The Spring of the Ram - Dorothy Dunnett [166]
“Does Doria’s letter say that?” said the Scotsman. His colour had risen, making his eyes an even more brilliant blue. He did not look in the least afraid. “If so, of course he is lying. And so are you, naturally, encouraged by your little master.”
“If nothing happens to injure Nicholas then, of course, we might take it that Doria is lying. Unfortunately,” Gregorio said, “there is no doubt at all that the abduction of Catherine de Charetty is true.”
“Nicholas knows of all this?” said the lady. Her face, turned towards him, was both pinched and intent.
Gregorio said, “He knows that your husband sent Doria.”
“And about the girl?” the lady Katelina said.
“By now, no doubt he will have discovered. They should be in Trebizond together.”
“Then the girl can come to no more harm. He is her stepfather. What did he say about Simon?” The horror, like the anger, had gone from her face. Instead, her attention had sharpened, like that of a dog waiting to dash.
Gregorio said, “That he would deal with it, and we were not to be concerned. That his wife the demoiselle should not be troubled with it. Unfortunately, she discovered. That is why, as her lawyer, I am here.”
Simon laughed suddenly in his face. “I can’t think why. Kill an apprentice! Usurp some widow’s failed business! Why should I trouble? We did nothing but finance a legal mission by an able man who will show soon enough who is best fitted to run an overseas consulate. When he returns with a fortune, he will run my Genoese office.”
“And Catherine de Charetty?” Gregorio said.
Some of Simon’s colour had gone, but he looked no less undisturbed. He lifted a silken shoulder. “Am I to blame if an agent of mine gets a girl into trouble? No doubt the girl was man-mad; brought up in the same house as Claes and her mother. I’ve nothing to say. You’re welcome to take me to court if you want to. I’ll find enough facts about Catherine de Charetty to make you wish you’d never come near me.”
“No,” said Gregorio. “She was a twelve-year-old virgin. He married her the day of her first menstruation. I propose, then, to set the complaint before the Duke this evening.”
Simon smiled. “You couldn’t even get near his secretary.”
Gregorio said, “I could get near the Treasurer. Pierre Bladelin owes me a favour. Or perhaps I shall just wait in this house, and speak to Henry van Borselen. It is, surely, the office of the Golden Fleece to protect the young and the weak against those who exploit them? To chastise those who, instead of going to fight for the Faith, send others to waste ships, money and effort on a private vendetta?”
“And Nicholas is fighting for the Faith?” Katelina said caustically.
He turned. “He has taken a hundred armed men to serve the Emperor David.”
“As Doria has taken a shipload of arms and armour,” Simon said. He was smiling. Gregorio disliked the look of the smile.
Gregorio said, “We know, of course. But what will he do with them?”
He caught Simon’s sharp glance and knew that, maybe for the first time, Simon had stopped to think. He hoped he was thinking about Pagano Doria. By marrying Catherine, Doria had made himself perhaps a little more powerful than Simon had envisaged. Unless he chose, there was no need for Doria to continue as anyone’s agent. Simon said, “Claes. He’s told you to do this, hasn’t he?”
The change of voice should have warned him, even without the girl’s sudden movement. The lady Katelina said to her husband, “How could he, from Trebizond? If Doria has done something wrong, you can face him with it when he gets back. So can the demoiselle de Charetty. Meester Gregorio is a reasonable man. He will wait until then.”
“He may not come back,” said Gregorio. “I shall