nevertheless unexpected guests.'
The food was actually surprisingly good. There was excellent beef, a venison pie, a pigeon baked whole and several varieties of fish. There was also hot soup, crammed with vegetables, and rough bread that belied its appearance with a wonderful, nutty flavour. There was local ale, and more of the good French wine.
'I must be open with you,' said Cameron, eyeing with the slightest hint of amusement the inroads Mannion had made into the food. 'I know of you by reputation. The work I do for the Earl of Northumberland is not only… related to his business matters. I also deal for him in
… political issues.'
'Political issues?' asked Gresham.
'The border between Scotland and England is the most troubled in the world, perhaps,' mused Cameron. 'You will have heard tell of the reivers, and their like?' Gresham had indeed heard of the legendary border raiders. 'The Earl of Northumberland stands as the gate to England, but it is a gate that opens two ways. It is also the gate to Scotland, of course. Over hundreds of years certain… understandings have built up. Certain ways of doing things. Were it not for these understandings, the border lands would have drowned in their own blood years ago. These understandings do not stop warfare, of course. They limit it, and restrict some of the consequences when it does take place.'
'And you… broker these 'understandings'?' asked Gresham genuinely interested.
'I think the phrase is 'go-between',' answered Cameron. 'I quite literally go between my Lord of Northumberland and his party, and certain Scottish nobles on the other side, and sometimes talk to the wilder elements who inhabit the borders, for one set of nobles or for both.'
'Isn't it dangerous?' asked Gresham. 'The wilder elements are unlikely to respect the nobility on either side. I can see that the nobility — on both sides — might be inclined to blame you for everyone else's faults.'
Cameron gave a dry laugh. 'You have a rare understanding of these things. As I would expect from Sir Henry Gresham.'
Gresham looked at him levelly. 'Did you suggest to the Earl of Northumberland that he might place your name before me? And if so, how is it that you knew I would be coming to Scotland?'
Cameron's smile, thought Gresham, was like that of a snake before it killed its prey.
'I knew the Earl would recommend me, and that you have been part of his circle,' said Cameron. Which neatly avoided answering the question while seeming to do so, thought Gresham. 'And someone who is actually no more and no less than a spy would be mortified not to meet a man who in England is one of the best-known of that breed. Whatever the reason for your visit to Scotland, I hoped you would do business through me.'
Or arrange to have me robbed and killed at sea, thought Gresham.
'My business can at times be dangerous. As I'm sure is yours,' said Gresham calmly.
'Aye', said Cameron, 'but I care little for that. You see, no member of my family has lived beyond the age of forty. We all die, the male members at least, of what seems to be a canker, a growth, usually in the stomach, sometimes in the lungs or groin. So when I met my girl, my wife, and we had two fine bairns, I did everything in my power to make a living for them before I reached the age of forty. Including selling my loyalty and probably my soul to men such as your Northumberland, our equivalent here in Scotland and the worst parcel of border-raising rogues on God's earth into the bargain.' Cameron paused for a moment.
'And?' Gresham prompted him.
'And so it was a great surprise when my dear wife and our two bairns died within a week of each other, of what you would call the plague, though I who had held them and kissed them survived without a scratch or a single stinking pustule. So here I am, with a fine estate and, to be honest with you, Sir Henry, no one to leave it to. So your arrival here lightens up what is to be frank quite a dreary existence, and the prospect of death holds no fears for me. Quite the opposite, as it happens.'
In Gresham's experience men only used a phrase such as 'to be honest with you' as a preface to dishonesty, and a phrase such as 'to be frank' as a preface to dissembling.
'So why reveal all this to me?' said Gresham. He had heard Cameron Johnstone speak and for a moment heard himself speak. The prospect of death holds no fears for me. Quite the opposite, in fact. It could have been Gresham speaking of himself. Perhaps that was why Cameron had said it.
'Because I do not for a minute believe that you are here to chase the antecedents of your ward. And because my native curiosity makes me interested to know why you are here. Not out of mere idle curiosity, but in the vain and rather conceited hope that I might be able to help.'
'I'm sorry to hear about your family. Truly sorry. It's difficult to imagine your pain and suffering,' said Gresham.
'Do you have wife and children?' asked Cameron.
'No, I do not,' answered Gresham.
'Then it will be difficult for you to imagine what it means to lose them.'
Cameron Johnstone was hiding infinitely more than he was revealing.
'I need to meet your King,' said Gresham. 'As a matter of urgency, and in strictest secrecy.'
'For reasons you will not tell me, of course?' asked Cameron.
'For reasons I will not tell you,' confirmed Gresham. 'Of course. Can you do this for me?'
'Oh, yes,' said Cameron almost casually. 'But understand one thing. I can set you up such a meeting, but our King James has more than a mind of his own. He will decide. Yet there are many in the capital city,' he waved to encompass Edinburgh, 'who can not only promise but deliver you as much. You see, we are less formal here in Scotland than you are used to in your great Court of London. All sorts of men, and women too, have their secret assignations with the King, as well as their public ones.'
All sorts of men? And women too? Secret assignations? Was this sodomy and black magic? Were Cameron's comments premeditated, or simply a lucky hit?
'Arrange this meeting for me,' said Gresham, 'and I will be for ever in your debt spiritually, though I'm happy to make sure any debt is not financial.' He tossed a bag of coin over the table.
Cameron eyed the purse with an expression of amusement, and flicked it back to Gresham's side of the table.
'I fear you were no listening, Sir Henry. I've no need of money. A little pride, or even a reason for living, now that would be helpful.'
'And you think I can supply either?'
'If I'm being honest, no,' said Cameron. 'But you offer more hope than most. So I can return to you within two hours and tell you whether or not the King will see you, when he will see you and where.'
'And what if a party of troops returns in two hours to arrest me? Or a group of border bandits to kill me and leave no questions?'
'Most risks are shared, are they not?' asked Cameron cheerfully enough.
'I think it would be best if in accepting your offer,' said Gresham, 'I did so with one caveat. Please row out to me on board the Anna with your answer. With one boatman only.'
Cameron did not blink. 'That will be fine,' he said, 'though please acknowledge it will take me longer to reach you there than it would had we a rendezvous here in the city. Please describe your vessel, and roughly where she is in the anchorage.'
They loaded the cannons and the swivel guns just in case, but need not have worried. Cameron rowed out to them alone, with much splashing and missing of the water.
'I thought you said you were wealthy?' said Gresham.
'Aye,' said Cameron, 'and I did not get so by wasting money on men to row me when I have a body that can do the thing myself.' Not only had Cameron arranged a meeting with the King, but had done so for that evening. Things were indeed different in Scotland. Cameron was quite apologetic.
'I'm sorry you had to wait until this evening,' he said. 'The King has been hunting all day.'
'Is my meeting secret?' asked Gresham. 'It is so arranged,' answered Cameron.
And so it was that they entered the Palace by a back door, a whispered conversation between Cameron and two guards opening the crude wooden door criss-crossed with iron bars. They walked through an open courtyard, then entered a labyrinth of stone passages. A thin drizzle was coating the dirty stonework now, which glistened in the light of the few torches that were burning in sconces on the walls.
'Are you an agent for the King?' asked Gresham. He and Mannion were walking behind Cameron, Gresham
