Scales of Gold - Dorothy Dunnett [22]
By the time they had all returned to the house, the crowd had dispersed and the miscreant had been tied up in the dyeshed, with one soldier beside him, and another outside the door. It was proposed that they should remain there. The presence of another assassin on Murano seemed altogether unlikely.
In the office, during the signing of documents, Marietta Barovier asked the questions Gregorio hadn’t asked. ‘I understood you thought this man a spy, but in reality, it seems you feared an assassin? Why? Why have the Signory given you bodyguards?’
It was Lopez who replied. ‘Excuse me, madonna: perhaps you may not have heard. There was an attempt to kill Messer Niccolò yesterday at the moment of his arrival. It is because of his services in Cyprus. The King has many enemies.’
Then she looked up, as the signing was finished, and said, ‘So you are a powerful young man, to cause such offence. What have I to fear from you?’
Nicholas smiled. ‘That I shall beat you down in the price of the goblet I am about to buy from you,’ he said; and smoothly completed his business, and smoothly took his departure, his doublet over his shoulder, followed by Gregorio and Lopez.
Outside, Lopez said, ‘It is late.’
In one sense it was true. As the sun set, the waterside had filled with people: with women seated sewing on stools, and children running, and dogs leaping and barking. Skerries poled their way up and down with a ripple of water, and floating straw lurched and settled again. Gregorio said, ‘We have an hour and a half to put off. If you would like a pitcher of wine and some fine fish, there is a tavern I know.’
‘I should like to do it,’ Nicholas said, ‘but Lopez and I have a private visit to pay. Where can I hire a light boat he and I can row without help?’
‘I know someone,’ Gregorio said. ‘You would prefer me to stay behind? Am I meant to pretend you are still on the island?’
‘Especially if Julius comes,’ Nicholas said.
‘And that is why you sent him off with Tilde? Not because of the Florentine?’
‘Because of both,’ Nicholas said.
There was a pause. Then Gregorio said, ‘You can’t trust those men with the fellow you caught. They’ll try to beat something out of him.’
‘I’ve told them I’ll report them if they do. I can’t do more, Goro. He mustn’t be freed, you know that. I need a charge that will keep him in a prison cell for a month; and spying’s no good.’
It was not what Gregorio had meant. It was the first time, to his recollection, that Nicholas had failed to read the inner sense of a message. Gregorio turned his gaze from Nicholas to Lopez, and found Lopez looking away.
Rather than say too much, Gregorio said nothing, and occupied himself with negotiating a boat that would suit. He watched them set off from a deserted spot on the shore, and saw they were pulling for the south-west, not the north, although the haze of evening prevented him from following their course precisely. In any case, his task was to turn back and find a tavern-keeper who would swear, if it came to it, that they had all three passed the time on his premises. He picked his way there, deeply anxious.
In the boat, Loppe spoke, as Nicholas knew he would. ‘Why didn’t you tell him?’
‘After today,’ Nicholas said. He was hot, with the strings of his shirt neatly tied and his doublet fast buttoned. The boat skimmed beneath them: they were two powerful men. Behind them, the holy island, the island of San Michele, was already close. He hoped that Bessarion had kept his promise, and the monks were ready for him, and the man he was hoping to meet.
Loppe said, ‘Messer Gregorio was right. They will beat the man.’
They had reached the landing-stage.