Heresy Read Online Free

known cosmos—the universe without end and the universal soul, of which we are all a part.”
    I thought he might laugh then, but instead he looked thoughtful.
    “Sounds like dangerous sorcery to me, Bruno. And what would you prove? That there is no God?”
    “That we are all God,” I said, quietly. “The divinity is in all of us and in the substance of the universe. With the right knowledge, we can draw down all the powers of the cosmos. When we understand this, we can become equal to God.”
    Sidney stared at me in disbelief.
    “Christ’s blood, Bruno! You cannot go about proclaiming yourself equal to God. We may not have the Inquisition here, but no Christian church will hear that with equanimity—you will be straight for the fire.”
    “Because the Christian church is corrupt, every faction of it—this is what I want to convey. It is only a poor shadow, a dilution of an ancient truth that existed long before Christ walked the earth. If that were understood, then true reform of religion might be possible. Men might rise above the divisions for which so much blood has been spilled, and is still being spilled, and understand their essential unity.”
    Sidney’s face turned grave. “I have heard my old tutor Doctor Dee speak in this way. But you must be careful, my friend—he collected many of these manuscripts of ancient magic during the destruction of the monastic libraries, and he is called a necromancer and worse for it, not just by the common people. And he is a native Englishman, and the queen’s own astrologer too. Do not get yourself a reputation as a black magician—you are already suspicious as a Catholic and a foreigner.” He stepped back and looked at me with curiosity. “This book, then—you believe it is to be found in Oxford?”
    “When I was living in Paris, I learned that it was brought out of Florence at the end of the last century and, if my adviser spoke the truth, it was taken by an English collector to one of the great libraries here, where it lies unremarked because no one who has handled it has understood its significance. Many of the Englishmen who travelled in Italy were university men and left their books as bequests, so Oxford is as good a place as any to start looking.”
    “You should start by asking John Dee,” Sidney said. “He has the greatest library in the country.”
    I shook my head. “If your Doctor Dee had this book, he would know what he held in his hands, and he would have made this revelation known by some means. It is still to be discovered, I am certain.”
    “Well, then. But don’t neglect Walsingham’s business in Oxford.” He slapped me on the back again. “And for Christ’s sake don’t neglect me,Bruno, to go ferreting in libraries—I shall expect some gaiety from you while we are there. It’s bad enough that I must play nursemaid to that flatulent Pole Laski—I’m not planning to spend every evening with a clutch of fusty old theologians, thank you. You and I shall go roistering through the town, leaving the women of Oxford bowlegged in our wake!”
    “I thought you were to marry Walsingham’s daughter?” I raised an eyebrow, feigning shock.
    Sidney rolled his eyes. “When the queen deigns to give her consent. In the meantime, I do not consider myself bound by marriage vows. Anyway, what of you, Bruno? Have you been making up for your years in the cloister on your way through Europe?” He elbowed me meaningfully in the ribs.
    I smiled, rubbing my side.
    “Three years ago, in Toulouse, there was a woman. Morgana, the daughter of a Huguenot nobleman. I gave private tuition to her brother in metaphysics, but when her father was not at home she would beg me to stay on and read with her. She was hungry for knowledge—a rare quality in women born to wealth, I have found.”
    “And beautiful?” Sidney asked, his eyes glittering.
    “Exquisite.” I bit my lip, remembering Morgana’s blue eyes, the way she would try and coax me to laughter