Part 28 (1/2)

He had tried, she knew, to come to terms with Philippa, but without success. On the last occasion he had entered the music room, roving as he often did to the window; and after a moment, idly picked up Philippa's lute which lay there.

He had forgotten, obviously, that Kate's room opened from this one. She had been resting; and although during these last ten days she had found him civilized and undemanding company, she stayed where she was to avoid embarra.s.sing them both. Thus she was able to hear the sweet, preoccupied roulades of the lute, and the crashof Philippa's eruption into the room. The child stopped just inside the door, as her mother, opening her own door a judicious half inch, was able to see.

”That's mine!” said Philippa. ”That's my lute you're playing!” Lymond laid the instrument gently down, and sat himself before Gideon's harpsichord. ”Lute and harpsichord?” he said. ”That's pretty erudite of you..

The child pi~shed back her long hair. It was uncombed, and the hem of her gown, Kate was sorry to see, was grey with dust. Philippa said belligerently, ”I can play the rebec as well..

”Oh?.

”And the recorder..

Philippa! Philippa! said Kate to herself, grinning. Lymond turned to the harpsichord. ”Then you're the person I want to see. Which d'you like playing best?.

”The lute.” The voice of owners.h.i.+p.

”Then,” said Lymond, rousing the keyboard to delicate life, ”tell me how this finishes. I never could find out..

It was only L'homme arms; a tune Philippa had certainly heard in her cradle and was bound to know every note of. She sauntered across the room.

”It's L'homme arms..

”I know. But how does it go on?.

She sidled past. ”I don't know..

The harpsichord rang with jubilation. ”Try..

Kate could~see the pull of the music in her daughter's eyes; she could imagine the fascination of those magic fingers. Philippa's arm shot out. She trapped the lute like an insect-eater trapping a fly, and flew to the door, panting.

”That's my father's instrument,” she shouted. ”You're not to touch it! Leave my father and my mother alone. n.o.body wants you here!.

Kate was afraid for her. Her hand tightened on the door, but the music didn't stop, although it fell to a murmur. Lymond's voice said quietly, ”Don't you want me to play?” There sail be mirth, said the harpsichord. There saIl be mirth at our meeting.

Philippa looked at him with her mother's eyes. ”No!” she cried. ”I hate you!” And clutching her lute, she did indeed run from the room.

The music stopped, and there was a long silence. After a time, Kate slipped through the door.

He was still there, looking unseeing downward, his head on one hand. Then, politely rueful, he saw her. ”You see! I'm out of practice, I know; but the effect must be worse than I thought..

She sat down, her eyes on him. ”Who taught you?.

”My mother, first. My father thought that not only did music make men mad, but that only madmen indulged in it in the first place..

”Then you inherit your military talents from him, perhaps?” said Kate idly. ”Not many musicians contrive to be the toast of the Wapenshaws as well..

”Some do: witness Jamie's drummer who whipped the English off the b.u.t.ts. I never achieved a,nything spectacular of that sort; I never cared for it.” He ran one hand down the keyboard. ”My brother is the athlete..

”He's an archer?.

”Sword or bow. He excels at both..

So there was a brother. ”There is such a thing as a born eye for athletics,” observed Kate. ”Two of a kind in one family would be a bit trying. It's probably just as well for the sake of peace that you were differently gifted..

He agreed with her amiably, returning to his playing. Watching him, Kate found herself thinking of something Gideon had said after his short stay at Crawfordmuir. ”It isn't all done with words either; he makes d.a.m.ned sure of that. He can outshoot them and outfight them and outplay them: he's got a co-ordination that a hunting tiger would give its hind legs for..

She drew a little breath and Lymond looked up. After a moment he observed, still playing, ”Versatility is one of the few human traits which are universally intolerable. You may be good at Greek and good at painting and be popular. You may be good at Greek and good at sport, and be wildly popular. But try all three and you're a mountebank. Nothing arouses suspicion quicker than genuine, all-round proficiency..

Kate thought. ”It needs an extra gift for human relations.h.i.+ps, of course; but that can be developed. It's got to be, because stultified talent is surely the ultimate crime against mankind. Tell your paragons to develop it: with all those gifts it's only right they should have one hurdle to cross..

”But that kind of thing needs co-operation from the other side,” said Lymond pleasantly. ”No. Like Paris, they have three choices..

And he struck a gently derisive chord between each. ”To be accomplished but ingratiating. To be accomplished but resented. Or to hide behind the more outr~ of their pursuits and be considered erratic but harmless..

”As you did,” said Kate shrewdly. ”Committing the ultimate crime..

”No,” said Francis Crawford, watching his own fingers slipping down the keys. ”Man's ultimate crimes are always against his brother. Mine, in my competence, my versatility and my sell-important, self-imposed embargoes, was against my sister. . . . For G.o.d's sake,” said Lymond, ”don't speak..

In the sudden silence she did as he wished, sitting still in her low chair. Then he swore aloud and she looked up, heartened by these expressions of honest rage.

Standing by the window, Lymond regarded her crookedly. ”Your fault,” he said. ”These were some of the things you wanted to know, weren't they? And as soon as the pressure was lifted, I started talking about them. . . . I don't as a rule inflict my more tawdry reminiscences on people, you must believe me. I'm sorry. It's one of the penalties of being incommunicado for five years, but I can usually control it better than that..

She stood up also. ”You think a lot of your self-possession, don't you?.

”I did, when I had any. One can't, obviously, control other people unless-.

”And you want to control other people?.

He grinned. ”I take your point. I have none now to control. But all the same-.

”You would want it in normal life. Are you ever,” said Kate, driven by her own feelings into asking one of the dangerous questions, ”are you ever likely to have a normal life?.

Lymond grinned again, slightly, walking to the door. ”That depends on Samuel Harvey. There is, of course, another thing. I might be able to gull the law. But as soon as I appear in public, my brother is likely to get himself hanged for killing me. . . . We're devils for complications on our side of the Border..

Kate accompanied him to the door. She said bluntly, ”How much more of it can you stand?.

”Don't worry,” he said, answering what he took to be her anxiety. ”If it's going to happen, it won't happen here..

Gideon arrived next day, and had Crawford brought to the parlour, where he was standing with Kate. After greeting his prisoner he said without preamble, ”The man Harvey is in Haddington; he's seriously wounded and it's possible he won't survive. I came here to tell you..

”Oh,” said Lymond. After a moment he added, ”Then that appears to dispose of my problem..

Gideon had had a talk with his wife. He said abruptly, ”I can't help you to get into Haddington..

”I know that, of course..

”But,” said Gideon, ”if you think there is any possibility of doing so yourself and coming out alive, I'm willing to lend you a horse to try..

There was a pause. Lymond drew a steady breath. ”I see you mean it,” he said. ”I shan't sicken you with protestations of grat.i.tude. But it means a great deal..

”I know. What will you do?” asked Gideon.