LITMIR.BIZ

Скачать книгу

we are enemies now, are we not, Mr Jollison?’

      ‘Mr Raspero, I have only sought the return of what I consider to be rightfully mine. I understand, however, that you see things differently. I have decided accordingly, to let bygones be bygones, and forgive you this debt. There is no need for any further unpleasantness between us. This matter need go no further.’

      ‘But how do we come to an agreement and walk away from this confrontation without concern as to future consequences?’

      ‘You need have nothing further to fear from me, Mr Raspero. You have demonstrated yourself to be such a formidable opponent that there is no need for you to doubt that I have learned my lesson. As I have forgiven you the debt, the bone of contention between us has been removed. I am perfectly prepared to forgive you for what you have done to me today on the understanding that there will be peace between us.’

      ‘If you were a gentleman, I could accept your word of honour that you would be bound by any agreement we make, and in that way we could make an agreement. But you are not a gentleman, and I see no reason to believe you will be bound by any agreement we make once you are no longer bound by those leather cords.’

      ‘That is simply not so, Mr Raspero,’ Jolly declared. ‘I am bound by my word, and there is no question about it, none at all. You may ask anyone who knows me.’ He looked across at his employees. ‘Go on, tell Mr Raspero that this is so.’

      They all obediently told Mr Raspero that this was so. Jolly was always bound by his word, they insisted. Nicholas did not look too impressed by their testimony.

      Nicholas considered this for a while, then shook his head. ‘You are a poisonous snake, Jolly. You will coil yourself in a hidden place and strike back at me when you can. It is only a matter of opportunity and patience.’

      ‘You gravely misunderstand me, Mr Raspero,’ Jolly said.

      ‘No,’ Nicholas said, shaking his head again, ‘I don’t think I do.’

      ‘You most certainly do, Mr Raspero,’ Jolly insisted. ‘I have no desire whatsoever to prolong our enmity.’

      ‘Neither do I,’ Nicholas said, ‘which is why I want to deal with you today.’

      ‘You are no murderer, Mr Raspero,’ Jolly said.

      ‘I will not murder you,’ Nicholas agreed, ‘although if you were a gentleman I would demand a duel of final combat. But then, if you were a gentleman I could accept your word of honour and we could come to an agreement. But we are now going in circles.’

      Jolly was relieved to hear that Nicholas was not going to murder him. He had suspected that Nicholas could not do so, by his own code of honour as a gentleman, given that the only offence Nicholas had suffered was merely the threat of being tied up. Jolly brought this into his calculations, starting to feel more confident now. ‘May I ask you what you intend to do, Mr Raspero?’ Jolly asked calmly.

      Nicholas thought for a while in silence and then said, ‘What would you suggest, Mr Jollison?’

      ‘I would suggest that you untie me without delay, Mr Raspero,’ Jolly said promptly.

      Nicholas leaned back lazily in his chair, stretching his feet out on the footstool, and yawned slightly. ‘Any other thoughts, Mr Jollison?’

      It was then that Jolly made his strategic blunder. He had decided that Nicholas was an insignificant opponent who just happened to have a high degree of skill with a wand. So therefore all he had to do was apply enough pressure and Nicholas would come into line. Jolly was not used to anything except having his own way and so his current circumstances had thrown askew his normally exact judgement. Jolly was also in a temper from having been insulted by Nicholas after having been injured by the same. So it was that Jolly stepped into the abyss.

      ‘My understanding is that you are a recent arrival to New Landern, Mr Raspero,’ Jolly said affably. His geniality sent a shiver down the spines of all those of his party present, who knew him well. ‘You may not have heard of the unfortunate fate of the Beaman family, who were all murdered not so long ago in their beds late at night, the parents and all three young children. The culprits were never found and are no doubt still at large. It would be a matter of grave concern to me if the Clark family, the parents and their three children and your cousin Mr Benjamin Clark, were also to be murdered late at night in their beds. I am prepared, as a gesture of friendship, to see to it that the Clark family are given such protection that such a fate could not possibly befall them. However, I would require an undertaking on your part that you would accept some form of employment from me, given such terms and conditions as are acceptable to us both. By these means, we may make peace between us while also gaining some benefit from our mutual acquaintance or even friendship.’

      ‘Give me a moment,’ Nicholas said. ‘Let me think about this.’ He plunged deep into thought while his prisoners watched him, occasionally looking amongst themselves, except for Jolly, whose eyes never left Nicholas’s face. He was like a snake watching its prey with its gleamingly blank black eye intent on the presence of that prey to the exclusion of all else. Seeing the look on his face, Angela shivered slightly. She knew that look, and she could not help but feel that Nicholas was too soft to prevail over Jolly. His refusal to murder Jolly was not an encouraging sign. He talked well and was talented, but Jolly’s stomach was made of granite, and Jolly thought nothing of murder.

      Nicholas came to a decision. He stood up and went next door without another word. He came back with a couple of blankets he had taken from a cupboard and started tearing them into strips. Three hundred strada each those blankets cost me, Angela thought in outrage. Six hundred strada! Twenty-four hundred strada!

      Nicholas checked their bonds and used the strips of the blanket to tie them all very securely to the chairs where they were sitting and gagged them while he was about it. When he was satisfied with his work he stood back and said, ‘I will leave you now for a while. I will return.’ Then he left, closing and locking the door behind him as he left.

      Jolly wondered what he was up to now. It was most likely that Nicholas had gone to fetch the law. That would be an outcome favourable to Jolly. Even if he was taken into custody, it would only be a matter of time before he regained his freedom. He might even be in a position to demand that Nicholas be questioned by the authorities, and once Nicholas was in their hands, Jolly could very easily arrange for an accident to happen to him. He was a man of influence with connections he could use. He knew a lot of the dirty secrets of those in power, and they would do as he asked to avoid exposure; the accidental death of a nobody like Nicholas Raspero would not be very much for him to ask, or rather, demand of them. There was only one doubt which troubled Jolly, however, about whether or not this preferred outcome would take place, and that was that Nicholas had not turned to the law when he had been subject to attempted robbery in Octave Alley. Like Angela, however, he had decided that Nicholas was talented but soft. He was not too worried about his current predicament, believing it was only a matter of time before he regained his freedom, and thus his chance for revenge, and he would now have revenge, of that there was no doubt whatsoever. Nothing less than the death of Nicholas Raspero would suffice now, and if possible, that death would be the most painful he could devise if Nicholas fell into his hands. But if necessary, a quick death by assassination would have to do. These were the thoughts of Jolly as he waited for Nicholas to return.

      SIX

      The Downfall of Mr Frank Jollison as Brought About

       by Mr Nicholas Raspero

      5:30 PM, Saturday 7 May 1544 A.F.

      Nicholas took Angela’s carriage and went towards the Burke Tavern. His only decision had been to scout the Burke Tavern, find out if that was indeed where Jolly lived, and see what he could find out. Then he would decide what to do. One idea that occurred to him as he flew along in Angela’s carriage was to sit Jolly down in the middle of the street in the worst area of town with piles of Jolly’s money around him and leave him to the tender mercies of those who lived in the worst area of town, but that was only a thought.

      He parked near the Burke Tavern

Скачать книгу