Caprice and Rondo - Dorothy Dunnett [152]
‘Doesn’t he deserve it?’ Father Moriz had said. And they had been silent because, of course, the chaplain was right. At the same time, none of them felt free of unease over Gelis, and it was this mood which prevailed on the day they rode out to escort her into Bruges.
The encounter was formal but pleasant enough: the Flemish party was cheered to see Dr Tobie but amazed at the number of soldiers. What were they carrying that needed so much armed protection? Jogging into the city, Dr Tobie was quizzed by the chaplain, and returned a piercing pale stare, at odds with his bland, rosy face. ‘What do you think is most worth protecting, of all that that idiot has left her? The guard is for Jodi.’
The priest, being astonished (that idiot?), allowed his eyebrows to rise. The child, he had to admit, had impressed him, trotting flushed and dimpled and fair between his nurse and his beautiful mother. So had the composure of the same mother, subtly increased in authority. Moriz remarked, ‘Because he is the crown prince, do you mean? It seems to Diniz that the Lady is about to supplant him, and possibly Gregorio and Julius as well.’
‘Then tell him that Gregorio doesn’t feel threatened. He didn’t want Gelis to leave. Or don’t tell him. He’ll find out soon enough for himself.’
He was probably right. It was equally possible that Gelis had never been deeply committed to Venice, except as a testing-ground. The business in Bruges, grown from the dyeworks of Marian de Charetty, had been the heart and fount of Nicholas’s empire, indeed of his life. Gelis might well want to own it.
It remained interesting, however, that her first words had not been about Diniz’s health, or that of his wife, or the company. Her first words, immediately echoed by Tobie, had been, ‘Is Katelijne back, and how is she?’
KATELIJNE SERSANDERS, dame of Berecrofts, had been at home for two months, and was instantly told when Gelis arrived, first by her uncle (crisp and disapproving) and secondly by Robin her husband (apprehensive). She accepted the news without comment, sent no messages, and went about her usual business. A week later, Gelis herself was announced. Jodi was with her.
Kathi, treading across her own parlour, came to an abrupt, smiling halt. Then she transferred the smile, broadened, to Gelis. Gelis returned it. ‘This is the lady Katelijne of Berecrofts. Bow to her, Jodi.’
Two solemn grey eyes; a velvet cap with a feather on top of a cushion of furzy brown hair; an absence of dimples. The bow was performed, and the child, straightening, retrieved his mother’s hand at once. His eyes were enormous. He said, ‘Where is the boy you were with?’
‘Oh dear,’ Gelis said. ‘I read out part of your letter. Jodi, it hasn’t come yet.’
‘And it may not be a boy, although I hope that it is, for I have a very nice nurse waiting for him. As nice, perhaps, as Mistress Clémence. She makes gingerbread.’
‘Jodi likes gingerbread,’ Gelis said. ‘I don’t suppose …’
It could not be said that Jordan de Fleury was avid for gingerbread, but the nurse came, and Jodi departed, and Kathi was alone with her guest, who turned to her saying, ‘I wanted you to see him. I wanted to see you. Is it so soon? A nurse already?’
Kathi explained, pouring wine. She was used to explaining. She was well; the birth was not due until the turn of the year; her uncle had insisted that she hire a capable lady who would look after her and the child and, knowing the history of his concern, even Robin would not gainsay him. And she was busy, of course: running her own home for Robin, and helping to supervise those neighbouring houses occupied by some of her uncle’s young family. Since his wife Margriet had died, Adorne himself was often to be found at his house along the Verversdijk, by the Scots trading quarter, and less and less in his grand house, the Hôtel Jerusalem, in which Nicholas had celebrated his first wedding.
Even to Gelis, Kathi did not say much of her uncle, or the nature of their arrival from Poland. The Duke, receiving Adorne, had listened to his report, and accepted the good hunting-dogs