Race of Scorpions - Dorothy Dunnett [198]
There were sheds full of new moulds and jars, far more than at Episkopi. ‘I’ve set up our own pottery,’ Nicholas said. ‘They’re not bad either at tableware. You’ll see some of it at supper. And now, of course, the boiling-vats and the refining houses. Nothing changes much there. We reckon, with all our various kettles, to boil two tons of juice daily, but we’d like to speed all that up. Fuel, as you know, is the problem. And here we use mostly the tall moulds, as you do.’
The familiarity of the refinery process soothed the Episkopi men: Marco’s colour, quite heightened, settled a little. He said, ‘And how are your hens laying?’
‘Hens?’ said Jacopo Zorzi. ‘I thought the Martini lost all their birds to the raiders.’
‘Messer Niccolò obtained more. He had his sources,’ said Marco Corner. He caught the look on his wife’s face. ‘If you came oftener into the yard, you would know that eggs clarify the cane juice. I wish to ask, Messer Niccolò, before you go further. You have laid wooden rails from the yard?’
The wooden rails, it appeared, enabled one horse to draw three wagons bearing thirty hundredweight of cut cane apiece. ‘Or, of course, chests of sugar,’ Nicholas said. ‘A packhorse could take only two hundredweight. And the rails can run all the way to the jetty.’
Katelina stood dumb: it seemed kinder. Marco Corner had flushed again. He said, ‘Ah. I see. Well devised. Well devised. And the working areas, so well fitted for continuous movement. With labour so short, it was worth planning.’
‘Labour can always be imported,’ said Nicholas. ‘I allow my sugar-masters, incidentally, unlimited cheese, wheat and wine plus a sum of one hundred and fifty gold ducats paid after the season, and a percentage dependent on improved production. If you want to steal them, you will have to offer them something quite uneconomic. I think the ladies are tiring. But perhaps you would like to see more?’
‘No,’ said Marco Corner. ‘You have been too good, taking this trouble. I have to congratulate you. And the King. We believed we had brought him a warband.’
‘Oh, I don’t know,’ Nicholas said. ‘Organising a sugar business and organising a war – as I supposed you’ve already noticed, there isn’t much difference between them.’
They had reached the gates, where their horses were waiting. Marco Corner said, ‘And when will Zacco be King of all Cyprus?’
‘Before next summer’s harvest,’ said Nicholas.
‘And,’ said Marco Corner, ‘do you rely on King Zacco to let you keep the proceeds of an estate returning so fast to profitability? The Lusignan are notorious spendthrifts. They once pledged the whole village of Kouklia with the sugar they’d leased out as lien.’
‘Just like the Knights,’ Nicholas said. ‘Whom can one trust? Except, I suppose, that even though Zacco is King of Cyprus, the threat of the Turk still lies over us. He may feel he still needs to sweeten his warband. I’m thirsty. Let’s go.’
Because she was close, she saw Corner halt, and cause Nicholas also to fall back. The Venetian spoke. ‘Why do you show me all this?’
For once, Nicholas returned the look soberly. ‘Because I think we should work together,’ he said. ‘I would rather have you with me than against me.’
‘But not to the extent of having me steal your sugar-masters?’ the Venetian said. His expression had eased.
Nicholas laughed. ‘Anything but that. But I have a ship, and good provisions. We can help one another. I bear you no grudges.’
‘I hear you bear one,’ Corner said.
‘But not for a Venetian,’ Nicholas said.
There were Moorish dancers to entertain them at supper, and a juggler, and acrobats who walked on their hands. The meal was taken at dusk under awnings, with torches burning all round the courtyard, and lamps set on the two oblong tables with