Scales of Gold - Dorothy Dunnett [304]
He gazed at her, and through her.
Godscalc’s hand, resting broken in his. A man, coming out of the desert, leading five camels. The sound of a voice, raised in pure, heartfelt love and praise and selfless wonder at the joy and mystery of the world.
Nicholas raised his hand and struck her once, on the cheek, as he would have cuffed an ill-mannered pup. Then he rose, and walked to the door.
She raised her voice as he went, not quite shouting, but making sure that he heard. ‘It’s Simon’s child, Nicholas. What shall I do with it? Kill it? Rear it? Tell Simon about it? Or let the world think it’s yours? Tell me! Whatever you want, I shall do it!’ He closed the door on her voice.
He had thought there was no one in this wing. He stood at some window, and only became aware after a while that a man was quietly waiting; had been there perhaps for a long time. He experienced a fear, like a physical pain, that it was Godscalc. It was Gregorio.
Nicholas said, ‘Did you hear?’
‘Yes,’ said the lawyer.
After a while, Nicholas said, ‘What do they say? Allah alone is the conqueror.’
Gregorio said, ‘Will you let me deal with it?’
‘Deal with it?’ Nicholas said.
‘Send her away. See that the child, discreetly born, is well fostered. Arrange for your marriage to end. There is a rumour of plague. She could leave Bruges tomorrow, and you also.’
Nicholas said, ‘His name is Sunni Ali, King of the Songhai. How could you deal with it?’
Gregorio said, ‘God forgive me … Nicholas, you cannot go back. All you knew in Timbuktu is dead and gone.’
‘What else is there?’ Nicholas said. Zuhra had covered herself.
‘What you brought back,’ said Gregorio. ‘You will find it again.’ His voice was filled with compassion. The first of many voices.
‘Of course,’ Nicholas said. ‘Then you will deal with all this? Or no. I am quite capable of dealing with it myself. No divorce. I like being married. I seem to have some new business I ought to attend to in the north. Gelis can retire to her cousins at Veere. Let it appear a legitimate child. If Simon can rear one, so can I.’
Was it quick for the babies – for him? Or was it stab upon stab upon stab?
‘She is too young to hate,’ Gregorio said.
‘But she does,’ Nicholas said. ‘Or she thinks that she does.’
‘She doesn’t know what the word means.’
Reader’s Guide
1. For Discussion: Scales of Gold
In Cyprus and Trebizond, even in Bruges, Nicholas and his friends had encountered various aspects and consequences of the practice, old as history, of humans enslaving humans. During this African adventure, what new elements in this practice come to the fore? What other aspects of Dorothy’s vivid portrayal of multi-cultural, multi-geographical Africa catch your eye in this novel?
2. Why does Father Godscale want to go to Ethiopia? What is Nicholas’s final judgement about the success of this failed mission, for the priest’s own soul, and for the general community of Christians?
3. How do some of the many transformations of the African Lopez recall (or reverse?) those of Nicholas vander Poele? What for you are the deepest or most interesting aspects of this soul-friendship? Why does the plot make a significant point of Umar’s final investment in being a father?
4. Is Gelis van Borselen the heroine of Scales of Gold? In which relationship are there elements of the traditional romance plot? When, and why, do you think she decides to do what she reveals to Nicholas on their wedding night?
5. Spectacles—a triumph of science, commerce and art, a “frivolity” Nicholas calls them at his Venetian party. What symbolic and practical uses does this product serve in the novel? How do spectacles connect with and compare to another ubiquitous product, useful as gift, in trade, as symbol, in this as in the other novels—books?
Dorothy Dunnett was born in Dunfermline, Scotland. She is the author of the Francis Crawford of Lymond novels; the House of Niccolò novels; seven mysteries; King Hereafter, an epic novel about Macbeth; and the text of The Scottish Highlands, a book of