The Unicorn Hunt - Dorothy Dunnett [14]
Maister Lamb, she said, was doun on the strand with the childer. With the rest of his household. They didna expect his lordship sae soon. But she prayed that their lordships would enter, and the burd would be spread so soon as the ovens were fired and the laddie came back frae the cook-house.
Anyone living in Bruges was familiar with the Scots language. Born of generations of Bruges burgomasters and ducal officials, Anselm Adorne also knew all about civic disasters. Provided no insult was intended, it was always best to be lenient.
He said, ‘There is no haste. We ate well on board, and need exercise rather than rest. Where is the strand? Perhaps your husband is on his way back? The young people and I might go to meet him?’
Surprisingly, the eyes of two of their host’s kinsmen met. Their hostess herself seemed to hesitate. Then she said, ‘Aweel now, I’m no certain sure.’
‘Why?’ said Anselm Adorne. He kept any sharpness out of his voice.
The woman looked at her household again, and seemed to make up her mind. ‘Because …’ she began. ‘Because the King is there, that’s the truth o’ it. It’s horse-sport and suchlike. Him and his siblings, they like to race on the sand, and you’ll not keep a Leither at home while there’s something to wager about, so all the port-folk are there, instead of minding their wark, and what’s rightly due tae a guest. And John himself was commandit, and couldna say nay, or he’d have been here when ye came. Otherwise, I wouldna have tellt ye.’
‘The King and his brothers are here? On the shore?’
She flushed. ‘I hear they keep mair state in Burgundy. It’s not that way with our King.’
‘No,’ said Anselm Adorne, smiling at her. ‘I knew his brother in Flanders. But tell me: do you think we may go and watch him without causing offence?’
She bit her lip. She said, ‘It’s a rough crowd, Maister Adorne. John wad never forgie me gin ye came to ony hairm. And the King, forbye, would tak nae tent, or his gentlemen. When they’re gone to their sport, commoners are meant tae turn a blind eye.’
Adorne said, ‘He need not know we were there. You don’t tell me that a crowd of Leith burghers and porters would cause harm to a group of visiting Flemings? But of course, if you think so …’
‘Are you coming?’ said his niece Katelijne from the doorway. ‘See, Master Lamb’s cousin is going to take Anselm and Maarten and me, and I expect you could come. He says there are lots of women there, and children, and a cook with a fire. I’m going.’
They went. Not with Andreas, who preferred to stay, or the other officers of the household, whom he left to see to the boxes. But Metteneye and Adorne went with the children – with the young people – picking their way east through the cabins, the poultry and fish-creels to the rough grazing that ran down to the sea, where cattle browsed through the whin, and geese hissed, and half a dozen middle-aged burghers in decent serge doublets swished through the grass with thick sticks, as if beating for hares. A ball rose in the air, and fell at Metteneye’s feet. He bent to lift it, and was deterred by a shout.
Adorne said, ‘They are playing a game. We are disturbing it.’
‘I know the game. I have played it. They each hold a kolf, and are hitting a ball with it,’ said his niece. ‘But where is the target?’
‘Us,’ said her brother. ‘Don’t be silly: there isn’t a target, they hit the ball into holes. Come on. You can’t play. I thought you wanted to see the races.’ And taking her by the arm, he dashed down the links to the beach, Maarten following, while Adorne and Metteneye followed at their own pace, looking about them.
The crowds on the edge of the beach were not like the burghers of Bruges. The men who, touched on the shoulder, gave way readily enough to the foreigners, were dressed in plain canvas or fustian, with their leather aprons on top, as if they had just left their boats or their spades or their workshops. By contrast, the inner circle of spectators wore the swords, the leather jerkins, the fine wool doublets and light cloaks of officers of the Crown, of guards,