Gemini - Dorothy Dunnett [247]
The fat man said, ‘Nicholas. It seems that your son has a native ingenuity that has escaped mine. Whose sword is that?’
The boy swung it down and held out the hilt. ‘Will you take care of it, sir? It belongs to M. de St Pol. I think he has a great deal of ingenuity, but today he is not very well.’
Nicholas glanced at the boy, a smile in his eyes. The old man looked first at Nicholas, then at the young face of his generous namesake. St Pol said, ‘He has other swords. If he is unwell today, he has no need of this one. You may keep it.’
Nicholas sucked in a short breath. ‘My lord. It is too big. And too much.’
‘And will cause trouble, you think. You may be right. But after tonight, I feel you are capable of dealing with Simon. The gift marks my dislike of incompetence. It is not, in any sense, Nicholas, the presentation of a family heirloom. As for its size, Jordan will grow into it. Unless he takes too many risks. Or is unwise enough to behave as his father does.’
‘My lord my father—’ Jodi began, and then stopped; for his father’s hand pressed on his shoulder.
‘You have performed enough rescues today,’ Nicholas said. ‘Thank my lord of St Pol, and tell him that you hope to deserve it.’ Then he walked past, followed by Jodi, and did not turn back to see in what manner Simon de St Pol was taken away.
IN FACT, THEY consumed their deferred meal that night in the fresh rooms of the Berecrofts house next door, regaling Adorne and Sersanders and Andreas with the tale of Jodi’s triumphs and Simon’s discomfiture all over again. ‘He will never forgive it,’ said Adorne. ‘But his father can control him, I think. If he is wise, he will take him off to Kilmirren. And it is the end, I am sure, of any interest in the girl Bonne.’
Listening, half asleep, Nicholas was inclined to agree. Is she to be your next wife, or your next bedfellow, Nicholas? Simon didn’t therefore know the tale about Bonne that Julius had been spun by his wife. And after tonight, it was unlikely that Julius and Simon would ever find themselves exchanging confidences about Bonne. Or, indeed, about Simon’s marriage.
It had been the first thing Kathi had said to Nicholas tonight, when the fuss had died down and they had a few moments together. ‘Now at least Julius can’t hope to badger the St Pols for their family secrets. But you know he’s still addicted to exhuming your past. I took the chance to point out that you weren’t likely to thank him, if it was going to bastardise everyone else.’
‘But he wasn’t convinced?’ Nicholas said. Now it was all over, he had begun to feel very tired.
‘He just repeated, with patience, that it could all be taken care of by dispensations. Which is true. But, of course, it takes time.’
She was asking him something. He answered it. ‘I don’t want to belong to them, Kathi.’
‘But you do belong to them,’ she said. ‘Tonight, you forced yourself to be as much a St Pol as Simon is. You even let him take Jodi hostage. You cleared the room so that bystanders wouldn’t be hurt, but also so that bystanders wouldn’t hear more than they should. Whether you are their descendant or not, your conscience forces you to behave like one of them. You have all the burdens and none of the privileges.’
‘I don’t mind,’ he said.
‘And that is why you are so tired,’ she said. ‘All that, and Jodi to think of. But, you know, you gave him his chance. He was all he should be, tonight. Go and sit with Gelis, and celebrate together. You deserve it.’
He smiled, and went. She was dear to him, and dearly percipient. His method of dealing with the St Pols was a strain, and sometimes it drained him.
That, and the everlasting pressure of lying.
Chapter 31
Frendschipe for micht is lyk to caf of corne
And bocht to-daye and saulde agane to-morne.
THAT WINTER, THE English Parliament empowered its King to raise the massive army and fleet necessary to invade Scotland.
The detail was very soon known. Earl Rivers, once proposed for the Scottish King’s sister, was to supply three thousand men, and the Marquis of Dorset