Pawn in Frankincense - Dorothy Dunnett [218]
Porcelain bowls on porcelain saucers had replaced the preserved lemon flowers, the pastes and cream and pistachios. In them were sherbets of raisin juice and rhubarb and rose-leaves; lotus, tamarind and grapes, honey, violets and melons. Sipping: ‘You have the Somerville girl?’ said Lymond. ‘But how can you prove it?’
‘You received all the proof you require at Thessalonika, my très cher Ambassador. I made sure of that. She is in the harem, but do not concern yourself. She will not share the fate of Oonagh O’Dwyer. I found her crude, so she is being trained. She is young, in mind and body. There is room for response. She will be part of the reward I request in return for my first service as Grand Vizier. On her I shall build my harem.… Allah, Allah, except Allah. This has gone; may a richer one come. May the Divine Reality give blessings. Let there be light for those who have eaten.… We must go, I fear, so that you may present your credentials and your petition. You will not be surprised, now, should the latter unhappily fail.…’ And he rose, the stiff white satin falling around him, and stood wiping his fingers.
The Turkish robes were being brought. Stripped also down to his doublet, M. d’Aramon allowed himself to be placed inside a collarless black damask robe, on which leaves and blossoms and nosegays of flowers rioted in red and gold silks, and the wide sleeves and twenty small buttons were knotted with rubies. Lymond stood up. ‘You spoke of threats. You have indulged in a great many.… I prefer to make promises. I am going to take the girl and both children safely from you, whatever the outcome of my petition today. When I have done that, I shall allow nothing to stop me until you are dead. For that is the difference between us,’ said Francis Crawford with simplicity. ‘There is no price I will not pay after that for your death.’
For a moment Gabriel studied him, amused contempt in the bland face. ‘Where is the open mind, the width of vision, the sense of history, the awareness of changing society which we used to have forced on our attention? You have chosen to walk among the minor paths, and blunt your wits on simple minds.… For ten years, the Sublime Porte have sued me; have sent me gifts and every sort of beguilement. Dragut is ageing; the Sultan himself is unfit now for the field. I can give them all the skills and experience they require; the special knowledge of Christian harbours and Christian ways which they seek.
‘Now they have me, do you think they will risk alienating my loyalty? If I order the girl to be ganched or throttled or torn apart between horses, it will be done. If I wish it, I can have the brats drowned and trampled; their tongues uprooted, their eyes seared with hot copper. Think of Rustem Pasha: his power; his wealth. In his absence, his power is mine. In the Sultan’s absence, my rule can become absolute.… Do you suppose that any living person in the Sublime Porte will dare do what I have forbidden? Try the strength of your credit if you wish. You will find it is limited.’
‘I had an extraordinary feeling,’ said Lymond, ‘like a bat sitting in a cannonball tree, that I was going to be thrown on my own initiative. All this stirs one to ask why you troubled with Scotland?’
Gabriel smiled. ‘It was ripe, then, for practice. This is ripe, now, for picking.… The Sultan, I believe, now awaits you.’
Outside, under the splendid arcade, d’Aramon and the chief officials of the Embassy were already waiting, their Turkish robes dimly glittering with the reflected greens and golds from