The Spring of the Ram - Dorothy Dunnett [192]
How would Tobie and Godscalc, Astorre and le Grant respond to that? Not, if he knew them, by catching the next boat to Pera with lurid dispatches for Marian and Gregorio. It was unthinkable that she should believe him dead, and he trusted Godscalc at least to do nothing and concede nothing until the news was confirmed. So his survival would destroy all Doria’s hopes. Godscalc, clearer-visioned than himself, had seen how Catherine would blame him for engineering her husband’s downfall. Now, Doria had put his venture at risk through his own foolhardy actions. What if Catherine became disillusioned just when Doria needed her most? What if he were led, because of this, to give up all hope of the Charetty company? Then he would have no use for Catherine. Except perhaps as a hostage.
Then Julius turned and saw him and said, “That’s the way I felt this morning.” He paused. “I can smell wine. You bastard, you’ve been drinking, and haven’t brought any.”
There was no point in alarming Julius with baseless conjectures. Instead, he sat down and told him all that had happened, keeping nothing back. What Julius didn’t need to know of that interview had not been put into words anyway. For the rest, Julius was shrewd enough in his questions. “She doesn’t really believe the Duke of Burgundy and the Doge of Venice and the King of France and the King of England and the Pope are about to sail past Gallipoli and murder the Turks?”
“Of course she doesn’t. Of course, they sent Alighieri with lavish promises to the West. Some day, if Fra Ludovico stays long enough, a war might end or a king die, and a crusade will be mounted. But meanwhile Uzum Hasan can hold out hope of one to his allies, and even prove how confident he is by offending the Sultan. If he can hold Sinope and Trebizond and Georgia together, he can at least hold his own until the end of the season.”
Julius said, “What if Uzum Hasan wants to do more? We know he wants the Sultan out of Asia Minor. What if Hasan Bey himself takes the chance to seize Trebizond?”
You forgot, sometimes, that Julius was a natural soldier. Nicholas said, “Trebizond is secure. You have said so yourself. The only way it has ever been taken is by negotiation, and Uzum Hasan has nothing to offer a Christian emperor. I’ve made no bargains, Julius.”
Julius thought. Then he said, “Why his mother? Where is Uzum Hasan?”
And that was near the bone, too. Nicholas said, “Where should a leader be, except with his army? With the Ottomans and the Black Horde to worry about, I don’t suppose he has much time to think about trade. He’s left that to the most trustworthy Greek-speaking Christian he knows. She’s a brave woman, Sara Khatun.” He paused and said, “What is it about Persia and Trebizond that breeds women like that?”
“I don’t know,” said Julius wistfully. “But I’d like to find out.”
In the end, Julius was good enough to endorse most of his plans. He quite saw that the Florentine cargo would be safer stored at Kerasous than where Doria could get it. He supposed the same was true of the Venetian goods, and Venetian goodwill wasn’t to be sniffed at when it came to confronting Pagano Doria. It took some time to convince Julius that there was no point in accusing Pagano Doria when there was no proof that he had done anything. And Paraskeuas as a witness could no longer serve as an informer. The loss of the silver and the goods he would have bought would have to be punishment enough for the present. That and the arrival of Julius in Trebizond.
“While you go to Kerasous,” Julius said.
“Well, yes,” Nicholas said. He had pulled off his shirt and was attending, awkwardly, to his dressings.
“And stay there? How long?” said Julius.
“As long as may be needed. You