Gemini - Dorothy Dunnett [119]
It sounded innocent, but it signalled his discontent. Eleanor, Duchess of the Tyrol, was an elderly Scottish princess who knew Bel, Nicholas believed, far far better than she knew Nicholas himself, even though he had worked for her over a season. He waited to hear what Bel would say.
She said, ‘Have you ever been chamois-hunting?’
‘Once,’ Nicholas said. The hurt faded. Oh Bel, Bel.
‘Well, ye ken what it’s like. It’s not the chamois, it’s the corruption and riotous merriment afterwards. Cartloads of lassies, they say.’
‘Do they?’ said Nicholas.
‘Aye. And they had a gentleman’s bonspiel, big fires and bare scuddies, and Davie wasna that smart at the sooping. And the Duchess took him hunting a lot.’
‘Oh my God,’ Nicholas said.
‘As you say. Also, there’s a strong drink she serves …’ She gazed at him. Her eyes were small, round, and the colour of gravel.
‘All right. I had it. I know what happens,’ Nicholas said.
‘Well, I hope she didna make you do what she did with Davie Simpson,’ the dame of Cuthilgurdy observed. ‘She’s a strong-minded body, the Duchess, and unchancy to cross. I canna think why she took against him, but she did. Of course, he and Buchan her brother were there to offer peace on Duke Charles’s behalf: a civil gesture belike; except that no one had told them the Duke had been at peace in superior company these several weeks past, which made them look a wee bit provincial. Well, are ye stuck there, my Ignaures, or d’you want something to eat?’
She had sent David to the Tyrol, and he had learned nothing. Just as Nicholas had learned nothing now. But now, he didn’t resent it.
By then, the table was set up in the shade in the garden, and a cloth on it with dishes and flagons, and Jodi had found all the dogs and a few other things besides, including a sturdy bow just his size, with its case and its arrows.
‘It was your cousin Henry’s,’ Bel said, stringing and stretching it with one short, formidable arm before handing it over. ‘Mind you, he was a strong loon at eight, and no shame if that’s a wee bit beyond you, but … Well, fancy that!’
Jodi had shot, and the arrow had flown straight to the wooden target that Isa had put for him.
‘It’s all right,’ said Jodi, in a casual treble. ‘A bit on the small side, perhaps.’
‘But it’ll do?’ said his Aunty Bel hopefully.
He put his arms round her neck. ‘It’s really just right,’ he said.
Afterwards, he carried it away in his arms, while his father lingered a moment. He said, ‘You see two blithe men.’
‘Aweel. I like the gender,’ said Mistress Bel. ‘Come and see me in Stirling. Bring Gelis and Jodi.’
Nicholas said, ‘When Jodi was young, I planned to confide him to you, if I lost Gelis.’
She stood very still, there on the threshold, with her hands like two balls of yarn clasped before her. ‘I would have reared him,’ she said. ‘I would take him now, but he needs a man’s house.’
‘Your son is lucky,’ Nicholas said.
‘My son is dead,’ Bel of Cuthilgurdy answered. ‘That was what kept me away.’
The life of the street swirled behind him. He believed her. He even understood, he thought, the terrible impulse that had forced her to blurt it out now. He signed to Jodi and slowly came back, stepping up to the dim hall beside her, where he took her by the hand, drawing her away from the light. ‘How, Bel?’
‘A fever. It was quick. I dinna want to say more.’
He tightened his grip. ‘You have grandchildren,’ he said.
‘Oh, yes. But I have a wee place for Jodi as well, if he ever wants it. And for Gelis and you. And that’s enough on the subject. Looking backwards makes for poor steering.’ She took out her hand, looking away.
‘Bel,’ he said again. He thought of Umar, and Phemie, and what she had said, and drew breath. She turned back to him, smiling.
‘No,’ she said. ‘I was talking blethers. You canna mourn a lad you don’t know. Come again. Send Jodi. Tell me when he wants to go coursing. Those moulting bitches need exercise.’
She had collected her courage again, and he would not disturb it. He kissed her dry cheek, and left.
Chapter 13
That to his