Pawn in Frankincense - Dorothy Dunnett [174]
Then Georges Gaultier stood up, the blood mantling the mottled skin, and said, ‘I obey no one’s orders. I please no one, Mr Crawford, but myself. I had no hand in any of these so-called accidents. But were another to happen tomorrow I, dear sir, would do nothing to stop it.’
Very soon after that, the trumpeter and his party returned to the ship from the Beglierbey’s house, bearing apology and invitation at once. His Excellency the Viceroy was at present travelling to Constantinople to accompany the Grand Seigneur on his forthcoming journey. But in his absence, the Controller of his household begged Monseigneur the Ambassador of France to take supper that evening in the Viceregal house, and to repose himself that night in one of the Viceregal beds.
Lymond read it through in silence, and then said to the trumpeter, ‘Who gave you this?’
The trumpeter was afraid of Lymond. He flushed and said, ‘An Imam, M. le Comte. One of their holy men with the big turbans. Or a Bektashi, it might have been.’
Lymond said, ‘This is addressed to His Most Christian Majesty’s Ambassador to the Sublime Porte, which I am not. It also mentions a journey on which the Beglierbey is accompanying the Sultan. Did you gather what this journey was?’
The trumpeter shook his head. ‘Only that the Sultan was about to leave Constantinople, and the Beglierbey and his army were joining him.
‘And his army?’ said Lymond. ‘Míkál, have you heard anything of this? No? Onophrion, you will make inquiries, if you please, when you do your marketing. Then it behoves us to depart in style for supper at the Beglierbey’s residence. Whether we stay the night is another matter.’
‘Forgive me.’ It was Onophrion. ‘But M. Viénot tells me that unless M. le Comte permits him to remain here overnight, it will be difficult to continue to sail with such speed. There are some repairs which he has been deferring since Zakynthos. And the chiourme are …’
‘The chiourme are men, not a paddling of ducks, who had an excellent rest outside Volos,’ said Lymond. ‘I shall see the Master about the other matter. In the meantime, I advise you to get your water and stores on board as quickly as possible, then be ready to come with me to the Beglierbey’s. Salablanca has a list of whom else I require.… Míkál, will you be kind enough to guide us once more?’
The Pilgrim of Love smiled; his slow Tartar, mischievous smile. ‘Of course,’ he said. ‘Áshiq Pasha … you are hard on your children. The Qur’ân says, “Nay, obey him not, but adore and draw nigh”.’
‘Fortunately, perhaps, the Qur’ân is not the ultimate authority on board the Dauphiné? said Lymond. ‘Does that disturb you, Míkál? How do you reconcile your present service and your religious scruples, or don’t you have any? Est-il permis à un musulman de favoriser les Francs? Est-il licite, en outre, qu’ils fassent entendre en ce lieu leurs chants impies, et que le son de la cloche couvre la voix des musulmans?’
Míkál was smiling still. ‘It is an old quotation,’ he said. ‘When I hear thy voice raised among the impious chants and the heretic call of the bell, I shall tell thee my answer.’
Thoughtfully, Lymond studied the smiling face, and in his own face was a trace of answering amusement. ‘I think,’ he said, ‘that some time I must introduce you to a gentleman called Jerott Blyth.’
This time no one had been hunting in the Beglierbey of Greece’s Thessaly lodge. Instead, a guard of honour in scarlet and gold filled the courtyard, through which Lymond and his followers rode between the file of their escorting Janissaries. A black eunuch, in emeralds and silk, welcomed them on the threshold, bowing and smiling, and led Lymond to the selamlik, while Salablanca and Onophrion followed to stand discreetly just inside the door. Characteristically, Míkál had vanished.
Within the selamlik, on the low, cushion-filled dais which occupied the window half of the room, a grey-bearded