To Lie with Lions - Dorothy Dunnett [131]
‘That for certain,’ said Nicholas. Then, perhaps regretting the insult, or the joke: ‘You’ll hear enough of them afterwards to deafen you. Joy plays the organ and Memory works the bellows and the Suffering Servant hangs himself from the bell-rope. I wanted to ask you something about Jordan.’
‘Young or old?’ Gelis said. She stayed calm.
‘Both are continually in my thoughts, but in this case the younger.’
‘He calls you Doc-Doc,’ Gelis remarked. ‘It began while you were away.’
He smiled immediately, forgetfully using both dimples. ‘Origin, Pasque, I should guess. A local nickname. Not obscene, to my knowledge.’
‘Doctor?’ she guessed. She was curious.
‘More like Odysseus polymetis, the sort of knave who makes deals under carts. I am flattered, I think. Gelis, I should like to take Jodi somewhere when all this is finished. Bel of Cuthilgurdy is here. Here in Edinburgh.’
She looked at him. Since they had resumed their notional life as a family, he had always asked permission, like this, to take Jordan away. It was part of the unspoken pact. If he did so, so must she. But this time, she had to consider his motives. Bel, neighbour and friend to de Ribérac’s family, had been close to Nicholas and to Gelis in Africa, but had since lost her trust in them both. An affectionate visit from Nicholas might well re-attach Bel to himself, while underlining the transgressions of Gelis. Odysseus polymetis, indeed. Gelis said, ‘Where is Bel staying?’
‘In de Ribérac’s house. I noticed smoke, and asked who was there.’
‘Fearing, of course, it might be Fat Father Jordan or Simon. My dear! What a bad moment it must have been!’ Gelis said. ‘A nasty bite for the ass called Brunellus. I have no objection to your taking Jordan to Bel’s. She will mother you both.’
He said, ‘I want Bel to see him, that’s all. He needs godparents.’
‘Godparents?’ she echoed. A pain ran through her and vanished. She said, ‘You are thinking of a sort of insurance policy, as with a ship? If we sink, Bel of Cuthilgurdy will rescue your offspring? A regular contract, I suppose, with negotiated increments annually. Or is that risky? She might dispose of us both and lift the money.’
‘Would you consider Bel as a guardian for Jordan?’ he said.
She said, ‘You are serious.’
Nicholas said, ‘You raised the subject yourself, after Hesdin. I know Bel is close to the St Pols, but I trust her. And Mistress Clémence would go with her, if you agree. She is very good.’
‘She is very good,’ Gelis repeated. Then she said, ‘What is this? A tragic revelation? You perceive yourself as a vessel of death? I shouldn’t expect to need Bel even if you were to perish tonight, to the ruin of four hundred men and a donkey. Wolfaert and his wife would rear Jordan with their own children. A van Borselen upbringing, away from anything Simon could do.’
‘Simon might frequent Bruges,’ Nicholas said. ‘Henry might be sent to train in some ducal household.’
‘They are back from Portugal?’
‘Not so far. But they won’t stay for ever. Shall we agree on a compromise? If you outlive me but pine from remorse, Jordan will go to Wolfaert in Veere on your death. If I survive, then I may ask Bel to take him.’
Since it began, she had been growing more puzzled. She had plans for after the Play. She thought she knew his. There were always risks in his life, but none that quite explained this sudden ordering of his affairs. She said, ‘Nicholas? What are you expecting?’
‘A genteel argument,’ he said. ‘Otherwise nothing of note, even though I am in your room, and we are married. Virginité voluntaire, like Mary and Joseph. How timely.’
‘What are you afraid of?’ She refused to be deflected.
‘Or might there be a delicious, remote possibility of union charnelle if I suggested it? Does it move you when I soak a bed, or shut the door firmly and sit down like this? Would it move you if–’
‘It would not move me, except to make me depressed, if I had to bear your whole weight here and now on my bed.’ She snapped, in response to that insulting, deliberate voice. By no remote chance did he mean what he said. The