Checkmate - Dorothy Dunnett [156]
‘Ah,’ said Lymond. His face had emptied. ‘From a new host and an old harlot, the good Lord deliver us.’ He picked up Philippa’s furs. ‘Adam, will you see Philippa home?’
Arrested in mid-revel Adam left Danny, whose hazel eyes had abruptly focused. Jerott started forward. And Austin, his skin sallow, made to follow and then stood, his eyes fastened on Philippa.
Marthe moved. Intentionally or not, she now stood fully blocking Philippa’s path from the dusty parlour. ‘You didn’t think Kate or Jerott ever doubted the lady’s chastity?’ she observed sardonically. ‘They were terrified, my gallant friend, in case you or she fell in love with one another.’
‘Then reassure them,’ said Lymond. ‘I am sufficiently served, as you say, with the tag and rag of the streets. Stand aside, please.’
Marthe did not stir. ‘Of course you are guiltless,’ she agreed, smiling at him. ‘But evasion itself can be seductive. Look at her. She is …’
Austin moved and was pulled up, hard, by Danny Hislop.
‘This,’ said Lymond, ‘is by no means a game I will play, or consider playing. Move.’
‘No,’ said Marthe baldly. ‘You can shift me by force. If you do, I shall resist, and you will have to injure me a second time. Philippa. Do you want that to happen?’
The folds of Philippa’s gown were quivering, but her back was flat, and her voice very clear and collected. ‘We have accepted your hospitality. Mr Crawford owes you his life. While I am, here, no one will lay hands on you.’
A spasm like wind on water ran marring over Marthe’s intent face. ‘Oh God in heaven, I hate you!’ she said to her brother.
‘I know,’ said Lymond wearily. ‘I shall stay. Let Philippa go, and the others.’
Austin said, ‘You uncivilized …’ and was shaken quiet, again, by Danny, his eyes on Marthe.
‘It is my wife who is retiring,’ Jerott Blyth said. ‘Marthe, go to your room.’
‘She won’t obey orders, you fool,’ said Danny Hislop. ‘Take her.’
He might have done. But before he could move, Philippa stepped forward and thrust her hands in the tightly clenched hands of Lymond’s sister and spoke to her. ‘It’s too late. It will punish all the wrong people. Come with me. Leave him.’
But Marthe’s fists and Marthe’s eyes rejected her. And Marthe’s voice said, ‘Look at her,’ to her brother. ‘You drunken fool, why do you think she follows you? To be lectured, to take arms, to care for your bastards? She loves you. She’s ripe for you. What have you to lose? Embrace her. Then take her home and see if I am right or not,’ Her voice thickened. ‘Remember me?’ she said. ‘The marriage will stand.’
Philippa dropped her hands and turning, walked to the fireplace. ‘Thank you,’ she said to the wall.
The Marquis of Allendale broke from his captor, was retaken, and this time was silenced by force. Apart from Adam and Danny, no one in the room either watched or listened to him.
Face to face, Francis Crawford and his sister looked at one another.
‘And thank you from me,’ said Lymond pleasantly. ‘You are an expert in love? In morality? In Christian conscience? How? From the stews of a fortune-teller’s in Lyon? From your years as a Muslim, scouring the Levant for money? From your marriage to——’
‘Stop it,’ said Philippa. She had turned.
‘… from your marriage to Jerott?’ Lymond said. ‘Go on. Be our guide. Look about. What other paramours can you find for me, sister?’
‘Stop it!’ said Philippa, at the top of her voice this time. She faced them, breathing quickly. ‘None of you knows what you’re doing. Be quiet. If nothing will end it but someone’s pride being broken, then as usual, it had better be mine. Mr Crawford. I am sorry to be lacking a beard, but if you will briefly be Jason, I shall do what I can with Medea. With the utmost distaste, let us embrace one another.’
But the eyes he turned on her were as blank and as inimical as the eyes which had swept round them all, and especially lingered on Austin.
‘God in heaven,’ said Lymond. ‘How many more services am I supposed to perform in payment for Marthe’s attentions on Volos? Marthe? Step aside.’
‘You will have to strike me,’ Marthe said.