Scales of Gold - Dorothy Dunnett [39]
Alessandro, elderly and inquisitive, was connected by marriage to the Strozzi family and (Margot saw with amusement) was not above quizzing Nicholas about young Lorenzo. Courteously baulked, he shifted the subject to the Strozzi in Bruges.
‘You know our old man, Cosimo de’ Medici, is dying? When it comes, who knows what will happen to all those heavily borrowed companies? The Strozzi? Zorzi? You know, of course, your old friend Zorzi of the Cyprus dyeworks has opened business in Bruges? Trade! Trade! Who would enter trade,’ said Martelli, ‘when he could be his own man, sitting in his one chair at night, being read to?’
She saw Nicholas smile, his face obedient to his mind, as it always was. Merchants’ gossip. Merchants’ gossip and lawyers’ gossip: she had had her fair share. Unless … She caught again that look on Gregorio’s face and saw Nicholas, glancing past Martelli, notice it also and, waiting, meet Gregorio’s eyes. Then Nicholas ended his conversation and moved to yet other guests – a Duodo, one of the captains of the Flemish galleys, and then Paul Erizzo and his daughter, who had been on Cyprus with him, as had so many others. As, it sometimes seemed, had been everyone in the room.
The first person he had greeted, when Tilde was still on his arm, had been Marco Corner, whose family had drawn its wealth for generations from Cyprus sugar. And with Corner had been Giovanni Loredano, also of Cyprus, and Caterino Zeno, whose business was alum, not sugar, and who was in that particular group because all three men had married sisters.
Margot knew about the princesses of Naxos. She saw each exquisite consort approach, regard Nicholas and then, smiling, offer her cheek. She saw each in turn consider his step-daughter, smile, and give her, also, a loving kiss. She heard the one called Fiorenza say to Nicholas, ‘We were so sad. So truly sad. The sweet lady Katelina, to suffer so. And you, you lost so much. We feel for you.’
He looked at her, and the half-dimpled smile he was using tonight was quite absent. He said, ‘Thank you. It is good of you to be concerned.’ Then he touched Tilde’s arm, and moved on.
Later, when the girl, tiring, had found refuge with the womenfolk of the Martelli family, the priest Godscalc joined Margot where she stood with Julius in the grand salon, waiting for the trumpets to send their call to gather the guests for the last entertainment. Godscalc said, ‘It has been a success, has it not? Although I miss the Nicholas I once knew.’
Julius pulled a face. ‘The ostrich? The waterworks? All those beatings? No one would believe it of him now. Solemn and rich, and soon to be fat.’
Godscalc said, ‘Perhaps he carries more burdens now. The responsibility of a Bank must be heavy. I thought Gregorio, too, looked oppressed. Demoiselle Margot? Is Gregorio well?’
‘He’s probably heard what Corner had to say,’ Julius said. ‘About King Zacco and the Egyptians. Nicholas knows.’
‘What about them?’ said Godscalc.
‘Someone’s tried to kill Zacco in Cyprus. The Sultan of Cairo is exacting triple tribute in restitution for the Mameluke slaughter, and there are rumours of Venetian merchants being arrested in Syria. King Zacco owes Corner thousands of ducats and has nothing to pay him with. Nothing to pay anyone with. He’s sitting on all the rent incomes and sugar money, and what army he has is living on promises. Will that affect Nicholas? The lapse of the Bank’s income from Cyprus?’
‘It will affect the Bank’s standing here, once it’s known,’ Godscalc said. ‘Corner should not speak of these things so freely.’
‘He was discreet enough,’ Julius said. ‘I have a feeling other news is going about, but I can’t put my finger on it. Ah, the trumpets. I must say, he’s arranged things very well. You must have been a great help to him.’
‘Thank you,’ said Margot. She understood, from Gregorio, that Julius was a shrewd man of business, and had been taking a close interest recently in the workings of the Bank. It struck her that a little feminine training wouldn’t do him any harm. She began to move away, to encourage people to