The Game Of Kings Part 42

"Now we're coming to it," said Buccleuch, and shifted his bulk in his seat. "Lawyers! Dod, look at him: his een glinting like a coo with the yellows..

The Lord Advocate's tone was mild and of a grave delicacy.

"How can we stay indifferent to such misfortune? We have before us a man unhappy and deceived; duped by the best brains of the kingdom; enticed by an immoral woman of royal birth; kidnapped; maltreated; shackled to the starving heathen at the galley oar and beaten through the seas for two undeserving summers.

"Look at him! Weak-from the knife of his own underling; but that has no bearing. Innocent-his admitted betrayal and corruption of this young, blind woman has clearly left no stain. Dismiss from your minds the robbing and thieving and murdering of those whom until recently he led-he is virtuous. Dismiss the ruthless plotting, the devious schemes for battle and gain which we have heard about this afternoon-he is simple and vulnerable. Think, last of all, of how he has conducted himself today; of the fluent and malicious tongue from which you, as lords of the highest court in the land, have not been exempt. Does it seem to you that this drunkard, this outlaw, this wastrel son of an ffi-staned family, is the man of this pitiful history? Or do you think, as I do, that it is all a pack of lies?.

The echoes died. The Lord Advocate removed his spectacles, and spoke gently. "But we are asked for proof. What proof have we? Nearly all the people concerned are dead. It is not the sort of transaction likely to leave a record; and those persons who still remember the event are in enemy country.

"But-we have one piece of evidence in writing. The notes which were picked up in Scotland and attributed to Mr. Crawford; the doc.u.ment he says was the work of an unknown English spy; and which was attributed to him, he says, to ensure his disgrace with us. If that is a forgery; if Mr. Crawford can prove that this paper is none of his;that it was compiled without his knowledge; then the case against him immediately loses its mainstay. Mr. Crawford!.

Like the face of many-eyed Indra, the corporate head of the Committee turned on the exposed chair. Douglas's lips were tight, his stare thoughtful; Herries wore a look of fastidious concern; Buccleuch was craning forward. Among the benches Lord Culter had made a tent of his hands, and his face was invisible.

The strain on the Master was sufficiently clear now. He sat still, a thin, deep line between his eyes, watching and antic.i.p.ating Lauder as light might thrust and linger on a falling blade. Their eyes locked. "Mr. Crawford," said the advocate softly. "This doc.u.ment before me was taken from the pocket of an English soldier after the raid which destroyed the convent of Lymond. It includes these words:"'The convent is on my land six miles east of that, and we hid the gunpowder there just before being taken at Solway. If you go immediately, you should be able to reach it before it is discovered:no one else knows of its presence. There is an underground pa.s.sage to the cellar where the powder is stored, reached in the following way. If it is difficult to move, I suggest you blow up thb convent.'.

There was a long silence. Culter did not look up and Erskine, beside him, folded his arms suddenly and gazed at the floor. The Lord Advocate said flatly, "Mr. Crawford. Do you admit that these words are in your handwriting, and were written by you?.

The tyranny of pride and the tyranny of intelligence, however pitilessly forced, could not protect Lymond from this. His eyes, terribly, answered before his voice. "Yes. They were..

"Do you admit," asked the lawyer, "that the signature on the last page of this doc.u.ment is yours?.

"It is mine..

A contraction pa.s.sed over the Lord Advocate's face and was gone.

"I see. And," said Henry Lauder with no levity at all in his voice, "since the English did follow these directions, did find the pa.s.sage and, when attacked, exploded the convent as you suggested-since these things happened, the deaths of four nuns and ten girls within the convent, including the death of Eloise Ann Crawford, your sister, are your responsibility?.

Flagging and infinite silence.

"Yes. I am responsible," said Lymond, ashen to the roots of his sun-bleached hair.

The room in David's Tower was suffocatingly crowded; chiefly be-cause not only prisoners but all the guards off duty had managed to squeeze in as well. The hottest man there was Frank, sitting by the fire with Samuel Harvey's statement hovering near the blaze.

If he had expired in a paste of perspiration, n.o.body would have noticed. The colletic stare of guards and Englishmen alike was on the sweating, subsaltive hands and on the grinning tarots: the impious Papess, the lascivious Lover, the jeering Fool. The two baggage rolls still lay on the floor, but their contents had changed: beside Palmer's chair lay some of Scott's money, and some of Palmer's minor possessions lay at Scott's hand. Both men were in shirt sleeves.

In the evening light, Will's face was the paler of the two. The older man was playing with a careless, sure hand: leading, luring, discarding with persistent ingenuity, and had caught Scott out badly several times. None the less Scott won, not once but reasonably often; and when he lost, it was not by an irretrievable margin.

He had a healthy respect by that time for Palmer's card playing. Watching him seated opposite, ma.s.sive and smooth as a tree, Scott recognized also his toughness, and grew more and more afraid that through sheer fatigue he himself would stop thinking clearly. As if to drive home the point, Palmer tapped an elemental finger on the table between them. "And the Fool, Mr. Scott. Fool and three Kings:fifteen points-that right? Yes. And my game, I think..

He was right, and the grin he exchanged with his audience did nothing to help. "Mine, boys! Any more beer, while I choose me prize? That's a good belt, Mr. Scott?.

Scott's chest tightened. Until one or other of them had nothing more to barter . . . that was the length of the game; and they were so evenly matched that their d.a.m.ned belongings might be pa.s.sing to and fro for weeks-unless he succ.u.mbed and lost all. And the stipulation was that Samuel Harvey's papers were to be Palmer's final stake.

The thought of it sickened him with wrath and frustration. After all they'd gone throixgh-after what the Dowager had suffered-after Christian's death-after the fool he had made of himself twenty times over-no one should present this prize under his nose and s.n.a.t.c.h it back like a toy from a kitten. He stopped shuffling and flung down the cards with a crack. "My deal..

Palmer winked. "He thinks he's going to win this one..

"I'm going to win them all," said Will Scott. "I'm going to have the 521nails out of your boots before I've done with you, and if you've any pins holding up your breeks you'd best watch them, because I'll have them skint off the superior Sa.s.senach dowp o' ye before another day dawns..

And he began to deal.

* * *"So here," said the Lord Advocate, "is the truth at last. I cannot say I expected it. Your confession does you credit, Mr. Crawford. Quum infirmi sumus, optimi sumus, I see." Lauder was aware, blissfully, beyond doubt, of the success of his onslaught. He was within Lymond's guard, and the pa.s.sport was the name of Lymond's sister.

So he quoted Latin and Lymond, breaking painfully from his numb cataphract, retaliated. "The credit is entirely yours. Quod purpura non potest, saccus potest, Mr. Lauder. But I prefer my truth flat and not concamerate, even with the most dulcet spring of famous rhetoric in spate beneath. The notes were mine. But they were written for Scots, not Englishmen to read. Not for a manor or a woman or the combined keys of Tucker and Schertz's treasure houses, in spite of your character reading, would I-.

"Harm a woman?" suggested the lawyer gently.

Buccleuch's grunt reached them all. "You can be a d.a.m.ned fool over women without wanting to blow up fourteen la.s.sies..

Lauder said, "Mr. Crawford's tamperings with Christian Stewart were more than those of a d.a.m.ned fool, I should have thought. She also died, remember..

Argyll contributed. "In any case, Sir Walter, the information about the convent in this doc.u.ment was prefaced by three pages of detailed news about Scottish plans and some explicit references to previous reports to the English Privy Council. It is clearly absurd to imply that any of this was intended for Scotland and not for England..

"I have been trying," said Lyniond with a deep breath, "to explain. The first three pages of that letter are a forgery, based no doubt on the genuine spy's report sent to Henry. The letter about the gunpowder is real enough. I hid the powder in my sister's convent when it was partly wrecked and abandoned after an earlier raid. The man who helped me was killed at Solway: no one else knew of it, and it looked as if I might be kept in London for some time.

"I knew the Government needed the powder, and I was nervous in case the nuns might come to harm if they returned. So I wrote a letter in London and had it taken to the Master of Erskine who was being released to go back to Scotland. I was allowed no personal contact with other prisoners..

At the high table, Buccleuch's eyes met those of Tom Erskine. He said, "Robert died at Pinkie..

"In any case, he never received it," said Lymond quietly. "I discovered that later. It was intercepted, the superscription cut off and the whole made a tailpiece of the other report, which was rewritten in my kind of hand. The next raiding party to cross the Border located the convent, was surprised into igniting the powder, and took care to leave behind the paper incriminating me..

Sir Wat said, "Ye gomerel: if that's right, why the devil didn't you watch that first letter? You could guess what'd happen to it in the wrong hands, even if you didn't know the la.s.sies had gone back?.

"The thought isn't new to me," said Lymond, his voice empty of expression. "I took all the precautions I could at the time..

"But not enough..

"Obviously. If you're anxious to a.n.a.lyse my feelings on that occasion," said Lymond with sudden savagery, "you can measure them against my lapses from temperance according to the gospel of Mr. Lauder..

"b.l.o.o.d.y fool," said Buccleuch briefly. "Wait a bit, Henry. If the report was in two hands there should be some difference in the writing, eh?.

But the advocate shook his head and, getting up, stretched across to the Committee's table. "Look for yourselves..

The paper crackled as it pa.s.sed from hand to hand: the sun, much lower, was climbing up one wall, forcing Erskine to shield his eyes against the heraldic dazzle of it. Culter sat without moving, his eyes on his hands.

From the benches opposite, Mylne suddenly got up, and crossing to the prisoner's side, bent and spoke. The Master shook his head just as Lauder sat down, the restored paper in his hands, and observed them. "Well, doctor?.

The elderly figure straightened. "If ye want to hang him, ye'd best watch your step..

"Would you like a rest, Mr. Crawford? You mustn't swoon." Buccleuch growled. "I wouldna say yes to a drink of water on the lip of Gehenna, put like that. Lauder's on top and he knows it. Look at him! He's a mouth like the smirk on a pig..

The smile was certainly there, widening at Lymond's sardonic reply. "So near the climax? I can surely hold together for the peroration, Mr. Lauder." And the surgeon, shrugged away, disappeared.

The Lord Advocate waited for the rustle of adjustment to die down, and then stood up.

"There is no need, I think, to prolong this inquiry much further. We have heard Mr. Crawford's explanation of what happened in London, and in Lymond, in 1542: we have seen that there is no obvious difference in the handwriting in any part of the doc.u.ment which he claims is only partly his: we have heard him acknowledge responsibility for the appalling and cold-blooded crime whose results we know.

"On the one side, we have an explanation of these events which, if dreadful in its violence and its story of degeneration, is both straightforward and likely, and is supported both by doc.u.mentary evidence and by part of the proofs supplied by Mr. Crawford himself. On the other, there is the history of what must appear an incredible twist of fate, which placed the defendant helpless at the mercy of powerful forces in London.

"We are asked to believe that he incurred the sympathetic interest of one of the highest ladies of the land, but that she could do nothing to help him: that while fervently supporting the Scottish cause he was f.e.c.kless enough to allow a dangerous secret to fall into enemy hands: that there existed, as there exists in romances, some terrible English plot of which he happened to gain knowledge. Do all these things seem likely?.

The pause was for effect, but Gledstanes, meticulous and canny, broke in. "It doesn't seem to me to be incontrovertible that the two halves of this letter are in the same hand. Also the suggestion about blowing up the convent seems gratuitous, if intended for English readers. Seems unnecessary and argues a callousness I find hard to believe. Particularly since-a.s.suming he was a spy-the man surely expected when he wrote it to be sent back to Scotland in due course..

Bishop Reid barely waited for him to end. "The answer to that surely lies as Lauder has already said in proof of character. The man's led a life of abandon and profligacy-he hasn't denied it. There's the blind girl. The sister-in-law. The Scott boy-" He paused as Sir Walter shot up and was pressed down again by a neighbour. "Ayoung boy who, we know, vacillated wildly in his att.i.tude to his new protector. Disgust-Or self-disgust-at one point, as we know, forced him to take the honourable course. His affections, it seems, have since altered again. We do not know what happened in the year he was with the panel, but one can hardly wonder at these signs of an extreme and unhealthy emotional instability. I for one would have found it hard to place any reliance on his support of Mr. Crawford, and I am glad to see he is not here this afternoon to perjure himself..

It was beyond human strength to restrain Buccleuch any longer. "Perjure himself!" roared Sir Wat. "Unhealthy emotions! Self-disgust! Are you calling my son a debauchee?.

"I merely pointed out-.

"That boy," bellowed Sir Wat, "was a shilpit, shiftless, shilly-shallying gomerel before he met up with Francis Crawford. And now, by G.o.d-he still maybe makes up his mind three times in the time a normal man would do it once, but I'd sooner have him back of me in an argument or a fight than any finnicking ninny that stayed at home and got wed at St. Cuthbert's before he stopped talking like the squeak off a tumbler!.

"I don't deny," said the Bishop loudly, "that your son is now an exceedingly efficient fighting man: witness his unprecedented attack on yourself. I am only seeking to prove-.

"It seems to me you were only seeking to prove six other things as well," said Sir Wat threateningly. "And all of them d.a.m.ned insulting..

"-In any case," said Henry Lauder quickly, "the point is made. We may be forgiven for believing that a.s.sociations natural and unnatural come easily to Mr. Crawford. And that brings us, distasteful as it may be, to a popular report very widely current in the months after the disaster at Lymond. I must remind you, Sir Wat, that Mr. Crawford may have had reasons-very cogent reasons of his own- for encouraging and even inciting the attack at the convent..

The violence with which Lymond propelled himself to his feet was such that his monumental chair rocked behind him. In the flicker of an eye he must have seen his brother half-rise in the same moment, and must have guessed what lay behind the furious anxiety in the grey eyes, and behind the avid expectancy of the Tribunal.

Lauder, waiting, breathed thanks for the instant's pause before the attack. A storm of emotion might have coalesced all the liking and sympathy which existed already for Lord Culter, and the less than neutral curiosity of people like Herries and Buccleuch. But this fellowfought with his head, not his heart, and the Tribunal would never warm to him. Henry Lauder was not a cynic: he was simply very good indeed at his job.

But Lymond addressed the Committee and not the Queen's Advocate when he began to speak. The carrying, escharotic voice was thick with sheer cold fury for half a dozen words, and then he had it controlled.

"I see this idea is not new to you. Some lawyers believe that dirt will do as well as evidence any day; but Mr. Lauder, all heat and no light, like h.e.l.l-fire, is not like that. He is simply being provocative; without of course making concessions to the feelings of either the laird of Buccleuch or of other members of my family..

Lymond paused, and his voice, rock-steady, dropped a little. "Like Mr. Lauder, I have played on this stage before. [know the value of the stagger, the swoon, the vein swollen with ire and outrage. Mr. Lauder was a little afraid of all these; but instead he counted on me to wreck your amour propre as you had wrecked mine, with sad results for my case.

"That is why you heard the accusation you heard just now, grafted skilfully to the Bishop's preceding statements about Will Scott of Buccleuch." He paused.

"There is no foundation whatever for either suggestion. Will Scott is a normal, lively youngster: he left me when he did because he thought I was planning to give him up to the English, among other misconceptions. If you discount his father's denial, you might also remember his moderation in the Tribunal today. Sir Walter is not a man to hide his feelings. My sister . .

His voice roughened suddenly. "Who will speak for her? The rest of my family, perhaps: will you believe them? Who makes it necessary to speak for her; for either of these young people? Are you so short of rods that you must despoil young trees: so short of stones that you need to walk the very graveyards for them . . .

"My lords, my Lord Advocate: I suggest that you have surely material enough before you now to suggest a verdict to you; that nothing more of value can come from this inquiry; and particularly nothing of value from the path Mr. Lauder would have you tread. I do beg you to remember that I, and I alone, am the person whose acts you are judging today..

He sat down, leaving behind him the uneasy silence of those who have watched a keg of gunpowder explode without a sound. TomErskine said in a whisper, "G.o.d Almighty!" glanced once at Culter's face, and wiped his own brow. Lauder rose.

"Are you withdrawing from further questioning, Mr. Crawford?.

"I am not. But-.

"But you would like us to close this inquiry for the sake of your health," said the advocate comfortably, and watched out of the corner of his eye a note pa.s.sing hurriedly to the top table. Buccleuch, crumpling it in his hand, said, "I don't much fancy the line the questioning has been taking either, Lauder; but-by his Grace's leave-I don't think we should close the business without hearing Will again. I understand the d.a.m.ned limmer's got stuck somewhere, but he ought to be here at any moment..

Argyll consulted his immediate neighbours and leaned forward. "We are satisfied to leave our preliminary investigation at this point, Mr. Lauder. I cannot imagine, Sir Walter, that your son will have anything of great moment to add to what we know, but if he appears before these proceedings are finished we shall of course admit his evidence, although we cannot, I think, prolong this diet to wait for him. First, we should like you, my Lord Advocate, to gather together the facts which have been revealed so far and correlate them for us. Then, if he so wishes the prisoner may speak..

Erskine sprang to his feet. "My lords, I beg you not to close without hearing Mr. Scott. There is evidence of the first importance involved..

"What?" said Reid. His ear was cupped in his hand and his face hot and irritable. "It is irregular to speak now, Mr. Erskine. Sit down..

Argyll was more patient. "You have knowledge of this evidence?.

"Only that it may be vital..

"You have no idea what it is?.

Erskine flushed. "No. But-.

The Justiciar's voice was final. "In that case, I am afraid you must abide by my decision. If it arrives before this a.s.size ends, we shall admit it. Mr. Lauder-" He paused. "Mr. Erskine, you may sit down..

Tom said briefly, "I was to give evidence in support of the prisoner's actions at Hexham. May I do so now?.

Argyll's tolerance this time was not so evident. He leaned forward. "We know what happened there, Mr. Erskine, and accept that you can confirm it. We don't need to know any more at present, I believe. Now, Mr. Lauder?.

The Lord Advocate was amused and intrigued-intrigued to such an extent that he took a hand in the game. He said, "There is one further thing, my lord, which we might have clear. We have heard no comment from Lord Culter for or against his brother. Although we all realize the matter is painful to him, he might be able to throw some light on the unhappy affair at the convent..

Argyll began, "I think we have heard enough-" and paused as the lawyer's face became concerned.

Lauder said, "It was Lord Culter who spared himself least in the past year in running his brother to earth, and who in fact brought him back in the end. Should we not ask him to give us his reasons?.

It was a justifiable slip; and it happened so late that the Crown suffered less than it might have done. The Justiciar waved a cursory hand, and Lord Culter rose, purposeful and solid as Ebenezer. "It is true that I spent many weeks pursuing my brother," he began, and Lauder, already warned by his voice, swore quietly under his breath. "I did so under a complete misapprehension," said Richard calmly. "I believe him innocent of the charges against him; and I want to say that when intercepted-.

"Don't labour the point, Richard." It was the defendant's voice, quick and caustic.

"-When intercepted, I was about to help my brother leave the country..

Sensation. Lymond gave a curious grimace and stayed quiet; the Lord Justice-General sat up. "You realize, Lord Culter, that if this man is found guilty you have made yourself an accomplice to his crimes?.

Richard said briefly, "He is not guilty..

The Lord Advocate was looking at him very hard. "Your lordship has thoroughly surprised us. I do not propose to question you about your sister, but I must ask this: as to the other accusations on this sheet-do you have any proof that they are false?.

Culter stirred uneasily. Lymond's malicious voice spoke before he could open his mouth. "No, he hasn't. I'm sorry to disperse the gentle and evangelical light, but even Richard can't achieve a complete volteface as quickly as that. All this whitewashing is intended, I gather, to protect my sister's reputation: that's all..

The Lord Advocate said nothing; he simply lay back in his chair, the blue chin dropped on his chest, and stared thoughtfully at Lymond, who stared thoughtfully back. It was Argyll who said, "Wereally must have this clear. Do I understand Lord Culter is romancing? That he didn't help you to escape?.

"Imagination reels," said Lymond, "before the improbable delights of such an event. No. He was bringing me here to have me hanged, having just failed to kill me in formal combat in England. Mr. Erskine will confirm..

Mr. Erskine, in a dour voice, confirmed, without looking at Culter, who was on his feet and choked with protests. "I think," said the panel kindly, "that you should sit down. It makes no odds now, you know." And after a moment, Richard did so.

An odd silence had fallen. It was late: long past time for the evening meal. They were exhausted with argument and heat and concentration and the concealed ravages of fear.

No darts had been thrown; no mines exploded; no reputations peeled of their tactful patches and splints. All was righteousness and decorum; and the rich, pliant voice of the Lord Advocate, beginning in the stillness and unreeling delicately the case against Francis Crawford.

He was clever enough not to brush again through the harsh Orcadian pastures of Bishop Reid's imagining. He kept to his indictment-kept concisely and d.a.m.ningly to its seventies, and made no appeal to the heart: the time for that was past. Instead, he bent his mind to weaving a fabric of steel: a case so ma.s.sive, so intellectually secure, so lockfast that no man, however fluent and however gifted, should break it. Of these bright phrases, forged and concatenated, would emerge the gyves which tomorrow would snap into place. He ended very calmly.

"And so I present to you a trespa.s.ser of a kind which the law in its grace and impartiality has scarcely knowledge to deal with: a man who has plunged his kindred men into untimely death; has rent blood and limb from them; has forced apart mother and son and scythed sheer to the stubble a meadow of children, for a handful of tainted and murderous coins. A man who, nourished in this generous womb, can turn upon his mother land and hack her, deface her and betray her, deny her and spit upon her as an empty waste, a name upon a map, a race of strangers and a source of wanton exercise and plunder.

"Such a man is Crawford of Lymond: such a man this land may pray never to see again in the difficult ways of her history. I say:busy yourself no longer about him, for he is better condemned, and most harshly dead..