Scales of Gold - Dorothy Dunnett [200]
‘If he has, I’ll kill him,’ Diniz said. He said it quite calmly. He added, ‘So we go home now. There’s no alternative, is there?’
Nicholas didn’t answer. Godscalc looked at him.
Diniz said, ‘We must. The gold we’ve got will save the Bank for a little. It may not be enough to do me much good. But we could send back the Niccolò. We could borrow enough to load up the Niccolò and send her back in the autumn for more. And meanwhile –’
‘Meanwhile we could kill your uncle,’ said Nicholas. ‘Or Ochoa. Or David de Salmeton or somebody. You have a very strong case.’
‘How soon can we leave?’ Gelis said. ‘The channels are drying. You have the gold spoken for. You need a boat, and a crew, and bearers for the stretch between the two rivers.’ She paused. ‘Bel? We’d take it gently.’
‘Oh yes,’ said Bel. ‘My outside hears ye, but my inside’s none too sure. And Nicholas there has a wabbit look to him yet.’
‘Thank you,’ said Nicholas. Two words only.
‘What?’ said Diniz. Fear and anger had turned his face old.
‘We didn’t consult him,’ said Gelis. In the lamplight, her eyes were enormous.
‘Yes, I like to be consulted,’ said Nicholas. He rose stiffly and wandered over the room. Godscalc looked up from his stool. ‘Don’t you?’ Nicholas said.
For a forceful man, Godscalc sat still, and spoke without emphasis. ‘No. My path in life is not yours. This is your decision.’
‘But you are staying,’ said Nicholas.
‘Yes,’ said the priest.
‘To go east?’
‘If I am spared.’
‘And you’re not going to persuade us to stay?’
‘No,’ said Godscalc. ‘I would preserve you from a vendetta. I should not preserve you from saving all those who depend on the Bank. It is your choice.’
‘I am glad you think so,’ said Nicholas. He had left his purse on a coffer. Now he turned and, opening it, took out a key and used it to unlock the coffer itself. When he straightened, he held a packet of papers. Some of them looked familiar.
‘Well?’ said Diniz.
Nicholas laid them in his lap. ‘When I fell ill, I made notes for Father Godscalc. Now I have amended them. They will tell you all that should be done when you get to Madeira; what you should say to Gregorio and how the gold should be used. It will also tell Gregorio what to do about Bruges and about Venice. If you leave now, the San Niccolò could take the ladies to Lagos by June, and be reloaded and ready to leave by October. By mid-December she should be back in the Gambia. We shall board her there.’
‘We?’ It was Gelis.
It was a weary clown’s face that smiled: the ridiculous eyes, the raised brows, the two appalling dimples. ‘Father Godscalc and I,’ Nicholas said.
Godscalc jumped up. ‘No.’
‘You’re not staying?’ said Diniz. ‘Nicholas, you fool, you’re not staying? Why are you staying?’
Nicholas was smiling at Godscalc. ‘To go to Ethiopia,’ he said.
‘And, of course, to take possession of the new season’s Wangara gold.’
Chapter 29
IF, IN HEALTH, Nicholas had a skill, it was to get his own way without confrontation. That night it failed him, largely through tiredness, and his friends and opponents, seeing their advantage, pursued it. He must go, and defend his right to the ship, and prosecute the recovery of its cargo. He must go to escort the women. He must go to redeem his damaged Bank, with the help of Gregorio and Julius and Cristoffels. For if he went to Ethiopia, he might never come back.
At one point, reasonable though he tried to be, his temper began to grow short. ‘And if Father Godscalc doesn’t return? You note you are all leaving him, too?’
And – ‘I don’t want you,’ Godscalc had said, his face lined with conflicting emotions. ‘I thought that I did, but I don’t.’
‘What a pity,’ said Nicholas. ‘Because you’ve got me, whether you want me or not.’
He said it again when Bel, groaning, had persuaded Diniz to escort her to her bed and Gelis, too, had slipped from her place. He said it to Godscalc, his head in his hands, sitting on the stool Godscalc had occupied while the priest paced up and down. Godscalc answered him harshly.
‘You don’t believe in it. Maybe once