Part 19 (1/2)

Warned, the golden head turned. Culter saw a white blur; then a curtain of arrows fell between Buccleuch's men and Lymond. The men hesitated, drew up and turned back as the raiders, in that moment's grace, vanished.

Standing where he had dismounted, Lord Culter, the enigmatical, the impersonal, the impervious, raised a stiff right arm and smashed an expensive yew bow like a whip on the rocks. Sir Wat, slightly discomposed, was trotting back.

”Dod, did you see who that was?.

Lord Culter said dispa.s.sionately, ”How your son debases himself is no concern of mine. You might however recall that to protect a murderer and a traitor is a capital offence..

Buccleuch, braced for rebuke, had not quite expected this. He took a whistling lungful of Border air, swallowed it down with offence and resentment, and said simply, ”Man, you're obsessed. Come on. Everyone's waiting..

”Just a moment. Understand me,” said Lord Culter, and his eyes for a moment were as foreign as Lymond's. ”Next time, regardless of what is in the way, I shoot..

But Buccleuch's patience, a slim and frangible thing, could carry no more pressure that night. With a brief, unforgivable click, it snapped. ”I had rather,” said Sir Wat through his beard, ”have a son tried and hanged for being driven into bad company, Richard Crawford, than be known in company, honourable or otherwise, by a name fit to spit on.” And wheeling, he drove his horse into the night, leaving Culter motionless, unseeing, at his back.

In the small hours of Sunday morning the sky cleared, the temperature dropped, and the stars described a country silted and sparklingwith white. Trampled mud grew a coating of thin, iCy paint and the marshes sp.a.w.ned their own sluggish and gelid roe. The earth became very still. In all c.u.mberland nothing stirred but a round, black herd of beasts, running swiftly east within a circle of hors.e.m.e.n.

* * *In the valley of the Tyne, the manor of Flaw Valleys waited with vacant stable and empty byre for Gideon's return; and in the yard and in the garden Grey's men crammed themselves into impossible corners out of the wind and rasped together glazed palms.

The sound of hoofbeats alerted them. Kate heard it too, and opened a window, her shadow languis.h.i.+ng, dimly sparkling, on the gra.s.s. She called, ”Are they coming?” and someone above her replied, ”Yes, ma'am, I see them-Allan! Get the gate open!-And good work too, ma'am. Looks to me as if he's got the whole herd back..

Kate's face sparkled like a new penny. She ran for Philippa. Together they hung, fascinated, out of the window and watched the seething backs filling the yard below. Above the din they could hear men on horseback shouting, and the crack of whips combing the excited beasts back to their quarters. ”Don't they look tired?” said Kate sympathetically, of a huddle of sodden and gla.s.s-eyed ewes. ”I don't see Father, Philippa, do you?.

But Pippa's brown eyes shone, and she turned away from the window, plaits swinging. ”I know where he is! Listen!” said the child, and opened the door.

Along the corridors of Flaw Valleys poured the notes of a harpsichord, played triumphantly and fast. Kate seized her daughter's hand, and pranced along the pa.s.sage. ”Do you suppose sheep can play Morales? No? Then it's Father with four hands,” she said, and flung open the music room door.

It was not Gideon. ”Lord: the tame a.s.sa.s.sin!” said Kate, and popped Philippa outside the door.

”There are some rough men of mine in every pa.s.sage out there,” said a cool voice from the harpsichord. ”You will both be safer with me. Shut the door..

Kate brought Phiippa in and closed it.

”And sit down..

Firmly tightening the belt of her oldest wrap, Kate took her daughter and sat. In her orderly brain, the situation was clear. Thiswas the man of whom Lord Grey had warned Gideon. It was her task to convince him that Gideon was not the man he was after, and without frightening Philippa. She longed to know if her husband was in the house.

Mrs. Somerville ran her tongue round her lips and spoke weakly. ”I hope you won't find us tiresome, sitting here looking at you..

He could certainly play. He continued to do so, paying not the slightest attention.

”I don't suppose,” said Kate sociably, ”you get much time for practice. Are you here for a long stay?.

”I am afraid,” said the cool voice, ”you must have patience until your husband comes back. He's been following me carefully: he won't be long..

”Following you . . . Did you steal the animals?” exclaimed Kate, surprised into an unpremeditated question.

”And brought them back..

”Oh!” She hid her face. ”These mighty marksmen of Lord Grey's Of course. And they opened the gates for you, thinking it wasGideon. Oh, shame on you. Is there no G.o.d who looks after little brains?.

Silence. So she was on her own, Kate thought, and instilled all the friendly helpfulness she could into her next question. ”Excuse me, but are you the bad company young Mr. Scott has got into?.

In one gentle movement, the yellow-haired man lifted both hands from the keyboard, rested one on the instrument, and swivelled to face mother and daughter. Kate, her arm around Philippa, met wide eyes like a kitten's; then he said without stress, ”A humourist, I see. Why did you mention Scott's name?.

”If you're the person who's in company with Buccleuch's son, we have a letter for you,” said Kate. ”But you'll have to get it yourself, if you've got feet under there. I'm all against heroism in women..

He found it without trouble as she directed, and then crossing to the door with the same, noiseless, lingering tread, held it open. ”Your company enthralls me,” he said. ”But I believe I can dispense with it. Get out, please..

It meant he wanted to read the letter by himself, and probably see Gideon alone, which wasn't at all what Kate intended. She got up slowly, taking Philippa's hand. ”We are adjudged suitable company for the rough men outside-” and broke off. ”Oh, Gideon!.

Gideon Somerville, marched alone his own pa.s.sage by strangersand deposited outside the door of his own music room, gazed in a perplexed way at his wife and child, and then at the silent man who held the door open. His fresh skin lost colour, and a very real consternation came into his eyes. Then Kate propelled Phiippa firmly back into the room, reseated herself, and addressed her husband as he walked slowly past the other and into the room.

”That's right,” said Kate. ”Behold the fruits of Willie Grey's little scheme. He came in with the cattle, that also be fair beasts and well smelling. He's got the letter..

Back to the shut door, the intruder watched them, the unopened letter tapping against his leg. With characteristic hesitation, Gideon said, ”You have put-put us all to a great deal of trouble for nothing, my friend. I was told to expect you, and to help you when you came. If you'll read the letter, it will tell you I am not the man you want..

The other man continued to study him. Then he walked slowly to the far end of the room and, turning by the desk where he could keep them all under view, he broke Sir George Douglas's seal and read. When he had finished he smiled, the long lashes fluttering. ”That proves nothing,” he said.

Kate could feel the weariness and anger in Gideon, but he kept his voice level. ”Then ask me anything you want. I can a.s.sure you that till the ridiculous performance tonight I've had no enmity for you, and have never, to my knowledge, done you an injury. I don't even know your name.~~”My name is Lymond..

It was unknown to them. ”Well, Mr. Lymond-.

”Lymond is a territorial name. My family name is Crawford..

”Then, Mr. Crawford-” said Gideon patiently, and broke off, for the yellow-haired man was looking beyond him.

”Philippa!” said Lymond.

Crouched at Kate's knee, the girl made no movement. Kate said, ”This child needs her beauty sl&ep. Off you go, pet. If the gentleman wants to speak to you, he can catch you tomorrow with your eyes Open..

Lymond opened his hand, on which lay the key of the door. He said, ”What the letter says and what you say are unsupported evidence. You claim you are not the man I want. All right. Let the girl prove it..

Kate's brown eyes were blazing. ”My dear Mr. Crawford, you're not thinking. This child's been a Messalina from birth.

The blue, feminine gaze moved to Gideon. ”Send her here..

”Not unless she wants to.” Gideon was quite unarmed.

Philippa got up, the plaits swaying and her short dressing gown dragged away from the white nightdress. She said, her lips trembling, ”Don't worry, Father: I won't tell him anything..

Her parents' eyes met. Then Gideon said, with an effort, ”It's aM right, chick. You can tell him anything he wants to know. He can't hurt us..

The child said again, ”Don't worry. He shan't make me speak. Don't worry..

With one raging glance ahead, Kate slid to her knees, pulling the child's head to her breast, her mouth in its hair. ”Pippa. Pippa, we're awful fools. What Father means is that truly nothing we have ever done can harm us, and Mr. Crawford has mixed us up with someone else. But you know what unstable-looking p. :ents you have. He doesn't believe us, but he says he'll believe you. It's not very flattering,” said Kate, looking at her daughter with bright eyes, ”but you seem to be the one in the family with an honest sort of face, and your father and I must just be thankful for it. Go over to him, darling. I'll be behind you. And just speak,” she said with an edge like a razor. ~'Just speak as you would to the dog..

There were tears on the child's cheeks, but she was not crying. She got up and walked down the room, stopping just out of Lymond's reach. ”I'm not a liar,” she said. ”Ask anything you want to..

Gideon jerked. ”I can't stand this-” and was gripped by Kate's fingers. ”No. Let her be. It's the only safe way. d.a.m.n and blast Willie Grey,” said his wife pa.s.sionately under her breath.