Checkmate (60 page)

‘Shut up, Jerott,’ said Adam.

 … Pour ces causes … ayant pris le conseil de ses meilleurs et plus singulliers amys, mesmement de Monseigneur le reverendissime et illustrissime Cardinal de Lorraine et de Monseigneur le Duc de Guyse, ses oncles …

‘The de Guise!’ said Richard, his gaze jerked upwards to Lymond.

‘By the advice of Messeigneurs mes oncles. Who else?’ said Francis Crawford. ‘Read on.’

‘… Icelle Dame … ordonne …
that is she dies childless … the King of France, present or future, should have and enjoy the Kingdom of Scotland, its fruits, revenues and emoluments, and retain them in full possession until the payment … God’s bones!’ Richard said. ‘… Until the payment and full reimbursement of a million pounds in gold …’

‘From a nation of half a million people to a nation of fifteen million. It’s an impossible condition,’ Adam said. His mouth was sour.

‘Presumably, it is meant to be an impossible condition,’ said Richard dryly. He went on reading. ‘… And until this condition is complied with, she cedes to the King and his successors the Kingdom of Scotland, to enjoy as heretofore stated, without hindrance by any other person whatsoever. Which is accepted by the King through Monseigneur the Cardinal de Sens, Keeper of the Seals of France, and by us, the undersigned, notaries and secretaries of the Crown of France at the
request of this lady, who to show her entire approval of this content, has wished to sign with her own hand …’

‘Read the third and last paper,’ Lymond said, ‘before you comment.’

‘Oh Christ,’ Jerott said. ‘What more can there be?’

‘… Marie, Reine d’Escosse, considerant l’ancienne ligue, alliance parfaite et perpetuelle union d’entre les Rois et Roiaumes de France et d’Escosse
 … above all things wishes to bind, join, annexe and unite the Kingdom of Scotland to the Crown of France … and to this end, should she die childless, has made certain dispositions to the profit of the Kings of France …’

‘In the previous two documents,’ Adam said.

‘Yes. Then she says …’ Richard stopped. Jerott, leaning over his shoulder, drew a sudden breath. And Lymond, his voice calm behind them, read, and translated as he read, the third and last document.

‘Toutes fois est de nouvel avertie
 … The Queen is again made aware, by the articles and instructions brought her by the Commission from Scotland, that on the secret cognizance of certain persons, it is intended that her kingdom should pass, should she have no heirs, to certain lords of the country, depriving her, the true Queen, by this means of all liberty of disposing of her own crown, to her great sorrow and prejudice.

‘Which for the present she has no means of openly preventing, since she is distant from her kingdom, far from her subjects and not in complete possession of the strongholds of her country. If such things were at present to be openly debated, they could create great disturbances and a revolt which might lead to the ruin of her kingdom.

‘For these reasons, she now puts on record an affirmation that whatever consent or ratification she has given or will give to the articles and instructions sent by the Estates of her Kingdom, to do with the future of Scotland should she die childless, she intends that the dispositions here made by her to the profit of the Kings of France should remain intact and should be fully implemented, having no regard to any other dispositions to which she may give her consent, either in connection with the aforesaid articles and instructions or anything else, which should be regarded as agreements to which she has been constrained entirely against her wish, will and intention …

‘This intention, the Keeper of Seals will implement. And the document, for greater effect, is signed not only by Queen Mary but by the Dauphin.’

The clear voice stopped. ‘It only remains to add,’ said Francis Crawford to his brother, ‘that the Dauphin is impotent.’

No one spoke. Beside him, Adam saw Jerott open his lips, and put his hand, hard, on his arm. Lord Culter said, ‘Where did these papers come from?’

Lymond walked round and stood looking down at his brother. ‘A man who would be drawn and quartered were it known that he passed them on.’

Richard Crawford had not dropped his eyes from his brother’s face. ‘It
is too important for that,’ he said. ‘If these are genuine, there will be no royal wedding on Sunday.’

‘I showed them to you first,’ Lymond said, ‘because you are intelligent, and moderate, and at the same time inclined by your convictions not to favour France.’ He paused.

‘If you are asking whether I am a Calvinist,’ Richard said grimly, ‘the answer is that I am. So are three other members of the Commission.’

‘I learned as much at Dieppe,’ Lymond said. ‘The preacher John Knox had been there, expecting to take ship for Scotland. Then he was told not to come. Do you know why?’

For a moment, it seemed that Lord Culter would not answer. Then he said, ‘He is a militant. We hope to receive the concessions we want without open rebellion.’

‘Should Mary die childless,’ Lymond said, ‘the articles she has signed for you provide for the Earl of Arran to reign after her. I am told that he also favours the Protestant religion.’

‘You are told correctly,’ Richard said.

‘What then,’ said Lymond, ‘do you imagine will be his reaction when he hears of this refutation?’

‘There’ll be a revolt,’ Jerott said. ‘God, every Calvinist in Scotland will be up in arms. You can’t expect anything else.’

‘Civil war, then,’ Lymond said. ‘With the Catholic faction eventually swept to victory by the combined Catholic armies of France, and a French Catholic nominee irrevocably placed on the throne as regent and eventual monarch. The Earl of Lennox, I understand, is a strong contender.’

Adam said, ‘How do you know, Francis, it won’t come anyway? The present Regent is not only the Queen’s mother, she’s a de Guise. She’s bound to know about this. You say she’s given the Calvinists hope of concessions. But is she likely to trouble, after this? And if she doesn’t, next time the Calvinists send for John Knox.’

‘It may come anyway,’ Lymond said. ‘But almost any time is better than now. There is a chance that the Queen Dowager will remain tolerant. There is a chance of a Protestant succession in England. There is a chance that France may become too preoccupied with the Huguenots on her own doorstep to have troops and money to spare for Scotland.’

‘The Vidame is leaving now, they say, with ten companies of Germans for Scotland,’ Jerott said. ‘To force us this time, in the Dauphin’s name, not to be so backward in attacking England.’ He looked at Richard, who had not spoken. ‘If the wedding were cancelled, they wouldn’t have that extra authority.’

‘However many troops they send, they won’t get anyone to invade England at the moment,’ Richard said. ‘That is a minor matter.’ He turned to his brother. ‘It seems to me that you are suggesting that we connive at this. That we let the royal wedding take place in the face of a
betrayal as monstrous as any people has ever experienced at the hands of its own Queen. I am not of the same mind. First, I require to have proof that these papers are genuine. Then I shall take them with my fellow-Commissioners to the King of France and demand the cancellation of the wedding and the return of Queen Mary to Scotland.’

‘Then you would have not only civil war, but war with France,’ Lymond said.

‘Then,’ said Richard Crawford, ‘you are willing to allow your country to be sold in the market-place in return for the cash for a little girl’s bed hangings?’

‘I want you to keep the issues clear,’ Lymond said. ‘And as free as may be of emotion. Mary has signed these, presumably, out of a duty owed to the men who have reared her, and to please Holy Church, which requires Scotland Catholic. She may be unaware that France’s main interest in this is not Scotland at all, but her own claim to Catholic England. And that claim, transmitted to someone who is already a contender for both thrones, would give the French a chance to control both countries,’

‘You dislike the Lennoxes,’ Richard said. ‘Is that why you oppose early and frank confrontation? To avoid any risk that the succession should fall to your enemies?’

For a moment Lymond stared at him, and Adam saw his muscles harden, as if he were about to turn and walk away. But instead he folded his arms and said only, ‘No. I have not been considering personal issues, either for you or for me. Or I would have mentioned the obvious fact, that the moment you and the other commissioners decide—should you decide—to take action, your lives will be in jeopardy. France won’t give up this wedding lightly.’

The long, critical scrutiny of the grey eyes did not alter ‘You have considered,’ Culter said, ‘that if the wedding doesn’t take place, France has no claim on England. And, therefore, if that is their first object, they will have perhaps less interest, not more, in interfering with Scottish affairs?’

‘It is a viewpoint,’ Lymond said. ‘I think that if she fails to produce a legal heir, she will make an alliance with Spain and try to take Scotland and England by force. But that is some distance away. At the moment both Spain and England are allied against France, and France is not going to risk having every Protestant in the country up in arms, as Jerott says, against the Queen Dowager; and in alliance with the Protestant faction, and eventually the Protestant monarch in England.

‘I think if you use this material, you will start a conflagration that will kill many thousands and may destroy Scotland more surely than a threat already hedged about with a fair number of contingencies. At least, before you talk to your fellows, will you give it grave thought? And I beg you, bind them to the most strict, the most rigorous secrecy. The pride and prestige of the de Guises all depend on this match being ratified.’

‘I understand,’ Richard said. He stood up. ‘I have to ask you again. How did you come by these papers?’

Elsewhere in the household other people, less occupied, were sitting at supper. The faint, savoury smell of hot food entered the gallery and lingered there, mixed with the other scents of cloth and warm metal and sandalwood, the traces of incense; the fragrance of juniper from the fireplace. The afternoon sunlight falling through the long windows latticed the velvet hangings with their flowered coronets; argent, a chaplet proper, debruised by a fess azure, invected … the device of Sevigny.

And the comte de Sevigny, without moving from where he stood in front of his brother, said, ‘They passed through four pairs of hands before they reached mine, and the person who started them on their way I can only guess at. There are many people who don’t like the de Guises. There are some who don’t want the Scottish wedding. I have had to take these papers on trust, because if I didn’t, the people who handled them would be cut off without compunction, and so would you. All I can say is that everything I know points to their being truthful copies of three genuine documents of State, and that the wording bears this out as well. I doubt if anyone outside the French secretariat would have framed them in quite such a way.’

‘I remember once,’ Richard said, ‘you made me march on Annan by telling me that I should go in the opposite direction. I have to think of my country, because I live in it. And I remember that the only other name I have heard shouted in the streets since I came, along with that of de Guise, has been your own.’

He stood, a broad-built man of unshaken purpose and integrity, and said roughly, ‘You must excuse me if I malign you. But you preach inaction, and still show me those papers. I think you mean the Commissioners to stop the wedding in order to cripple the power of the de Guise family, regardless of whether these papers are true ones or not; and regardless of what destruction it might mean to Scotland.’

‘Wait a bit.’ Adam on his feet was not content to stand by any longer. ‘Francis made those points himself. You can’t have it both ways.’

‘My brother is a devious man,’ Richard said. He had not moved his eyes from Lymond’s face. ‘All the points that he made are valid ones, and all the conclusions he reached would have been reached sooner or later by one or other of the Commissioners. Whatever we do, he will receive credit for trying to stop it.’

Jerott Blyth’s mouth opened. He said, ‘You silly fool, you think
Francis
wants to bring Scotland to butchery?’

Lymond said, ‘I don’t think we want any testimonials, Jerott, or even any untoward language. Fortunately, it isn’t entirely in Richard’s hands. The Commissioners will decide what to do. Only, I beg you, watch your step. You are carrying gunpowder.’

For whatever reason, Adam saw Culter suddenly flinch; and a moment later Lymond’s hands, unfolded, dropped to his sides. Then he said in his
usual voice, ‘Perhaps you can start guarding me after you have paid a call on the Hôtel de l’Ange and conferred with your colleagues. I promise I shan’t leave the house. And this evening a room will be ready for you.’

With some firmness he had drawn to a close a discussion no longer profitable to himself or to his brother. A moment later Culter had taken his leave coolly and gone, the papers folded inside his doublet.

Standing at the glass, his elbows spread high on the casement ledge, his chin upheld by his interlaced knuckles, Lymond watched his brother’s progress through the courtyard. Behind him Adam said softly, ‘It was Danny who brought you those papers?’

‘Danny!’
said Jerott explosively.

Lymond did not even turn. ‘No. It was not Danny,’ he said. ‘And even if Danny tries to suggest it was, I shall deny it, just as I shall deny this conversation took place today.… There he goes. What do you think he will do?’

‘What you want him to do,’ Adam said dryly. ‘Doesn’t he always?’

‘No’, Lymond said. ‘Does anyone—Jerott?—know a nice clean strumpet who doesn’t have the pox and will sleep in my room tonight to discourage Richard? She needn’t stay beyond half an hour, and I don’t want to meet her.’

‘And that’s a bloody waste,’ said Jerott belligerently.

‘And it’s going to stay a bloody waste,’ said Lymond tartly. ‘I want a little privacy, not to work up a joint reputation as Hophni and Phinehas.’