Free Gemini by Dorothy Dunnett Page A

would be better for Robin to come,’ Archie said. ‘To run his business from Scotland. Yare told me the news about Burgundy. I’ve not to repeat it.’
    ‘That the Duke is dead? It’ll be known by tomorrow,’ said Nicholas. ‘But yes, Flemish trade will take time to settle, especially in Bruges. I’d trust Kathi to decide what is best.’ He kept out of his voice everything that he was feeling and thinking. That he would trust Kathi with his life and had trusted her, before and after she had married Robin. That Kathi knew why he was here, and that his enemies were hers and Robin’s as well. David de Salmeton had a score to settle against Robin of Berecrofts and his wife Kathi.
    Despite that, Kathi might—would—bring Robin home, because it was right that he should be home, in the care of his father and grandfather. So Kathi, like Gelis, was trusting him to clear the way for them all. At which he was not doing particularly well. He said, ‘What about the old man, your father?’
    Archie looked vaguely up. ‘He’s frail. He’s mostly at Berecrofts these days, or in the west. I’ve said nothing to Sersanders yet, Kathi’s brother. He’s here, in the Canongate.’
    ‘You’d better tell him,’ Nicholas said. ‘I’ll come to see you both anyway.’
    Their voices were flat. They were talking for talking’s sake. It was still a shock when, without warning, Archie cried out.
    ‘
Where did it hit him?
Could you not have—’
    He broke off. Then he said, ‘Nicol, I’m sorry.’
    The Abbot spoke, his voice kind. ‘Nicholas was struck unconscious himself, as I understand it, by the same men who felled Robin. Two of the Duke’s sons are prisoners—the Grand Bastard and his half-brother. They’ll be well looked after together in Nancy.’
    Nicholas pulled himself together, and added all that he could. ‘Robin is a fine soldier, Archie. I’ve never seen a man so in his element. It was sheer bad luck he was hurt. We surprised some mercenaries hunting for booty. I saw him hit in the thigh.’ He didn’t say any more about it than that, or mention that there had been more than one shot. The boy, Kathi’s husband, was twenty.
    ‘Oh, my laddie,’ said Archie; and brought up his clenched hand, and wept. When the Abbot signed to him, Nicholas left.
    T HE
K AREL OF V EERE
was where they had left her, but the wind had died down, and the grumbling. Most of her modest complement of mariners were asleep.
    Crackbene was gambling against himself in the cabin. ‘Christ!’ he said, starting up, as Nicholas and Wodman came in.
    ‘You use too many expletives,’ said Nicholas. ‘The Council didn’t like us. They punched us and sent us off home.’
    Ignoring that: ‘You were set upon?’ Crackbene said. ‘By the St Pols or de Salmeton? How did they know you were here?’
    He hadn’t thought of that. Wodman had. He said, breaking a journey-long silence, ‘The monks of Newbattle Abbey have gift-land in Leith. Religious men get to hear secrets.’
    ‘But—’ said Crackbene.
    ‘But,’ said Nicholas, ‘David de Salmeton is very religious these days. He’s Procurator, isn’t he, to the Papal Legate? While pursuing his usual business in Scotland?’
    ‘So it was dear Davie behind it?’ said Crackbene. ‘By God, I’ll give him new battle.’
    ‘I’m sure you will,’ Nicholas said. ‘And Andro agrees. And now, since we have a big day tomorrow, we’d both like to get to our beds.’
    Before he lay down, he tossed off the mixture the Abbot had given him. He felt Wodman’s stare on him then, and all the time he was trying to sleep. To hell with Wodman. Expletive.
    B Y FIRST LIGHT next morning, as a matter of instinct, everyone in Leith was aware that Nicholas de Fleury had come in with a ship. Whatever they thought of him, no canny Leither would fail to explore this phenomenon. Indeed, the sociability began before dawn, when Crackbene elected to begin unloading the cargo by lantern-light, and the ship