The Unicorn Hunt - Dorothy Dunnett [312]
Brother Lorenzo drew in his breath. He saw, by a small change of attitude, that the Greek-speaking Frank had emerged into a state of semi-awareness. Interpreting for the Abbot, he was accordingly forced to be accurate. He knew he did not need to convey a warning.
The Abbot said, with distaste, ‘What rubbish is this?’
‘Mamelukes brought him here,’ said Adorne. ‘By some miracle, before he left Cairo, M. de Fleury contrived to reverse every misfortune and obtain the dizziest privileges of the Sultanate. I ask myself what guerdon he promised.’ He paused. He said, ‘This place was built as a fortress. It is a valuable fortress still, to whoever maintains it. And it already possesses a mosque.’
The Abbot was silent. When he spoke, it was in a slow, measured voice, soft but deep; and it continued in its solemn cadences for a long time. When he ceased, Lorenzo saw de Fleury’s eyes fixed upon him.
He returned the look. Then he turned to the Frankish Baron, and began to translate.
‘You must know that you have caused great offence. The lord Abbot would ask you to leave immediately, save that he would deny no one that grace that comes from scaling the Mount of the Lord, and he recognises that there is error lodged in your heart and your tongue which the Lord can seek out better than he.
‘My lord wishes, however, to say this. As Bishop of Sinai, he informs you that there is no gold within these walls or these gardens, or anywhere within his rule, and if you wish to parade your disbelief by crawling, kneeling or visiting caverns, you are welcome to do so. My lord will not even withdraw from you the indulgences, the privileges, even the chivalric honour which the Blessed Saint Ekaterina has bestowed on you this day, for fear you accuse him of some trick, or some prejudice against the whole race of Franks. Tell him what you wish to do, and then leave his house.’
Adorne jumped to his feet and stood over de Fleury. He said, ‘I cannot tolerate you, or what you represent, any longer. You bring your sordid ambition to a holy place and infect what you touch. You have no faith, no beliefs. You are rich; you want more. You came for the gold, and nothing else. What have you done, from the moment you came, but search for it, like a jackal seeking a corpse?’
He had dropped into Tuscan. The Abbot’s face, frowning, moved from one man’s face to the other but Brother Lorenzo understood.
The younger Frank did not try to interrupt. At the end he said, in the same language, ‘You can’t believe the monastery capable of such wrongdoing. The Abbot is speaking the truth. The gold is not here. But even if it were, what has it to do with you? You are on pilgrimage here, and so is your son, for your souls’ sake.’
His voice, which had been hard, withdrew its intensity towards the end as if he had restrained himself, or had been subdued by the balm of some opiate. Brother Lorenzo, seeking his superior’s eye, spoke in Greek. ‘My lord Abbot. The Baron is ill. Leave him to me.’
‘And the other?’ the Abbot said. He glanced at de Fleury, recalling himself.
De Fleury suddenly spoke, of his own accord, also in Greek; rising to stand before his rival the Baron. He said, ‘Brother Lorenzo is right; my compatriot is unwell. We should neither of us have set tongue to the words you have heard, and I can only thank you on my knees for your lenience. My lord of Cortachy plans to leave, I am sure, as soon as his pilgrimage is completed. I, too, will disembarrass you of my presence. I have placed before Brother Lorenzo that which I beg you will accept, for the good of the Convent and the Blessed Ekaterina and all whom you serve.’
‘I have seen it,’ said the Abbot. It lay, covered with a cloth, in a niche in the wall. He did not glance at it. The man Adorne, unable to follow the Greek, said something under his breath.
De Fleury turned to him and said in Italian, ‘I was only making