The Unicorn Hunt - Dorothy Dunnett [258]
‘Or perhaps John might, if you can’t,’ Tobie said. His tone, like his gaze, was intimidating.
Tobie had guessed, of course, that John hadn’t stayed in Damietta. He had probably guessed that Nicholas planned to meet him in Cairo. He certainly suspected the discomfort and worse that Nicholas had prepared here for Adorne.
True to his code, Tobie had kept all this from Adorne but he was here, wordlessly staring, to intimate that there was a price for his silence. Katelijne was to leave Alexandria with Tobie before the unpleasantness began. And Nicholas was to accompany them.
Nicholas attempted, from the profligate store of his masks, to select one that was deprecating. He said, ‘You surely can manage without my help, or John’s.’
He had addressed the remark to Adorne. But Katelijne, as he ought to know, was never greatly interested in pretence. She said, ‘We were only being polite. You’d be better for a little while with Dr Tobias, and I’m willing to share him with you. I had a cousin who drank for six years when his father died.’
Adorne said, ‘Katelijne!’ Below his tan, he had flushed a little. Then he laughed.
Nicholas said, ‘That’s quite an analogy.’ His head swam and he sat down.
‘Not from sorrow: he found his father had two previous wives and a lot of legitimate sons. It was the shock. It will wear off.’
‘Kathi is an expert,’ said Tobie. ‘But it is true. We are travelling in the same direction; we would welcome your help. And perhaps you would welcome our company.’ He was glaring again.
Nicholas said, ‘In that case, what can I do but offer it gladly? Will Tobie make the arrangements?’
Adorne rose. ‘He will stay with you now. You have relieved my mind enormously. I hope perhaps in return you will draw some comfort from the arrangement. Although, God knows, the loss of a wife and a lover is something that no man can suffer lightly. I will not attempt to tell you what we feel for we, too, have lost our companions. Friend, I confide my niece to your care.’
Nicholas stood. He said something. Adorne left, and the girl, who looked over her shoulder, a tooth sunk in her lip. The door closed. Tobie said, ‘Sit down. Don’t bother saying it. I’m going off to pack, then I’ll come back to help you. In the meantime, take this. You’ll get a few hours of sleep, and then we’ll all get some good out of you. And I’ll look after that.’
He had picked up the jewel. Nicholas roused himself. He remarked, ‘A nut, a ring, a pebble – anything on a string would do just as well.’
‘Then get one,’ Tobie said. ‘But don’t get attached to it. It’s the mystique that does all the harm.’ His gaze dropped to the maps and the candle grease on them, but he said nothing further. He put some pills on the table and left.
Nicholas lifted a pill and examined it inconsequentially. He might take it. He had come to Egypt for a brief season, expecting to rouse some new game and lay a few snares for the old. He had time to fill in.
But although he was leaving Alexandria, this time it wasn’t the end of a stage, a phase completed, a milestone satisfactorily passed.
You couldn’t reach or pass milestones when the travellers had failed; when the journey had come to a halt.
Part III
Close Season:
THE EMPTY FIELD
Chapter 36
THE WAY TO THE Garden of Balm is by water, sailing blown by the wind between sweet-smelling shores rich with cane sugar and vineyards, date palms and orchards, floating not in a bath but a cradle, to the music the Nile makes.
Many months later, Nicholas came to recognise the drugs Tobie had given him. At the time, he was hazily aware of the long day and night ride to Damietta; the absence of any effort on Tobie’s part to find the departed John le