The Ringed Castle - Dorothy Dunnett [293]
The housekeeper’s lidless, angry eyes stared at the two unwanted visitors and then at the flushed face of her master. ‘Your friends below,’ she said, ‘are already crapulous. Am I meant to sit in the same kitchen with the scum?’
It reminded Bailey of his fears. ‘The devils!’ he said, starting up. ‘Will they take my fees and leave me here to be killed?’
‘If you guard your tongue,’ said Lymond pleasantly, ‘you have nothing to fear. The papers, please.’ And Leonard Bailey, after glancing round them all again, drew a key from his drawer and, unlocking the box, took from it the only two papers it contained, and held them fast in his powerful hands.
‘These are copies,’ he said. ‘These are signed by the Semple woman—by your dear lady mother—but they are copies. You will get nothing by stealing them. But they will prove to you that what I told the girl here is true. There, dear Master Nobody, is what you came for. There is your certificate of bastardy.’ And he threw them on the table before Francis Crawford.
He rose, and picking them up, took them across to the low window. The housekeeper, after hesitating for a moment, had gone. After a moment Lymond said, ‘Philippa?’ And rising with rigid composure, Philippa walked to the window and joined him.
There were two papers which he handed to her, one by one. On each was a single paragraph written in the same hand, with the same wording exactly, save for the child’s name which had been filled in on each. The first paper he gave her bore the name of Eloise Crawford, his younger, dead sister. The second carried his own.
I, Sybilla Semple or Crawford, Baroness Culter of Midculter Castle, Scotland, do swear before these witnesses below listed that the child born of my body this day and to be named FRANCIS CRAWFORD is not the son of Gavin Crawford, second Baron Culter of Midculter Castle but the true offspring of.…
And there followed a blank. Below, there were two signatures, one of a man and one of a woman, and Sybilla’s own name, signed in thin, faded ink. It was dated November 1st, 1526. She looked at Lymond, who was not, it seemed, the same age as her mother.
Lymond said, his voice perfectly steady, ‘But the father’s name is missing on each.’
‘Ah, yes. She would have that,’ said Bailey. ‘It is on the originals. Or so I believe. But she wouldn’t risk keeping a copy of that in the castle, would she?’ And he laughed.
‘You stole these from Midculter?’ Lymond asked.
‘I came across them,’ said Bailey. He looked pleased. ‘You recall. It was no part of my promise to tell you your parentage. Only to give you proof that you were got out of wedlock. There you have it.’
‘But,’ said Lymond delicately, ‘it seems to me that nothing as yet has been proved. These are copies, you say. Where are the originals? And how do I know this is my mother’s signature? Of all people, I have reason to believe that you may have talents as a forger. Am I right?’
‘I have a gift,’ Bailey said. ‘But that writing is genuine. Hold it beside the paper I showed you, with my pension. As to the originals, I have no idea where they are. You are welcome to look for them. Or you could ask your mother, if you think it is worth it. But ask yourself first if she would have paid me all these years to keep a lie private.’
‘Another question occurs to me,’ said Lymond. ‘Why were these certificates written? And when written, why copied?’
Bailey shrugged the massive, stained shoulders. ‘You know the lady—the gentle, excellent lady—better than I do. Perhaps she wished to hold your father—your nameless father—to his duty. There must have been accouchement expenses to pay. Perhaps—whoever he is—he has been helping her with your upbringing, my pension, her pins and ribbons and sweetmeats. He may be a grieve at your own——’
He broke off, and not before time. Lymond said, ‘No. My patience has quite well-defined limits. You talk of “he”. Does that mean that my sister and I shared the same father?’
The lord of Gardington was afraid, but he covered it still with bravado. ‘I am terrified to speak,’ said Leonard Bailey.