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Ounces Of Prevention

Written by Kim Mackey

When Pieter Paul Rubens entered the Brussels' home of fellow diplomat Alessandro Scaglia he was surprised to find his friend and patron, Nicolaas Rockox of Antwerp, deep in conversation with the abate.

"Nicolaas," said Rubens, clasping his friend's arm as Rockox and Scaglia rose to greet him, "I didn't know you were acquainted with Alessandro."

Scaglia smiled and motioned for Rubens to take a seat next to him. "We do share an affinity for Flemish painters. Don't we, Nicolaas?"

Rockox laughed. "Indeed we do. And since Pieter has been much occupied with the cardinal-infante's diplomatic missions, we have had to look for new artists to patronize, haven't we?"

"Actually Pieter," said Scaglia, "Nicolaas is assisting me in the purchase of a house in the Keizerstraat in Antwerp and decided to visit when he learned that Anthony Van Dyck had returned from London. You know I've always been partial to Van Dyck's work."

Scaglia sat back in his chair and his eyes sharpened. "But that is why Nicolaas is here. A more interesting question I think is why are you here, Pieter? Is that abominable siege of Amsterdam over yet?"

Rubens sighed.

When the cardinal-infante had become the governor-general of the Spanish Netherlands both he and Scaglia had offered their services to the young Spanish nobleman. Like Rubens, Scaglia had extensive diplomatic contacts throughout Europe. Unlike Rubens, however, Scaglia was acknowledged as one of Europe's premier spymasters. Originally from Savoy, Scaglia had settled in Brussels when the pro-French duke Vittorio Amedeo I had ascended to the Savoy throne. Because the duke had not wished to offend Alessandro's elder brother, Augusto Manfredo, count of Verrua, Scaglia had been permitted to retain control of all three of his commendatory abbeys and pensions held in Savoy. Those, plus the abbey of Mandanici in Sicily that had been granted by the Spanish in 1631 as a gift for his services, had allowed him to maintain a sumptuous lifestyle in one of the best houses in Brussels.

What had especially attracted the cardinal-infante's attention, however, was the abate's antipathy for Richelieu. Throughout the 1620s, Scaglia had worked hard to develop extensive diplomatic contacts in France and England for Duke Carlo Emmanuele I of Savoy. He had built an excellent working relationship with the duke of Buckingham in England and with many nobles of the French court, particularly those supporting the Protestant duc de Rohan and the queen mother, Marie de Medici. With the deaths of Buckingham in 1628 and Carlo Emmanuelle I in 1630, however, Scaglia had found himself out of favor, especially when he continued to push for the support of French Protestants as a counterweight to Richelieu's growing political power.

Like Scaglia, the cardinal-infante was apprehensive about French intentions regarding the League of Ostend and had encouraged Scaglia to maintain and broaden his contacts with the French exile community in Brussels and elsewhere. Scaglia had further cemented his relationship with the infante when his spies had uncovered a plot by leading Walloon noblemen, including the duke of Aerschot, to disconnect the Spanish Netherlands from the direct control of Spain and create a neutral territory at peace with the United Provinces. While several of the plotters had been arrested, others, including the duke, had not. That fact had intrigued both Scaglia and Rubens. It was clear to both of them that the cardinal-infante was interested in far more than being a simple creature of his older brother, the king of Spain.

Rubens waved his hand in dismissal. "Unfortunately not, Alessandro. The siege continues. The cordon is somewhat looser than it has been because the infante has had to send additional troops to Haarlem and Utrecht to put down riots and unrest by Counter-Remonstrants. The Arminians seem to be content enough with the infante's light-handed rule, but the anti-Catholic fanatics are not and continue to campaign against him."

A difficult knot to cut," mused Scaglia. "If he does not respond with force he emboldens the rebels, and if he uses too much force he makes them into martyrs for the cause."

"Precisely," said Rubens. "In this situation, maintaining adequate troop strength is a must—which brings me to the reason why I'm in Brussels."

Rubens took two manuscripts out of his valise and handed one to Scaglia and another to Rockox. For several minutes the men read with little comment beyond a mild exclamation or two.

When Scaglia was done he looked over at Rubens and smiled. "So let me guess. You have promised the infante that the wonderful mechanics and men of science of the Spanish Netherlands can make this elixir, this . . ." He glanced down at the manuscript again and pronounced the final word slowly and carefully. "Chlo-ram-phe-ni-col. Am I right?"

Rubens nodded. Scaglia looked over at Rockox. "Well Nicolaas, what do you think? The Acontians?"

"Perhaps," said Rockox dubiously. "But even then . . ." He shrugged. "There are too many unknowns here to say for sure. We need an expert's opinion."

Rubens cocked an eyebrow at Scaglia. "Acontians?"

The suggestion caught him by surprise. The Acontians were followers of Jacobus Acontius, an Italian Protestant from the last century who'd settled in England. He'd written Satanae Stratagemata in 1565 calling for the renunciation of violence in religious affairs. The Acontian society was established to further his ideas on religious tolerance and science. Rubens thought of them as similar to the Baconians; more tolerant and less dogmatic, yet more secretive. They were particularly strong in England and the Low Countries.

He knew who they were, of course, but he wouldn't have thought of them as being possibly helpful in this situation.

Rockox suddenly sat forward in his chair. "Ah, I remember now! I believe I know someone who can help us. He would never admit his Acontian connections, but I know he has been very interested in the new science coming from Grantville. And he lives close by, in Vilvorde."

"Vilvorde?" said Scaglia. "Hmmm, is this the man who did the experiment with the tree?"

Rockox nodded. "Yes, Johann Baptista von Helmont. His wife, Margaret van Ranst, is a distant cousin of mine."

Scaglia glanced out the window, noting the position of the sun.

"Let's pay him a visit, shall we? Vilvorde is less than four miles away and it's time for my afternoon carriage ride anyway."

Rubens smiled. Perhaps this wasn't such an impossible fool's errand after all. Together the three men rose and walked towards the front door.

"What you ask is impossible, gentlemen," said Johann Baptista von Helmont. "Or at least, impossible within any time span that will do the infante's army any good. Five years, at a minimum. Perhaps ten."

Rubens shook his head in dismay. Five years!

"But surely you can get other Acontians to help you? Wouldn't that speed up the process?"

"Perhaps if they were still in the Netherlands. But they have all left, including my young and adventurous son, Francis Mercury! Those that haven't gone directly to Grantville are working in Essen for the Essen Chemical Company, or teaching or taking classes at the new applied sciences university in Bochum that the Republic of Essen has established. If you want their help, you will have to provide them more incentives than Essen is offering, and that will be difficult."

Von Helmont shrugged. "From what my son writes me, the governor-general of Essen, Louis de Geer, has gone to considerable lengths to attract the best scientific minds of Europe, particularly those young people like the Acontians who haven't been weighted down by the Aristotelian nonsense that passes for science education at most universities across Europe."

"But surely the manuscript can help," said Scaglia. "It appears to be quite explicit with regards to the ingredients and apparati needed to make this chloramphenicol."

Von Helmont shrugged again. "Oh, indeed it helps, gentlemen. But the devil is in the details, to use one of the Americans' proverbs."

Von Helmont brought out the manuscript to make chloramphenicol that Rubens had given him. "For example, take the ring nitration phase of this process. Not only do I need very pure sulfuric and nitric acid, which are themselves quite difficult to obtain, but I must also find some way to keep the temperature as close to zero degrees Celsius as possible at all times." Von Helmont shook his head. "Where will the instruments come from? True, Santorio Santorio developed an air thermometer in 1612, but it was notoriously unreliable. I have a precision mercury thermometer on order from the Essen Instrument Company thanks to my son, but they have a six month backlog in all of their orders, and their priority customers in Essen have first call on any emergency equipment. If you truly want to make chloramphenicol any time in the next few years, you will have to get the cooperation of either Essen or Grantville, both in terms of ingredients and instrumentation."

Rubens sighed.

Essen.

In any reasonably normal European political environment, the Republic of Essen would have been still-born or quickly repressed by the Habsburgs. But with the League of Ostend focusing their military and diplomatic efforts on the United Provinces and the Swedish-supported United States of Europe, little outside backing could be given to Catholics along the Rhine who were alarmed at the founding of the new republic.

Still, Louis de Geer was a famous Dutch industrialist known for his pragmatism.

"So Alessandro, what do you think? Perhaps it is time we paid a visit to Essen? At the very least we can perhaps establish some useful diplomatic contacts."

Scaglia nodded and smiled. "And other contacts as well. I am interested in meeting more of these Acontians."

"God, I am so nervous."

Nicki Jo Prickett twirled when her friend, lover and confidante, Catherine Boyle, motioned for her to turn around.

Catherine eyed Nicki critically and then readjusted the silver barrette that kept Nicki's bun of black hair in place.

"Why?" said Catherine. "You've been to business and diplomatic meetings like this before. What's the expression? Piece of cake."

Nicki Jo shook her head. "Piece of cake? I don't think so. Colette and Josh are both in Grantville. All the other times I've been able to sit back and let Colette handle most of the explaining and negotiating. I was just along to provide the technical expertise and show ...