Scales of Gold - Dorothy Dunnett [218]
‘Signor,’ said Crackbene. ‘Her son is dead. If vander Poele returns, he can vindicate himself. If he doesn’t return, does it matter? He has no family.’
‘He has friends,’ Gregorio said.
Later, in the quinta’s house with Jaime and his wife, Gregorio ceased talking and said, ‘One should break the news to Lucia de St Pol. Her son is dead, and there is no money, and none to come, very likely. Should I go?’
‘To Lagos?’ the factor said. He picked up a toy and examined it absently. The resentment he had shown at the arrival of some Flemish-Italian lawyer had long since gone. For six months, he had led, with Gregorio as partner, the life of a good manager, and had been given all the support there could be, without money.
He said, ‘Goro, what good would it do? The Fortado is sailing to Lagos, and the Lomellini will go with her. They’ll break the news to the mother. And besides, her brother is now a rich man. But you do not wish to be there when she begs Simon de St Pol to give her money?’
There was a silence, during which the Senhora Inês rose and retrieved the small toy from her husband’s restless fingers.
Gregorio said, ‘No. But you are thinking as I am. If there is no money to come, the lady Lucia may be best advised to sell what is left to the Lomellini, and hope that they might be generous. One could not influence her against that.’
‘No,’ said the factor. If that happened, he could find work nowhere else. He didn’t say so.
‘But of course,’ said Gregorio, ‘so far as we know, the San Niccolò will come back. She may have a cargo. Whatever the lady Lucia wishes to do, we must persuade her to wait until that happens. Or stay out of her reach, for she cannot sign papers without us. Yes. I will not go to Lagos.’
‘Vander Poele will come back,’ said Jaime’s wife unexpectedly. ‘In four weeks, or five, you will see him. What is the Land of the Blacks, to a young man, strong as he is? And you say he has his priest at his side, and his friend Lopez to help and protect him. What need a man fear, so long as he has friends?’
In Timbuktu, Gelis van Borselen lived in outward harmony with herself, the city and its inhabitants.
She had a new home. The morning after the storm, Umar had called on her and, sitting quietly before her, said, ‘I have spoken to Nicholas. He has not changed. He will go with the padre to Prester John.’
It was strange that when she received the news, it should be from Umar. The disappointment was so great that she couldn’t conceal it. At first, she turned her head away, and then did not. Umar said, ‘I am sorry,’ and she realised he had guessed.
He could not have known. Just before dawn, Nicholas had carried her back to her chamber and resisted her, but not willingly, when she tried to keep him there. She had not had to use artifice, virgin though she no longer was. Dear God, dear God, she had not had to pretend. The ache in her body this morning was not there because she had been misused or ravished. It was there because he was not.
Umar. Of course Umar would guess, if anyone did. She said, ‘I see. But you are not going with him? You mustn’t.’
‘No,’ he said. ‘I was foolish.’
After a while she said, ‘Did he send you to tell me?’
‘No,’ said Umar. ‘But in delicate matters, the mind sometimes requires warning, or else the heart speaks. He is concerned for you. I have said I know of an establishment. Small; without great stables or compound, but large enough for your servants and friends. I shall take responsibility for the gold, until he comes back.’
‘And if he doesn’t?’ she said.
‘Then, this autumn, I shall take you and it to the Gambia,’ Umar said. ‘They will send back the San Niccolò. But, despite what you have said, you and he will be on board. And Godscalc, if Allah is willing.’
Later that day, Nicholas came and told her he had determined to leave. He spoke tranquilly, but his eyes were heavy and bright as a drunkard’s. He said, as Umar had done, ‘I am sorry.’
Once, she might have said, ‘There will be compensations.’ Or, ‘What little girls will you take with you this time?’ She said, ‘I