Part 8 (1/2)

The evening pa.s.sed. Most of the household went early to bed. Sir James and Angus had gone and silence lay on the three still sitting before the big fire. In his deep chair, Culter was motionless, his face lost in shadow. Andrew Hunter glanced at him, and Sir George Douglas, alert on the second, said, ”He's asleep, I think. Did you wish to say something private?.

Sir Andrew smiled gratefully. ”Not at all. But I did want to open up a small matter of business.” He went on, with some hesitation.

”You may not know, but a cousin of mine, a great favourite ofMother's, was taken in '44, and has been in Carlisle ever since.” He paused awkwardly. ”I have a good little estate, you see, but not a very profitable one, and Jeff has no other relatives-.

”But of course,” said Sir George with fine courtesy. ”Not a word more. I shall be delighted. How much . . .

Hunter flushed a deep red. ”No. I- It's true we can't pay what they ask. But if, for example, I could repay in kind . .

”An exchange of prisoners? Yes, I suppose that would be one way out..

”So I went to Annan. But I was unlucky,” Hunter said, flus.h.i.+ng again. ”And then I heard-.

”-That I have a prisoner,” said Sir George. ”Yes, I have. With a fearful stock of conversation-I've forgotten his name-Couch, or Crouch.” He thought for a bit while Sir Andrew watched, his face a little anxious.

Then Douglas said pleasantly, ”All right. I'll sell him to you for a hundred crowns. You needn't feel it's charity; and I expect it's a good deal less than they were asking for your cousin.

”Yes . . . I'm afraid it is charity,” said Hunter rather ruefully. ”You could probably sell him yourself for-.

”-Very little,” said Sir George dryly, crossing a superb leg in blue silk. ”Don't worry: he's yours. Will you send for him?.

”Right away!” Sir Andrew got up with rather touching enthusiasm. ”I'll give you a bill for the money now, if I can find paper and ink. Excuse me, sir: and believe me, I'm most grateful.” He betook himself off, shuffling over the rushes a little in his borrowed shoes.

The silence lengthened. Then Sir George Douglas said, ”Why so silent, Lord Culter? Don't you approve of such transactions?.

Culter opened his eyes, and the faintest smile crossed his lips. ”Sir, when two friends discuss money, the third friend should invariably be asleep..

Sir George laughed, and rising, clapped him on a brocade shoulder. ”Poppyhead! Get to bed, man!.

* * *Lady Hermes, arranged in antique pose at the breakfast table, laid a large and languid hand on her chest. ”Do you think,” said Agnes, gazing hopefully at her troubadour, ”do you think I ought to ride your horse today again?.

Lord Culter, who had just finished stuffing himself with baked crane and sack, said robustly, ”Not if you want to get to Stirling this week. You'll be perfectly all right in your own saddle. Anyway, don't you want to be in time to see the papingo?.

Lady Hermes dropped a slice of bread, instantly lost to the dogs, and in ringing tones unsoftened by immersion, demanded data. ”Is it a real parrot?.

”Quite real,” said Sir Andrew solemnly. He put down his tankard. ”Bright blue and yellow, with a beak like Buccleuch's..

She said with vigour, ”My faith, I should like a papingo. I wonder how you feed them. What a waste to kill it! I suppose they'll hang it on a high pole?.

”They will. And my Lord Culter and a number of other gentlemen will shoot at it. And there'll be wrestling, and throwing, and tilting at the ring, and running, and prizes given; and then a fair all afternoon and half the night . .

Agnes snapped him up. ”A fair!.

Remembering something, Hunter looked across her head. ”By the way, Richard: I hope you won't be fool enough to . . . that is, your womenfolk are pretty anxious about Lymond.” He broke off, daunted by Culter's continued silence. ”Oh, well. None of my business. She'll tell you herself..

Culter stirred and raised his eyes. They fell on Agnes, looking at him with rather a silly expression. He smiled at her. ”Child, relations are the devil. Think yourself lucky yours don't bother you. Will you come and see me shoot at this wretched bird?.

This was self-sacrifice with a vengeance. Sir Andrew threw his lords.h.i.+p a commiserating grin, and felt it stiffen on his lips at the look in the other man's eyes. Hot water under cold ice, then, he thought. He wasn't surprised.

* * *”And there they go, poor dears,” said Sir George. He watched the two parties ride down the long, wet avenue and then leave the Drumlanrig policies-Hunter to the northwest; Culter and the girl for the Dalveen road.

The Earl of Angus, who hadn't bothered to get up, grunted from the fire. ”Pity the river wasn't a lot higher. That whelp Culter's done a lot of harm in the south..

”Don't be crude.” Sir George admonished his brother, moving away from the window. ”All the same, I wish that d.a.m.n fellow Lyniond would get on with it. Can't we induce him to be a little more persevering?.

Sir James said, ”We can't contact him: you know that. No one can..

”Well, one man could,” pointed out Angus. ”That brat Will Scott apparently met him in broad daylight, as plain as a fishwife on Friday..

”Proving only that Lymond wanted to be met,” said Sir George. ”I wish to G.o.d the man would stick to one side. What I couldn't do with his intelligence system! The Protector told me-he lifted all of Wharton's campaign gold at Annan, and left your precious son-in-law Lennox black in the face..

He looked curiously at his brother. ”What went on between Lymond and Lennox anyway? If Margaret was involved, you'd do well to hush it up..

The Earl of Angus brushed this aside. ”No one's going to clap Margaret Douglas in the Tower these days-cousin of Edward of England; a daughter of an ex-Queen of Scotland; the wife of the Earl of Lennox, with a claim to the throne every bit as good as Arran?.

”But not as good as young Queen Mary's..

Angus was contemptuous. ”G.o.d's Ma.s.s, George: there's biggergame than governers.h.i.+ps and pensions. Edward's sickly. Look at him.

And our Queen's four years old: well, they die like flies at that age.

Arran's a fool. So's Lennox; but he's married to Margaret. AndMargaret's heir to-.

”Heir to nothing,” said Sir George wearily. ”You know perfectly well Henry of England disinherited her from the succession in the midst of his uxorial fluctuations. And on top of that, she had a cracking row with him the week before he died, and he cut her out of his will. Edward, Mary Tudor, Elizabeth and then the Suffolk infants. Not a word of his own niece..

”Yes. Well. She's highly strung..

”Highly strung! G.o.d, Archie, that wasn't what you called her mother..

”Oh, be quiet, George,” said the head of the Douglases. ”What do you want, anyway? The trouble with you is, you keep letting the Protector push you too far. One of these days, the Scottish Queen Dowager will see what you're up to, and then bang goes Douglas andDrumlanrig, Dalkeith, Coldingham, Tantallon and your fine neck into the bargain..

”On the other hand,” said Sir George painstakingly, ”if the Protector feels we are insufficiently helpful, he sends in a raiding party, and bang they all go just the same.” He studied his brother's heavy, once-handsome face. He had never in his life had to worry about searching questions from Archie, and he was thankful now that it was the same old ground.

His sister's brother, Sir James, said a little petulantly, ”You're talking as if the invasion was over for good. Is the Protector really going south?.

”Oh, yes.” Sir George smiled. ”He'd only food for a month, and he didn't get the local support he'd expected-notably from the Douglases, Archie: now d'you wonder that I've been so forthcoming with him? Then a really nasty political mess flared up in London:be thankful, dear, that you have a prudent brother. The Protector's young twig of fraternity is graithing himself a nice sharp axe for Tower Green..

He tilted the ruby on his finger, and a beam of sunlight ran over a sardonic cheekbone.

”Andrew Dudley's stuck with an English garrison at Broughty; Luttrell at St. Colme's Inch; and that senile idiot Lady Hume persuaded to glve up Hume Castle. He'll fortify Roxburgh, most likely, on his way south, and supply 'em all through the winter from Berwick and Wark.” He grinned. ”An entertaining prospect, isn't it?.

Angus and Sir James looked gloomy. ”And what then?” asked his brother.

”Oh, well.” Sir George kicked a log into place in the fire. ”The Queen Dowager here, of course, will try to get some money and troops out of France. Meantime, the Protector can't do much: bad roads, difficult supply lines, winter weather and all that. He'll probably hang out until spring, and then fling in his full strength before the French come, using all these garrisons as jumping-off points..