"Dunnett, Dorothy - The Game of Kings" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dunnett Dorothy)

"He isn't quoting Luther. He's quoting Aristotle and Boethius and the laws of
chivalry and the dreicher speils of the Chevalier de Bayard on loyalty and the
ethics of warfare. He's so damned moral


that he ought to be standing rear up under a Bo Tree. And he won't keep his
mouth shut. I grant," said Lady Buccleuch with a certain grim amusement, "that
~he pure springs of chivalry may be a little muddy in the Hawick area, but
that's no proper excuse for calling his father, an unprincipled old rogue, and
every other peer in Scotland a traitorous scoundrel."
Sybilla pulled herself together. "Wat knows how to argue, heaven knows. Why not
explain?"
"Because Buccleuch isn't a plaster saint and Will would drive the Archangel
Gabriel to lunacy and drink," said Lady Buccleuch with candour. "Wait till you
hear him on the subject of perjury, patriotism and divided loyalties. The last
time he trailed his coat Wat and he were shrieking at one another in five
minutes like the Ghibellines and the Guelphs. Damn them both," she said
thoughtfully, "for a couple of sumphs," and paused, her gaze suddenly
sharpening.
Sybilla, her smile unimpaired, caught her daughter-in-law's eye smartly as Lady
Buccleuch spoke again. "You've heard Lymond's back."
For an instant the clever blue eyes focused. Then Lymond's mother, turning,
said, "Oh, Mariotta, my dear. The gypsies. I expect they've finished supper
below, and it might be safer to send them away before Richard and the horses
come back. Although they looked very honest. Could you . . .
Between Mariotta and the Dowager Lady Culter there was perfect rapport. Mariotta
laughed and instantly took herself off to see the gypsies dismissed.
"So fortunate that they came," said Sybilla, "-with the extra musicians being
held up; although acrobatics are not my favourite entertainment. And what do you
intend to do about Will?"
"We weren't discussing Will," said Lady Buccleuch with brief exactitude. "As you
perfectly well know, I was talking about Lymond."
"Yes," said the Dowager. "Yes, I remember; and yes, I know he's been seen about.
So they say."
With difficulty, Janet transfixed the wandering blue eye. "Sybilla. What about
this marriage of Richard's and Lymond?"
"It makes no difference. None at all. Lymond never could be Lord Culter as
things are. Even his own estate of Lymond was forfeited when he was outlawed.
There isn't another heir. If Richard and Mariotta both died, the whole fortune
would go to the Crown."



"He couldn't succeed Richard now, certainly," said Janet. "But if the English
took over? Criminals at the horn with the right kind of politics have died in
silk sheets before now."
"So they say. Perhaps it's lucky then," said Sybilla, "that this criminal has
cheated his way out of favour with every party in Europe. Did you try some
brazil on your curtains?"
And this time, Lady Buccleuch took the hint.