Checkmate - Dorothy Dunnett [125]
‘Now?’ said Marthe, her voice silvery with amusement. ‘Is it good for Francis to be without you, Mr Blacklock? Should we not ask him to escort his own wife to England? It would provide a respite for his weakening fibre. And if he succumbs, she can nurse him.’
It was getting late. Adam said. ‘He may need us after the campaign, but not during it. He has promised Strozzi nothing less than total success whatever happens.’
‘Success in what?’ said Marthe sharply.
It clashed with Philippa’s voice, repeating his words. ‘Whatever happens?’
Adam Blacklock looked at the indigo darkness outside the casements, and then at the hour glass. ‘You’ll hear of it, I expect by tomorrow. This morning he took the cavalry with Strozzi into enemy territory. Two hours ago he should have made his rendezvous. And by dawn, he will be with the whole French army inside the Pale, advancing on Calais.’
‘Calais!’ Philippa said. Her skin had turned very pink; her eyes brilliant.
‘Yes. The rest of the counter-marching was simply to draw the Spanish troops south to defend Luxembourg. If it succeeded, we shall be into Calais and Guînes before any major force can prevent us. If it didn’t, he’s led twenty-one thousand men into an ambush a deal bigger than the one he was caught in at Ham. You needn’t fear,’ said Adam Blacklock, ‘for his weakening fibre. If you’d ever seen Lymond on the battle-field you would know that his private life fades like froth in a furnace-pan. Until Calais is won there won’t be any headaches. And if it’s lost, more than Francis will suffer.’
He left presently for his apartments, and Marthe went with him, to arrange food and service. While she was gone, Philippa lifted Lymond’s letter and carrying it to a small desk, studied the seal and then, slowly, pressed it apart with a paper knife.
She knew the writing well now, with its straight lines and small, balanced characters. There was no preamble.
I have seen Renée Jourda, now dead. She has confirmed all we know. You may tell Marthe, if you wish, that she and I were born to Gavin and Béatris, the Dame de Doubtance’s daughter, after Gavin married Sybilla. There is therefore no more information to be sought, and you may go home to Kate as soon as the Queen will allow it. Adam will take you. Adam will also tell you how I was ambushed at Flavy. I have seen the letter sent to Ham by the informer. The writing was Leonard Bailey’s.
Until you leave, you must therefore be careful. If Bailey is vindictive enough to have followed me, he may try to find some means of harming you. Adam will arrange your protection. Meanwhile, never travel alone. And leave France as quickly as possible. For Kate’s sake, I beg you to do this.
And he signed, as he always did, with his initials.
There seemed no harm in showing Marthe the letter. She read it through on her return, quite unmoved by it. Probably, Philippa thought, she had assumed all her life that Camille de Doubtance was a kinswoman. She might have thought Gaultier to be her father. If it pleased her to discover herself the love-child of a loud-mouthed, lusty, profligate Scottish nobleman, no one would have known it. At the end, she said only, ‘Who is Leonard Bailey?’
‘A nasty gentleman,’ Philippa said. ‘The uncle by marriage of Gavin Crawford, the second baron, your father. He was staying as a boy at the Crawfords’ castle in Scotland when his married sister gave birth to Gavin. After she died, he and Gavin were brought up together, but he resented living on charity and hated his sister’s husband, the first baron Crawford of Culter.
‘In the end, he made himself such a nuisance that after Gavin’s wedding to Sybilla, Gavin’s father booted him out of the castle. He took himself yelping to England and made a living, so far as we can make out, selling state secrets. Mr Crawford discovered only this spring that he had been blackmailing Sybilla for years over the fact that two of her offspring weren’t Gavin’s. Mr Crawford got hold of the evidence and has paid him regularly ever since for his silence.’
‘And now it appears that Bailey is pursuing him,