Scales of Gold - Dorothy Dunnett [89]
‘Diniz? Nothing,’ said Nicholas. ‘I have to go.’
‘Where?’
He paused. ‘Funchal,’ he said warily.
‘And why?’ said Gelis van Borselen.
Gregorio said, ‘Nicholas. The San Niccolò has sailed out of harbour.’
‘With David de Salmeton?’ said Nicholas recklessly.
‘No. As soon as he left. So what are you doing here?’
‘Leaving,’ said Nicholas. ‘I’m expected by friends. Gregorio, I’ve left you a letter. Senhor Jaime, I have to thank you and your lady. Diniz, goodbye.’
It was Gregorio who held his reins and bodily stopped him: Gregorio, who, he would have thought, even more than the girl or the factor would have wanted him parted from Diniz. Gregorio said, ‘Where are you going? You owe it to us to tell us.’
Nicholas said, ‘I’m going to Câmara de Lobos. Help them. It’s all in the letter, for Christ’s sake.’
‘I am going with you,’ said Diniz.
‘No, you are not,’ said the girl, and brought her foot hard down on his, while snapping over her shoulder, ‘Let him go, damn you.’
‘What?’ said Gregorio. He slackened his grip. Nicholas tore his reins free and dug his spurs into his horse. It jibbed resentfully, then bounded as he collected the reins and did it again. He heard stumbling footsteps beside him, and then a sudden, desperate drag on his saddle and girth. Diniz was mounting behind him.
The horse faltered. Clawing, the boy got into place and once there, grasped Nicholas in both hands. He was sobbing for breath. He said, ‘Go. For my father’s sake.’ Nicholas lifted his whip. Gelis van Borselen, on her own horse, appeared suddenly at his side. She said, ‘It is your father’s name, Diniz.’
The boy raised a fist and hammered on Nicholas’s back. Nicholas reined in his horse, and the other horse stopped. Nicholas said, ‘Do you want me to whip him to the ground? Talk to him if you want. I don’t care either way, but I must go.’ He could hardly breathe, with the grip Diniz had on him.
The girl said, ‘If you won’t throw him off, then I will.’ He saw her lean from her mount. Diniz growled. Then, lifting his hand, he delivered such a slap to the rump he was sitting on that the horse bolted. Nicholas bellowed. He fought it all the way out of the gates before he got control out on the road. The horse, shuddering, stopped. The girl, mounting fast, had raced after him. She stopped at his side, and sat panting. He caught a glimpse of surprise on her face.
Nicholas spoke to the boy clinging behind him. ‘Use your head, Diniz. Whatever you want, this is no way to do things; without planning, without speaking to Jaime. Get down and go into the house. Listen and make up your mind. No one will force you either way. I’ll wait fifteen minutes, then go.’
The girl said nothing, which he hadn’t expected. He waited. The arms clenched about him slowly slackened. Diniz said, ‘You won’t wait.’
‘Now I think,’ Nicholas said, ‘you are insulting me.’ He met the girl’s eyes, then saw them shift behind him. Diniz dismounted and looked at him. The girl dismounted as well and stood quietly holding her reins. Then Diniz turned, and they walked over the yard to the house, leaving Nicholas waiting.
Gregorio joined him. ‘What are you doing?’ He was weary.
‘Giving him a semblance of choice. He must elect to stay, not be forced to it.’
‘And if he won’t?’ Gregorio said.
‘Then he’s too young as yet to help anyone. He’ll come back as a man,’ Nicholas said, ‘and take proper possession, if there’s anything left that belongs to him. I take it you couldn’t cancel the sale?’
‘No,’ said Gregorio. ‘The part owned by St Pol has quite gone.’
‘So Diniz needs you,’ Nicholas said. He sat and waited.
‘I don’t want this,’ Gregorio said.
‘I know,’ said Nicholas. ‘Instead of garnering gold, you get to settle the bill for my sins. Do what you can. Don’t forget them if you have to go back to Venice. Julius is a good man, but if the Fortado is better than I think she is, you may have to carry a great weight between you.’
‘The Fortado?’ Gregorio said. ‘She’s really sailing for Africa? With de Salmeton?’
‘I think that’s unlikely. The Vatachino