Gemini - Dorothy Dunnett [175]
‘No. None. I shall do what I can,’ Nicholas said. The offer was meaningless. His situation was already summed up in two words. Natural combustion.
He decided, when he stopped being annoyed, that he was amused, and even appreciative.
Chapter 21
Tressour to lordis suld thar no thing be
Bot gud maner, honour, and honesté.
BY THAT TIME, Nicholas had also marshalled his personal life. Ever since the night at Craigmillar, he had been thinking of Jodi, in royal service far to the west. He was about to take the decision to go there, when the boy arrived home, on a visit arranged by the Princess Mary and Gelis. It would only be, Gelis explained, for a short time, but long enough for Jodi to become discontented, and to notice that his father was never there anyway.
Gelis’s return had been another reunion, and Robin had been none the worse for his journey. Nicholas had gone to see him, and had talked to Tobie and Clémence and Kathi. The blowing up of Beltrees was their favourite topic. He was a hero. He saw Robin’s father, and Sersanders. No one mentioned David Simpson, or if they did, he discouraged them. Henry and St Pol were still at Kilmirren, and none of the Semples came near him.
He went to visit Adorne, who had been told the whole story by Wodman. He went to see him to discover how he fared, and to discuss strategy in the light of what was now happening. He also went, warned by Kathi, for another reason.
This time, Cortachy was not alone, but in his business room, talking to Wodman and Andreas. The makeshift nursery had gone: since Euphemia passed her first birthday, she had been returned to the care of the Haddington nuns, and the presence of other small children, staggering and crawling together. Adorne visited her very often, with Kathi or Clémence. But this was not a house for a young child.
Now Adorne rose and embraced him. ‘Nicholas! God preserved you.’
‘It was my metal core,’ Nicholas said. He said it perversely, since he resented both the phrase, and the fact that Wodman had heard it. Then he said, ‘I’ve just come from the Lords Three. Let me tell you what they say, and then I’d appreciate your view from David’s Tower.’
The view from the Court, when they came to it, was much as he had gathered elsewhere: the younger Princess rebellious, the King raging against Albany. John of Mar had been under medical care for a few days, but was now better.
‘An abbreviated way of saying that we locked him in his room,’ Andreas interpolated. ‘We don’t know whether Simpson gave him any agaric or not, but the effect of whatever he did take was disastrous. He went wild.’
Adorne said, ‘If I hadn’t been in Scotland, Simpson would never have thought of this drug.’
‘He would have found another,’ Nicholas said. ‘Maybe worse. Or the fit may just have been due to excitement.’
Andreas said, ‘We have talked about it, of course. That is possible. It is also possible that what Lord Mar drank exacerbated his illness. Dr Tobie suggested a more regular testing of urine. Sometimes it is normal. Sometimes it assumes a purplish colour, and may be accompanied by the reddened skin and the outbursts of temper. We have found no solution. We cannot treat him with poppy all the time.’
‘And, of course,’ said Adorne, ‘it adds to the tension with his two brothers. I spend an hour with the King, and everything is undone when Mar bursts in with some accusation. It might even be helpful if he spent some time in the north, in his own lands. I could take him. Cochrane is working in the north-east already. Knollys is often there, or his family, on behalf of the Knights. The King is personally known there as well. Argyll will have told you that he went north in the recent campaigns. Colin can often find a way round