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By Root 2224 0

agent of the firm of Vatachino. They asked him to leave, I was told, after some error of judgement in Cyprus which lost them all their property on the island. He has not been heard of from then until now.’ He was merely reporting. He did not expect Hugonet to possess information, but knew that he could rely on him now to make enquiries. Since the Vatachino had called in its agents and withered, there had been no comparable power in that field. One wondered if the infiltration of Gelis van Borselen had contributed to that failure. The other theory, of course, held that the Vatachino had only been created to vanquish Nicholas de Fleury in business. De Fleury had gone, and so had his strongest competitors; except for this man, for whom the contest, it seemed, had become personal.

When, presently, Adorne repaired to the small house he still kept in Ghent, he found Gelis van Borselen already waiting, with the engineer John le Grant standing beside her. Their expressions puzzled him. Then comprehension broke, and he said quickly, ‘I have no news, good or bad, from the Levant; only a warning about David de Salmeton. You remember him?’

Their response this time was all he expected, and more. ‘What? What about him?’ the engineer said.

The woman who cared for the house entered and poured them some wine. He smiled at her. It was not the family mansion in which Anselm and Katelijne had been born: that had long since been sold. This small property still belonged to the Sersanders family: Adorne maintained it, and his nephew and niece used it when in Ghent. Kathi’s household would require, he thought, amused, to remain small. He raised his glass, and drank, and spoke when the woman was gone.

‘De Salmeton is going to Scotland. He has an advisory post with the Papal Collector. His dislike of your husband could affect your son and my niece, and I suggest it is worth exercising a little caution. Kathi intended coming to Flanders this autumn. I have told her instead to come right away, and bring your son and her husband and child. The man may have reformed. But until we know more, I feel our families will be safer in Bruges for a little while. I had no time to ask your permission. I hope you agree.’

‘How did you hear?’ the man said. The woman was gazing at him.

‘You do agree?’ Adorne asked her, troubled.

‘Yes! Of course, yes!’ Gelis said. She loosened her hands. ‘Of course, thank you. But how did you hear?’

He told them, while the three glasses of wine lay untouched. Once only, the woman interrupted. ‘David de Salmeton had money?’

‘He was rich, according to Jan.’

‘He would be,’ said the engineer flatly. ‘My lord, you’ve got your niece there to think of, but our wee lad is sore threatened, too. What boat did ye send with your letter?’

Our wee lad. It was not, perhaps, surprising. The marriage was broken, and this was a kind man, with a streak of genius about him, like the other one. Adorne said, ‘Not even the Banco di Niccolò, I promise you, could have provided anything faster. I mean no offence, but the post of Conservator of Scots Privileges has its uses. And I have asked Sersanders’s partner to bring them back personally.’

‘I’m sorry. We’re anxious,’ said le Grant.

‘You came here especially to tell me,’ said Gelis van Borselen. She was desperately pale. She said, ‘I cannot quite understand how such a man comes to be attached to a papal official.’

It was what Adorne had sought to find out from Hugonet. Now he said, ‘He has been accused of nothing. Nothing has been proved against him but some maladroit behaviour in Cyprus. And even if it had, Prospero de Camulio has asked for him, and for this Pope, that is enough.’ He waited. Then he said, ‘You have worked with de Salmeton. You have seen what he did with the Vatachino. Is he clever? Is he dangerous? Or is he vindictive only where it is safe, at some petty court?’

The woman answered. ‘He is clever. He is dangerous. And in Scotland, he has found just such another petty court.’

LATER, IN THE GARDEN of the tavern where they did not share beds, Gelis raged to herself and to John,