Gemini - Dorothy Dunnett [152]
‘The Star of Bethlehem!’
Sir John Colquhoun’s ships dealt in French wine and salt, and usually returned to the west coast, not Leith. But, of course, any news from the Narrow Sea would speed, skiff by caravel by barge, to these parts. ‘What?’ said Nicholas.
It was all that he hoped. The news would have reached Simpson by now. Nicholas sent word to all who should know, and presently set off, in grand cavalcade, for royal revelry at Craigmillar Castle. With him went Gelis and Tobie, John le Grant and Andro Wodman, robed and gloved and jewelled as the festival required, but avoiding Venetian extravagance. Arms were not carried. Anselm Adorne was among the many already in residence at the castle, as was his niece Katelinje, lady of Berecrofts. They had already met the Procurator of the Bishop-elect of Caithness, David Simpson.
• • •
CROWNING ITS OWN hill to the south-east of Edinburgh, Craigmillar had been built by the Prestons of Gorton, who had come from Roslin more than a century since, and who guarded their doors with the Roslin device of a bridge over rock. Craigmillar was halfway between Roslin and Leith: from Craigmillar, as from Roslin, you could see the Pentland hills and the sea. From Craigmillar, you could also see the crag of Arthur’s Seat and the David’s Tower of Edinburgh Castle, upon which Craigmillar was modelled. The Sinclairs and the Prestons were kinsmen, and had been King’s men since before the first King James and his Sinclair guardian were imprisoned in England together. The Prestons’ heraldic device, repeated all over the castle, was argent three unicorn heads erased sable: hail James Stewart and Anselm Adorne and the late Duchess Eleanor. And, of course, Nicholas de Fleury.
Both Prestons and Sinclairs had houses in Edinburgh. The defensible keeps were outside, on their baronial land, useful for war and for feasts and as a bolt-hole from the pest. Craigmillar, being healthy and convenient for Edinburgh, was frequently commandeered by the Court, which used its secure rooms for its treasure, and caused to be erected massed ancillary buildings for its household. In return, the Prestons enjoyed well-deserved favours, most of them to do with profit margins on luxury goods, but encompassing such imponderables as forgiveness for outspoken females. They shared the same type of posts as the Sinclairs: Nanse Preston now nursed the Queen’s children. As a family—a prolific family, fruitful in Thomases and Simons and Wills—they were also rich. A generation ago, a Sir William Preston of Craigmillar had brought back the armbone of St Giles for St Giles. Bruges already had an armbone of St Giles in its St Giles. Edinburgh was almost upsides with Bruges. One of these days, Edinburgh would be the equal of Bruges. Only Gibbie Fish, who fashioned the reliquary case, could have told them that both were left arms.
Tobias Beventini climbed up to the drawbridge and stepped over with the kind of emotion he imagined Nicholas and Willie must have felt long ago, when the curtains swirled back to introduce their famous play. The time had come, and was prepared for. It was a relief and a terror at once. It was a guess, but an informed one, that Simpson would be impelled, at last, to strike against Nicholas. It had been their concern to forestall him.
There were two public apartments in use, of which the upper was that presided over by the King, with his host and his house-guests and family. Below was the temporary hall filled by local guests like themselves. It was one of the advantages of Craigmillar that none but the favoured required beds.
Adorne, it transpired, was upstairs with the King and the Queen, and with the King’s brothers and sisters. Bursts of music suggested that Willie Roger was somewhere there also. Periodically, a gentleman of the chamber would appear and invite a group from the lower precincts to ascend to the hall which, although charming, was not