To Lie with Lions - Dorothy Dunnett [40]
After the two meetings were over, he was called to the Duke.
For this audience, Nicholas appeared in dull grey (less ostentatious than black), having spent more time than he wanted trying to flatten his hair. The Duke, austere amid the blinding glare of his wealth, did not favour curled hair or frivolity.
The matters he had discussed with Hugonet were reviewed and, in the main, received ducal approval. The Duke said, ‘And Anjou? I understand you spoke with my lord René?’
‘Yes, monseigneur. He seems, although a vassal of France, afraid and ready to look to his friends. I had an impression, I do not know from where, that he was wistful for the goodwill of Burgundy.’
‘Yes?’ said Duke Charles. ‘Did he say so?’
‘He said,’ Nicholas answered, ‘that if his daughter failed, he would have little ambition beyond foiling France in its wish to usurp him.’
‘Do you say?’ said the Duke. ‘And France? You saw our uncle the King, we believe. But you nobly resisted his offers?’
‘I wish I could say so,’ Nicholas said. ‘But only children follow their impulses. My fees fall heavily enough on your coffers, I know. It seemed only right that, as in other lands, the enemy should contribute towards them. I offered to spy, for an annual pension. And I offered to incite James of Scotland to bring an army to help him.’
The Duke sat very still. ‘M. de Fleury, why are you telling me this? I should make you answer for it if you did. And monseigneur my uncle will stop your pension, certainly, if you don’t.’
‘But I shall!’ Nicholas said. ‘That is, I shall urge the King to the best of my powers. Fortunately, there is no chance at all that his country will vote him the money to do it. And I shall make sure he has no surfeit of money, and recommend that the Baron Cortachy does so as well.’
He waited. There was a small chance he would not be believed. The punishment in that event would very likely be perpetual prison or worse. The gamble gave the moment an edge. Then the Duke said, ‘Hugonet?’ and the Chancellor bent forward and spoke.
‘And, M. de Fleury, your undertaking to persuade the King of Scotland to withdraw his claim to Guelders? Is the basis for that equally derisory?’
‘Forgive me,’ Nicholas said. ‘But so far as I know, the King had no intention of sending an army to Guelders. He merely staked a claim, in the hope that some concessions would follow. I should hope to mitigate his expectations, without harming monseigneur’s reputation for generosity. He will play off France against Burgundy.’
‘As you are doing,’ the Duke said.
‘I am a Burgundian,’ Nicholas answered. ‘There are no friends of mine at the French Court.’ They knew his history. They knew about Jordan de Ribérac. The hostility of Jordan de Ribérac was the strongest card in his favour. He was sorry the fat man couldn’t appreciate it. He said, ‘If I break my trust, it will be evident. It is not in my own interest to do so. I hope to see my Bank rise with the fortunes of Burgundy, the one aiding the other. I hope to see my Bank become an Imperial Bank, financing the war which will throw the Turk out of Christendom.’
He had not said that before. He still had not said – no one had – if and when Charles of Burgundy becomes the next King of the Romans. If and when he is anointed in Rome as the Holy Roman Emperor following Frederick. But of course, it had been in his mind ever since Venice.
‘Is that your intention?’ said the Duke.
‘As it was your illustrious father’s,’ said Nicholas. ‘I have been in the land of the Golden Fleece. I would return with an Emperor.’
The Duke stared at him, his expression unchanging. ‘We shall hold you to those words,’ was all he said.
It was all he needed to say. The danger was over. He had given his tacit agreement; the details would be worked out elsewhere. He had a vast contract; security; leave to take money from France; leave