjects from raiding the captains

and crews of Spanish ships. After all, what was the purpose of all

the Royal Family inter-marriages if influence was not to be used to

further the interests of Spains leading commercial families? The

Portuguese King and the Spanish King were brothers-in-law twice

over Queen Marianne of Portugal was Charles younger sister,

and Josephs elder sister Barbara was the widow of Charles olderbrother Ferdinand VI, whose death had brought Charles the crown

of Spain. Surely Charles could have brought pressure to bear on

Joseph to get him to prevent the raiding. But Joseph was a weak


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man and worthless monarch having all but ceded the throne to his

minister, the Marquis of Pombal. If only Charles were so pliant.

There were ministers at the Spanish Court that Cardenal could

work with.

The King himself, and his Enlightened ideas, was another story.

Hed been a disaster almost from the first day of his rule, but what

burned Cardenal the most were Charles actions during the Seven

Years War, a perfectly wonderful war from Cardenals viewpoint,

at least during its first six years. From 1756 to 1762 Britain and

France, Spains primary competitors for European mastery, waged

exquisite war against each other, banging each others heads all

over the world, destroying armies and resources, and leaving

Spain, and in particular Spains ruling families, alone to mine

silver, trade with the rest of the world, and grow richer. This

idyllic chapter had come crashing to an end when Charles, in his

foolish and grossly misplaced familial loyalty, had signed the

Bourbon Family Compact with his cousin, Louis XV of France.

This alliance reversed Spains previous course of neutrality in the

war just as England was gaining the upper hand. Once Spainbecame involved in the war, the British occupied Cuba and the

Philippines which completely disrupted Cardenals Manila Galleon

trade. Although both colonies had been recovered at the Treaty of


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Paris in 1763, Spain had been forced to cede Florida, another

important asset and port in the New World, to the English, and the

British occupancy of the Philippines was only just now coming to

an end. Cardenals profits had suffered a four-year interruption,

and Charles III acted as if it were Cardenals fault, not his own.

Perhaps Charles would cease being a problem in the near future.

The Jesuit certainly had an interesting idea in that regard. But of

course, one couldnt ever trust a Jesuit, not that Cardenal really

ever placed trust in any other human being. After all, who knew

what disgusting habits they might be concealing? Fortunately,

trust was not the issue with the Jesuit. Money wasnt even the

Jesuits primary concern, although he was rational enough to

understand that money solved many problems. The Jesuit was

interested in one thing only: power. He thought of it as power for

the Church, power for the Jesuits, but Cardenal was hardly fooled

by that masquerade. No, the Jesuit was interested in power,

unadulterated power, wielded by him alone. And Cardenal had the

money, or at least the appearance of money, to grease whatever

wheels the Jesuit needed greasing in order to attain that power.

Of course the Jesuit was wrong on two counts. Money was power;

and Cardenal had little enough of each at the moment. Fortunately


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both those deficiencies would soon be rectified. The San Blas

would arrive tomorrow, loaded with surprises for many of the

players in this game. None of them would get the goodies they

thought the San Blas was carrying, but each of them would pay

Cardenal handsomely regardless. And on the power front, the

Jesuits idea was brilliant indeed. So brilliant that control of the

Bible could not be left in the tender hands of the Church, even such

competent hands as Soldevillas. No, Cardenal had a better idea

than that, and this evening Aguilar would bring it to fruition.

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5. the riches of santiago chapter 4. don paulo cardenal--the noble

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