Caprice and Rondo - Dorothy Dunnett [226]
Catherine had written to Nicholas at Caffa, and Paul had added a line recommending himself, endorsed by Robin. Paul should not be blamed (he said) for the shortcomings of the rest of his family. The approach did not mean in any sense a rapprochement between Nicholas and his stepdaughters: rather it indicated that, taught by experience, Catherine was intent on making sure that this time, her marriage was legal. Neither of the Charetty sisters spoke much of Nicholas, and it was hard to know what they thought. Tilde, the elder, was pregnant again after four years, and feeling poorly: Catherine, with Clémence’s advice, helped to keep little Marian amused.
They would ail miss Clémence, although the house she and Tobie would live in was not far away. Jodi would visit them. Father Moriz would continue his education. Chivalric training, interrupted by Raffo’s death, would resume. For some reason, Jodi had taken against Manoli, Raffo’s partner, with whom he had got on perfectly well before Scotland. Kathi’s husband had offered to help, to Jodi’s joy. But Robin, sooner or later, would be taking his family back to Scotland. The only question was, when?
Whenever news from Scotland came, touching on David de Salmeton, Gelis depended on Tobie to glean it. By the middle of August, they knew that the adviser to the Apostolic Collector had not returned to Rome, but had rented a warehouse at Leith and bought himself a house in the Canongate of Edinburgh, from which he was soliciting orders. His terms were low, and had already attracted royal attention. One of his specific aims, it would appear, was to undercut the business of Archie of Berecrofts, and that of Anselm Sersanders in Edinburgh and Perth.
Such at least was the opinion of the Scottish merchants in Bruges. From the letters her brother sent Kathi, this appeared to be true. It was also apparent that so far, de Salmeton had caused no other disturbances, and had made no attempt to harass Bel of Cuthilgurdy. In any case, Sersanders wrote, Bel was being well looked after by Andro, his partner.
This appeared a doubtful blessing. Gelis waited, with hard-tried patience, for Kathi to bring her next letter. When two weeks passed and she did not, Gelis collected Jodi and walked round to see what had happened. Robin answered the door and asked her in, displaying a mixture of embarrassment and high spirits, which were soon explained. She went to see Kathi, but didn’t stay long. On the way home Jodi, who had learned a lot in a year, looked up at his mother severely. ‘Why are you smiling?’
‘Because I’ve just had some news. News about Aunty Kathi.’
‘She’s going to have another baby next year. I know. Why are you smiling?’ said Jodi. Then, before she could answer, he said, ‘Wee Aunty Bel doesn’t have babies. She can load a hackbut and shoot it.’
‘So can I,’ said Gelis unwisely.
Jodi said, ‘But you could have babies if you wanted to.’
It was a busy street. People smiled. Gelis said, ‘Well, I don’t want to. I have you. I don’t need any more.’
‘You can’t have any more. Papa has gone away and you can’t make them without him. I hope he doesn’t come back,’ Jodi said. He wasn’t crying, but his face was quite red. ‘I don’t want to see him.’
‘Well, I’m sure he wants to see you,’ Gelis said. ‘Don’t you think he misses your poems? He hasn’t even seen your new horse. Let’s go to the stables and see him. You might ride with Ser Tommaso’s children tomorrow.’
That evening, after Jodi was sleeping, Gelis asked Tobie to sit with her in her chamber. The cushioned seats, the light hangings, the tables, all of which had been her choice, looked mellow in the long summer twilight. Outside the open windows, swallows shrilled, and by leaning out, one could look down on Spangnaerts Street, quiet now, the dust of its cobbles printed with the marks of the day’s bootprints and hoof-marks and wheels, either climbing upwards on the way to the Square, or bumping down to the working