To Lie with Lions - Dorothy Dunnett [98]
‘Which was?’ Gelis said. All the anger had gone, leaving the bright, clear calculation of the game: her schemes against his; the delight of exposition. His voice was shallowly drink-hoarse, but surprisingly unblurred.
He said, ‘Which was to take Tom Boyd to London and leave him there, with the prior consent of King Edward, who may keep him as long as he wishes. Lord Boyd has been given a pension, and left in some sinecure of a post in the north.’
‘And Mary? The King’s sister?’
Nicholas began to change his position. ‘She is on board Adorne’s ship with her children. He persuaded her to come. No doubt Margriet helped. The Countess thinks she is here to plead for her husband’s redemption.’
There was a silence. Gelis said, ‘Is that what you advised her to do?’
‘I didn’t see her,’ Nicholas said. ‘I told her husband to keep her with him in London.’
Gelis stared at the shadowy bed. She said, ‘Of course you would. And doting on Tom as she does, she would rush to agree to all that at once: to settle with Tom and her children in London. It was Adorne, then, who had to persuade her, for his own sake and the King’s, to come to Scotland alone with the children. Adorne must have had to pretend she could plead for Tom’s safe return and reinstatement. And when she gets here, and finds the King will do no such thing, nor let her go back – it is Adorne she will blame.’
‘I should think so,’ he said. ‘Also, Adorne will have to give up the Boyd land, or some of it. She’ll need something to live on while she hates him. But the King will be forever grateful, I’m sure. Adorne may even thank me some day.’
His voice was calm. A triumph of planning. A vindication of what he had said: for him, no demonstration was pointless. Save for Nicholas, the King’s sister Mary would never have left to roam with her husband But for Nicholas, Mary would have spent the last three years in comfort in Scotland, her marriage safely annulled, her controversial children unborn. Gelis said, ‘Does the King know his sister is here?’
‘By now, he will. Crackbene told me in private.’
‘What will he do?’
‘Did you not hear the horses go by? Send to Leith to bring her ashore. After that, to the Castle. After that, I don’t know. He was full of good humour tonight,’ Nicholas said. She could not interpret the change in his voice.
She said, ‘But you didn’t send to warn her away. That might have cost you your Order.’ He reclined, without troubling to answer. As always, it offended her. She said, ‘So what do you get out of Mary’s return, apart from ruining her and her faith in Adorne?’
She knew that, in the shadows, he was smiling. ‘You’ll never know, will you?’ he said. ‘You’re going away.’
The fire burned. He watched her, his weight indolently transferred to one hand. In a moment he would go, or would force her to leave. She said, ‘I have never shared a house with a piece of clockwork. I am tempted to stay.’
He said, ‘Indeed. I thought an excess of carnality was the issue. Perhaps not. Now I come to think of it, the King was on the same theme. He gave me a paper. Where did I put it?’
He began to search, and then stopped. ‘That is, there is no point if you are going away.’
‘No,’ said Gelis. ‘I shan’t go away yet. Not before I have made all my points.’
There was another silence. ‘Why not make them now?’ Nicholas said.
There was a tap on the door. He turned his head. Gelis said, ‘I should be delighted, but unfortunately, someone seems to wish to speak to you. I had better see who.’
It was Govaerts, huddled into a night-robe as if he had been sent for. He looked past her into the room. Behind him, she noticed, the door to Jordan’s room stood a little ajar.
Govaerts said, ‘I am sorry, madame. I wondered if …’
‘I am coming,’ Nicholas said. He had stepped from the bed.