Niccolo Rising - Dorothy Dunnett [6]
“What?” said Julius. Claes said nothing. His feather had come to a halt.
Felix said, “The rich …”
“Never mind,” Julius said. Simon of Kilmirren came to rest on the bank just beside them. The underwater sluice gates had opened. The water they were floating on began to crease a little and swirl, and a line of wet appeared on the lock wall. The lock-keeper came up.
The man called Simon said, “My poor man, you take your time, you Flemish clods, don’t you? I saw some beer.”
His Flemish was very good. The lock-keeper had no trouble accepting insults from gentlemen, especially if he saw a profit in it. He said, “It’s a custom, my lord. Beer during the passage to Bruges, and the dues paid on the way back. My lord is going to Bruges?”
Julius wondered how anyone, even a lock-keeper, could imagine he saw a promise of beer in that smiling face. The Scots noble called Simon continued to smile. “My lord has a thirst,” he said. “Waiting for this rubbish to pass down the lock. If you have beer, I’ll take it.”
“Excuse me,” said Julius.
It could have been that his voice was not loud enough. Certainly the water, by now, was swirling outside the lock as it emptied, causing the waiting vessel to joggle. The lighter on which Julius stood was now sinking steadily, so that his eyes were level with Simon’s trim waist. Simon did not turn his head. Only his dog, attracted by something below, straightened its forelegs, steadied, and leaped lightly down beside Julius, dragging its lead from Simon’s grasp. Felix said, “Oh no, you don’t!” and grabbed its collar, separating it from the rabbit-bag. The Scotsman turned then, with surprise, and looked down at them.
Julius said, “I’m sorry, my lord, but the beer represented part of our dues. To be fair to the man, you would have to pay him for it.”
The charming face stared at him. It inspected, in turn, the faces of Felix, Claes and the lightermen. Its gaze returned and settled on Julius. Simon said, “Stealing a gentleman’s hound. The penalties are, as I remember, quite serious.”
“And what about stealing beer?” Felix said. “And eating other men’s rabbits? If you want your dog, come down and get him.”
Felix had a great deal to learn. Julius let him go on complaining. Above, the Scotsman turned, ignoring them, and stared at the lock-keeper who went off in a hurry and came back with the beer. He put it down in front of Simon. The girl in the steeple headdress, Katelina, had walked up beside him. She said, “I thought only workmen drank beer.”
There was a glint in the handsome eyes, quickly concealed. She had surprised him by coming. Simon said, “When stuck in a stye, do what the pigs do. I offer you beer, or another half hour of the Bishop.”
“Beer,” she said calmly. She was speaking in Scots, which was not easy to follow. “Pay the man. Or the children.”
The lock-keeper had revised his opinion of Simon. He also understood Scots. He said, “Thank you, demoiselle. Meester Julius will tell you its worth. Meester Julius is a Bologna-trained lawyer.”
The Scotsman failed to blench. The Scotsman let his considering gaze drift again over the crew of the lighter, and fixed on the most miserable member, a lighterman with three days’ growth of beard and a rash. “Meester Julius?” he said.
“Meester Julius?” said Claes in the same moment.
“Never mind,” Julius said. He knew he was being baited. He also knew he was going to get his money, if he had to ransom the dog for it.
“Give him a coin,” the girl said. “Look.” She tilted her head, so that the hennin wagged like the mast of a ship, and began to unclasp the purse at her waist. She had dark, well-marked brows and a fine skin, its colour a little heightened by amusement or annoyance. Julius gazed at her.
“Meester Julius,” said Claes.
The Scotsman, smiling, laid a finger over her hand and instead delved into his own handsome wallet, drawing from it a handful of small foreign coins. He cast them with deliberate abandon into the barge, and watched smiling as they span and hopped in the bath and sank among the bottom-planks and the ropes of the barge.