+49° 5' 39.18", +8° 32' 4.06"

"Be quiet!" says Bruno. He's listening to Bertha make a phone call, and I guess I've interrupted once too often. Through the white noise of the minivan, as we pass the towns of Untergrombach and Obergrumbach, I can just barely hear Bertha's voice. She doesn't sound quite as furious as when she was yelling at Bruno, but I can tell she's talking about something that still makes her angry.

"It's her Mom," says Bruno. "That's who she called..."

"Whom she called," says Lambert. "And Mother would be a more accurate translation..."

Bruno listens for minute. "Okay... She's telling her Mom all the same stuff she told me—how disgusting Matilda is, how Matilda complains about being a widow when everyone knows she was the one who sent the assassin to kill her husband so she could give his lands to the pope."

"Matilda took out her husband?" I say. "Godfrey the Hunchback? Everyone knows that?"

"Common wisdom in the Emperor's camp," says Lambert. "Personally, my money's on Robert of Flanders."

"Shh!" says Bruno... "That was just the warm-up. Here's what really pisses her off—Matilda gave her a message from Agnes."

"Wait a minute," I say. "I know who that is! It's Henry's mother, right? Agnes of Poitou!"

"Well, Agnes used to be his mother," says Lambert. "Since Henry's been excommunicated, I would imagine the dowager would say she has no son."

"Bertha says that Matilda saw Agnes in Rome," says Bruno. "Apparently Matilda always makes a point of visiting Agnes in her convent, whenever she's in the old town. That really makes Bertha sick.... wait—now she's on to a new subject... and... what? It's Conrad! They're talking about Conrad! Agnes told Matilda that she couldn't stop thinking about Conrad."

"How grandmotherly," says Lambert.

"Agnes went on and on about Conrad—his pale skin and sensitive eyes—his passivity and obedience—his aptitude for a life of holiness and scholarship. At least that's what Matilda told Bertha," says Bruno.

"An unmistakable message," says Lambert. He turns to me. "Do you see where this is going?"

"Uh... no," I say. "Not really...."

"Boy oh boy!" says Bruno. "Listen to this! Agnes would love to have to have Conrad visit her in Rome. And both Matilda and Agnes are certain, absolutely certain, that that Pope would take a personal interest in Conrad's education."

"Well," says Lambert. "the little Duke is quite a prize."

"What's the big deal?" I say. "So what if Agnes wants her grandson to visit her in Rome?"

Bruno stops listening and turns toward me. "Don't you get it?" he says.

A Mercedes zips by—a big one. That's the fastest car I've seen yet out here on the autobahn.

"He doesn't get it," says Lambert. "Tell him."

"Well, in Bertha's opinion," says Bruno, "Matilda and Agnes are trying to steal her son."

"Not to mention Lower Lotharingia," says Lambert.

"That's why she's angry," says Bruno. He looks back at Conrad, sleeping in his kindersitz.

"And she's quite correct," says Lambert.

"Hell yeah," says Bruno. "A lotta people would like to grab that kid."

In the mirror, I see that Bertha is still on the phone—but now she's just listening. Maybe her mother has problems of her own.