Part Three. The Play for Samuel Harvey. Chapter I. Bitter Exchange

Betrayal Upon Betrayal

1. Offer of a Pawn is Discussed (early February 1548)

We begin the third part of the story still mulling the meaning and importance of Margaret Douglas, this time from Will Scott's point of view. He knows only that she holds some special significance for Lymond, but he does not know what. Will has at least learned that Lymond is unique among men and thus his relationships with women are bound to be less than conventional, including the way in which Will believes Lymond has (mis)used the blind "girl" Christian Stewart.

It is interesting that Will still sees Christian as a girl, someone who is his own age, when he would hardly view himself as still a boy. In fact, his mind immediately goes to that point, thinking how he is toying with his father by making the rendezvous in order to show off how much he has matured and "make self-satisfied comparisons," all of which indicates a marked immaturity. Once again, as before the Hume debacle, Will is playing his own private game using his father and Lymond as unwitting pawns, or so he thinks.

Also as with the Hume excursion, Lymond has put Will in charge of something, this time the dismantling of their location at Peel Tower. The new hideout is at Crawfordmuir, where gold mines have fallen into disuse ... well, almost. Now we learn the broader significance of Sybilla's spying the pale yellow gold at Patey Liddell's shop. The gold came from Crawfordmuir and was not mined legally. No doubt Lymond's men brought out a "sparkling fragment" or two for Patey to use in decorating Lymond's gloves and as payment for services rendered.

Next day, Will leaves for Peel Tower before Lymond departs for his own rendezvous, so Scott is not the only one holding back information.

***

Tantallon Castle

Lymond is off to see George Douglas at Tantallon Castle, a mid-14th century castle belonging to the Douglases, which had briefly fallen into the hands of James V of Scotland until his death in 1542 when Archibald Douglas returned to reclaim it. As is clear even in this image, the castle sits atop a promontory protected on three sides by "hundred-foot cliffs." It seems a fitting location for George and Lymond to spar.

George really, really wants and needs to produce Will Scott: "Sir George badly needed Will Scott to bolster his tattered prestige with Lord Grey." Dunnett rarely spells things out this directly, so this is a very important point. Lymond is doing his level best to exude insouciance and present alternatives. George is equally adroit in offering options; both men are dancing carefully around the central issue: each has what the other desperately wants. When Lymond says to George that "in the siècles de foi you would be irresistible," he means that if he were to take any man's word on faith, it would be George's. Alas, they are now living in the age of reason, so Lymond requires actual proof before he hands Will over. Of course, George Douglas is a man Lymond would trust just so far and no farther in any age, and that is not very far at all.

Also of note is the fact that George lets Lymond know he figured out his identity some time ago. George wants Lymond to think he knew who he was at their first encounter at Dalkeith (Pt 1, Ch VI) when Lymond, disguised by a black mask, was still seeking Jonathon Crouch. That's why George mentions Andrew Hunter. However, we cannot be sure exactly when or how George discovered (or deduced) Lymond's identity.

George, however, does momentarily get the better of Lymond when he discloses Mariotta's pregnancy. But even this ability to read Lymond's reaction does not assuage George's exasperation with Lymond, who steadfastly (if blandly) refuses all George's attempts to employ his talents or reward him with a barony (which Lymond would lose should Richard and Mariotta have a son). Douglas still cannot get his fingers on Lymond, and it galls him. Lymond's parting words on Will Scott are callous and cold as befitting a traitor and spy. I am left to wonder if George Douglas thinks he is witnessing the real Francis Crawford or if he has misgivings about the persona Lymond has presented.

The section ends with yet a second rare occurrence: Lymond is again surprised and caught flat-footed: Will Scott has up and gone, and Lymond has no idea where.

2. Brief Return to Home Squares (Sunday, February 5, 1548, on the Julian Calendar)

The scene between father and son plays out so vividly and cinematically reading it is like watching it happen in real time before your eyes. You can feel Wat Scott's roiling frustration and barely contained anger warring with his passionate desire to bring his son back into the Buccleuch fold. And you can feel Will's pride and determination to show his father the man he has become under Lymond's tutelage, even to the point of throwing vicious punches with his arm and his mouth. The two men's pent-up need to have it out with one another is palpable. The old lion needs to roar and the cub needs to flaunt his new-found strength.

The reader also learns some other important new pieces of information. First, that Lymond is excommunicated. This is one of the few mentions of religion in the story, and it is a very serious matter. Second, we learn about the destruction of the gunpowder dump that was purportedly planned by Lymond. And finally Wat Scott claims Lymond's perfidy was rewarded by King Henry VIII with money and land. By Buccleuch's account, Lymond is monstrous. However, Will and the reader are kept from learning "the other thing" about Lymond's treachery with the arrival of Johnnie Bullo.

Buccleuch almost convinces his son to come back with him, first with his argument that the family is caught in an impossible position between Lord Grey and the English on the one hand and the Queen Dowager and the Scots on the other. The appeal to Will's family feeling is powerful and compelling. Then the unfolding of Lymond's crimes against Scotland, including the explosion at the convent, have Will about to turn when Johnnie Bullo shows up with the news that the men are surrounded. All the good will and arguments for Will returning with his father evaporate like a whiff of smoke as the younger Scott believes it is all a trap planned by his father.

The fact that Richard Crawford is leading the men to capture Will so enrages Buccleuch that he threatens Culter with "death or maiming" if he tries to interfere again with Buccleuch's efforts to get his son away from Lymond. Once again, we see Culter as obsessed with his brother to the exclusion of all else: wife, mother, friends, country. Remember, Richard had earlier told Janet that he did not want to go behind Buccleuch's back, but now he has done just that. Richard is in a bad place, and everyone, including Richard himself, is convinced he wants Lymond dead.

***

Peel Tower

The scene back at Peel Tower provides a deep insight into Lymond's ethos. His primary concern with the fact that Will Scott kept his meeting with his father a secret is that, had Johnnie Bullo not picked up on a rumor about the meeting, Culter's men might well have found not only Lymond but all his men. Lymond is not about to allow Will to "endanger sixty men through maudlin sentiment and a watery schoolboy defiance." Will's immaturity in the face of his scolding is reflected in his petulant retort that Lymond doesn't "catechize Cuckoo-Spit every time he disappears with his women!" The difference between Lymond and Will Scott in terms of temperament, maturity, understanding, self control, and depth of insight is clearly delineated in this exchange.

Lymond lays out explicitly to Will just how short-sighted and perilous his private meeting might have been--and just how selfish. Will has far less to lose than anyone else. He would be accepted back into the Scott fold while everyone else in Lymond's band would be imprisoned or executed. Will only gets in one decent punch against the Master when he brings up the explosion at the convent. Lymond's silence and lack of reaction is interesting but not revealing.

On his way home to Branxholm, Buccleuch discovers the horrors wrought by an English raid on Hawick, part of Grey's larger plans to invade and punish Scotland. Once home, all Wat Scott's anger towards his wife's probable betrayal of the meeting to Culter goes out the window the moment he sets eyes on his newest child. As Dunnett says of Wat earlier in the chapter, he is a "man crammed with sentiment, which account[s] for the peculiar harmlessness of half his explosions." Buccleuch's feelings for his family, especially his children, are deep and vast, making his failure to bring Will back into the family all the more heart wrenching.

The chapter ends with many plans set in motion and many expectations:

• George Douglas expects to trade Will Scott to Grey for an ambassadorship 
• the Lord Protector of England expects better results from Grey than simply harrying Buccleuch
• Grey expects Wharton and Lennox to invade Scotland as he moves towards Edinburgh

But what no one expects is for the little queen to fall mortally ill.

This chapter could be called Betrayals Upon Betrayals:

• Will Scott betrays Lymond by secretly meeting his father.
• Will almost betrays Lymond and his men's location through this meeting.
• Lymond agrees to betray Will Scott.
• George agrees to betray Samuel Harvey.
• Janet betrays Wat Scott.
• Someone betrays the Scott rendezvous to Johnnie Bullo.
• Will thinks his father has betrayed him.
• Richard betrays Wat Scott.
• Johnnie Bullo betrays Will Scott.
• Lymond is accused (again) of betraying his country.

Questions

1. Was Lymond really going to turn Will Scott over to George Douglas in exchange for Samuel Harvey?
2. Just how and when did George Douglas figure out who Lymond is?
3. Do you think George believes the conniving, self-serving Lymond he sees is "the real thing"?
4. Why does Janet Beaton betray her husband's meeting with his son to Richard? 
5. Why does Will refuse to believe his father has not betrayed him (that is, it's not his father's men waiting in ambush)?

Favorite Line

A raffish smile struggled up from the depths of his beard and he covered it with one hand, but the eyes bent on his wife were as soft as a spaniel's.

Words that Describe Lymond in Bitter Exchange

• laconic
• cagey
• cruel
• callous
• self-serving
• deceptive
• disingenuous
• slippery
• concerned
• threatening
• sober
• impeccable
• harsh
• authoritarian
• imperious
• condescending
• genuinely angry
• surprised (twice, once by Will and once by George) 

Part One. The Play for Jonathan Crouch. Chapter VII. A Variety of Mating Replies. 2. Check and Cross Check

Item 7. is the shooting glove, formed to protect
the three fingers used in drawing the string. 

Here we have Dunnett's three arrows again: the one that freed the parrot, the one that hit the parrot, the one that hit Richard. This last is remarked on: 

For the arrow which struck Richard came from a great distance and had to fly over many heads to an almost invisible mark. Unlike the first two it was not faultless.

I added the emphasis. Remember: Dunnett never says anything that is extraneous or pointless.

What do we learn about the archery equipment? 

• The bow is English (Richard assumes Lymond got it as part of his Annan booty).
• The arrows are all from the same source (they are all made from the same wood and feathers, I assume).
• They are barbed (which is, judging by Richard's comment, highly inappropriate in a perch contest).
• The glove is high-quality white buckskin, perfumed and jeweled and expensive.
• The glove is new because it shows no signs of repeated usage.

In short, everything seems to fit into a neat package of damning evidence against Lymond. Richard's ire against his brother is understandably growing stronger. And Mariotta's comment will only help fan the flames of hatred ("He [Lymond] seems able to do almost anything he wants.") What husband could bear such a comment about any man, especially a handsome, rougish younger brother?

Notice that Agnes jumps on this comment by diverting the attention away from Mariotta to herself as she looks (longingly) at Richard and heaves a sigh. She is not impressed by Lymond. She is focused on the true hero: Richard.

Sybilla, exercising her "own brand of humane genius" diverts everyone from the papingo shoot disaster with the very conveniently arranged gypsy entertainment. The scene focuses not on the players but on the audience. We know:

• Mariotta is relaxing and getting her color back.
• Tom Erskine is providing commentary for Christian.
• Christian is trying to restrain Agnes, with limited success.
• Andrew Hunter is helping Christian keep Agnes's enthusiasm in check.
• Richard is watching the gypsies while half asleep.
• Sybilla is watching Richard while she is having a "long and intermittent" discussion with Johnnie Bullo.
• Wat Scott is the only member of the audience not mentioned.

And Sybilla uses that as an excuse to remove Wat from the scene to ask him about the bloodhounds. Once again Sybilla proves herself preternaturally insightful. She knew immediately what Richard was planning:

"I always could interpret these silences, you know, more easily than half an hour of his brother's chatter."

Oh, my! Isn't that interesting? Lymond's mother claims she has trouble seeing through his elaborate deceptions. He uses language as a disguise just as surely as he uses wigs and clothing and accents. We do get a sense here that Lymond loves to talk and loves to hear himself talk. 

Now we have the treat of watching Sybilla in action--something very similar to watching Francis work his will on others. The exchange between Sybilla and Wat Scott might be a tad confusing, so here's what is going on.

Lord Grey, who was humiliated by Lymond at Hume when he came to rescue Will Scott, has "invited" Wat to Norham to assure the English of his continued assistance along the border. Wat has so far pleaded illness to avoid the summons, but the word is bound to get back to Grey very soon that Wat is quite well enough to attend the papingo shoot, among other activities. Wat realizes that he has two equally terrible choices regarding his son. 

On the one hand, he can disown Will and hope Lord Grey believes him. Wat doubts this will work because Grey knows it was Will at Hume and because the English troops from the supply train ended up "bound and frozen" and half naked ("cutty sarks") on his land. Also, if Wat disowns Will and he is caught, he'll suffer the same punishment as Lymond, that is, as a traitor. 

On the other hand, if Will comes home, as Wat has people praying he will, the English will surely burn his property to the ground in the next cross-border raid. (Wat's irreverence is as touching as it is amusing. He's ordered the clergy to pray for Will's return, but he calls them "baw-heids" or, basically, idiots.)

Add to this Richard Crawford's energetic request that Wat use his bloodhounds to track Lymond and you have a pretty good idea of the stress Wat is under. Sybilla gives Wat the way out of this particular quandary (using the bloodhounds) by promising that she will catch Will before anyone else, English or Scottish, gets hold of him, but we do not know how. Wat is quick to assent to her request.

Notice how quickly and smoothly Sybilla shifts the conversation to Johnnie Bullo and the Philosopher's Stone as the others enter the room. Johnnie clearly wants the ladies to leave Bogle House and come to his tent for some reason, and Sybilla does not hesitate to agree to the jaunt to the Fair even though it is now night and the fair has undoubtedly deteriorated into an event highly inappropriate for ladies and girls, even those with an armed escort.

It is always a matter of speculation among Dunnett readers about whom Sybilla is speaking when, alone with the sleeping Richard, she says, "Oh, my darling...I do hope I've done the best thing!" It could be Richard; it could be Lymond; it could conceivably be someone else. We cannot tell for sure. Nor can we be sure what she has done that worries and possibly even frightens her. We do know she has had a long conversation with Johnnie Bullo earlier this night, right before she asks Wat not to use his hounds to find Lymond, and she plans to meet with Johnnie again at Midculter.

First Johnnie Bullo as Lymond's go-between with Christian. Is he now Lymond's go-between with his mother? 

***

We "see" the day's events and the fair at night through Christian, and the images are disquieting and repulsive. The "uncouth" and "coarse" and "mindless, ganting" noises of the day have unfolded into an even worse "Saturnalia" of the night, filled with "sottish, leering voices" and the smells, the horrible smells, of stale beer and sweaty bodies and rancid food and the sharp odor of blood. It is not just nighttime, it is a nightmare for Christian, whose sensitive nature is assailed not only by the noises and odors but also by the "blundering bodies" and "grasping hands" all around her. And the stresses and anxieties of the day prey upon her mind all the while. We can feel the near panic she is trying hard to conceal.

Gypsies at a Fair

When Christian finally is guided by Johnnie Bullo inside his tent, the tension is hardly eased by the cold, enveloping silence. 

Then comes the "mothlike" voice, which immediately describes the surroundings to Christian so as to give her the comfort of bearings. Notice Lymond instantly detects Christian's fear (he is very sensitive to the emotions of others). Christian is eager to tell Lymond how the varieties of violence disgust her, with the day's events providing further examples of how human beings enjoy cruelty and inflicting pain. 

---

Aside: Christian mentions a kind of violence that "amuses itself by stuffing women and children into a cave and smoking them to death." I found almost that same language here:

Speaking of the clan system, more particularly during the middle ages, the Duke [of Argyll] says, "It was a rude and barbarous history--a history of almost utter barbarism--and whole tribes smothered, men, women, and children smoked to death in caves..." [my emphasis] from Bishop Carswell and His Times, The Celtic Magazine, April 1882, accessed via Electric Scotland.

John Carswell was born around 1522 and is closely associated with Mary Queen of Scots. He also translated a Gaelic edition of John Knox's liturgy. The language here and in The Game of Kings seems too close to have been coincidental. There are other sources that refer to the same kind of barbaric act (Wild Scottish Clans, by Arthur Griffiths, published 1910). It seems to me that Christian is referring not to English barbarity but to how the Scots themselves have been guilty of perpetrating horrors on each other. After all, who are the people at the fair but her fellow countrymen and women?

---

Why does Christian want to go to the fair? Remember Johnnie Bullo tried to get a message to her earlier that day but was unsuccessful. She wants to find out what that message is. Also, Christian wants to pass along information of her own, that is, about Jonathan Crouch. Lymond has his own motive for meeting Christian in the tent. Even though Lymond asks Christian how Richard is faring, this is more courtesy than necessity. Johnnie Bullo, after all, has been in Culter's company all evening and is a reliable reporter. Lymond's main motive is to let Christian know that he did not try to kill Richard: "I haven't tried to kill anybody today, I give you my word." However, he does not actually deny shooting Richard, only not trying to kill his brother. He could just as easily said, "I did not shoot anyone today."

All this almost certainly means that Christian knows who Lymond is by now, and perhaps knew all along. Why do she and Lymond continue the charade of his anonymity? I think it is mainly because he is a wanted man, a man accused of treason, and her openly acknowledging that she knows his identity is very dangerous. To use the current vernacular, the play-acting gives Christian some degree of "plausible deniability," however slight. Also, for her to admit she knows Lymond's identity would break the spell of their enchanted friendship by introducing cold, stark reality. Neither of them wants that.

---

Aside: Regarding Lymond's comments on archery--clearly he is a man with a finely honed aesthetic sense. He loves the sport because, done well, it is a beautiful thing to behold and to perform. It is, for him, artistry in motion. Keep in mind Lymond's various skills and talents because they will be important throughout the series. How and when did he become so adept at so many different activities that require years of training and practice?

---

The long, difficult discussion between Lymond and Christian on the depravity of man reveals a great deal about Francis Crawford. He points out to Christian that it only takes "a good crack of thunder" to bring people to their knees to pray for deliverance. And as for mankind being civilized, he hardly sees much evidence of that. As for the civilizing effect of religion, there seems to be none, only various sects and religions vying with each other to be the most barbarous. Not to be diverted from the attempt on Richard's life, Christian interrupts Lymond's soliloquy to inquire on assassination or murder for private motives. 

Lymond claims he is ignorant of what motivated the attack on his brother--perhaps the usual suspects: greed, hate, envy, religious conflict, a lover's revenge. Lymond rejects only the last of these because Richard is "a remarkably dull and blameless creature." I wonder if he really views his brother this way.

Christian will not let Lymond off easy and continues sparring with him, saying she values candor above self-control. Lymond's comments on truth are a wonderful thing to read. He points out that truth-telling is often used as a weapon to inflict pain and increase suffering, even driving people to "the river and the dagger and the pillow in a quiet corner" (to suicide, to murder, and to despair). Furthermore, if Christian got the candor she craves regarding her mystery man's identity, it might cause irreparable harm to them both, but most especially to her: there would be "no possible going back once [the truth about his identity is] out."

Keep in mind Lymond's hypothetical example of whether or not he murdered his own sister.

Christian remains one of the few people who can genuinely surprise Lymond and verbally spar with him. When she points out that he and not she would deservedly suffer for his misdeeds should they be discovered, he laughs at her candor, wondering if she would even enjoy his punishment (pretend you wouldn't like to see me struggling at the end of the noose, i.e., "dance a vuelta on the widdy"). 

Lymond continues to put a great deal of faith both in his ability to paint a certain image of himself with his voice as well as Christian's ability to discern his true nature from his voice and words. So far, his faith has not been misplaced. And, again, Christian comes through for him with the news about Johnathon Crouch. Remember, Christian learned all this from Sybilla after her visit to Patey Liddell's shop where she overheard George Douglas and Andrew Hunter. It seems clear from what she says that Christian does not know Lymond is the man who took Crouch from Hunter's house. 

Lymond is momentarily taken aback when Christian asks for her fortune to be told before she leaves, but Francis agrees in part to give her something to satisfy the suspicions of Tom and in part, I believe, because he does not want her to go just yet. He enjoys the company of someone with whom he can freely be himself precisely because she (supposedly) does not know who he is. 

I believe the mock fortune Lymond reads in Christian's palm shows his profound disdain for all forms of fortune telling and mysticism. He makes the absurd claim that Christian appears to "have died at the age of seven" and then goes on to utter the typical bromides that Johnnie Bullo spouts: you'll get the most out of life, meet the man of your dreams, get your heart's desire, etc. But then just as unexpectedly, Lymond speaks from his heart: "what are we, after all? Charlatans, faiseurs d'horoscope..." That, I think, is what Lymond truly believes. He has no time for tellers of fortunes, readers of palms, or casters of horoscopes.

As the time for parting draws near, it seems neither Lymond nor Christian wants to go. There is a deep attraction and empathy between them. Lymond first offers the "apologue" (moral fable) of the sands of time being reversed so that they can meet again, and then tries a quotation from a traditional chanson de mal-mariée, which expresses the grievances of an unhappy wife. Dunnett's own translation of the poem sheds an interesting light on it:

Jealous, grudging and tart
Death can haunt him
Sweet and vivid and fond--
Then I want him. (from The Dorothy Dunnett Companion, Vol 1, p 135)

There are many possible ways to interpret why Lymond chooses this snippet, but I believe he sees himself as both "jealous, grudging and tart" (and worthy of death) and "sweet and vivid and fond" (and desirable). This may sound odd, but I think it makes sense when you consider that we have seen these two radically opposed "Lymonds": one very unpleasant, even cruel, and another very charming and lovable. Lymond is not at all happy having to play the divers parts required by the terrible circumstances of his life and not being seen for who and what he is.

Or it could be as simple as his thinking of Mariotta, the '"unhappy wife," whose fortune he has just heard Johnnie Bullo tell, undoubtedly one with a very happy ending involving a "sweet and vivid and fond" lover.

Before Christian leaves, Francis tells her he will write to her (no, he hasn't suddenly forgotten she has to have someone else read letters to her): he simply tells her to "wait and see." Lymond will find a way. The last quotation Christian hears Francis uttering brings their conversation full circle. It also confirms his identity; why else speak of the poor papingo (papinjay)? 

Wouldn't you love to have heard Johnnie Bullo's "chastely phrased double-entendres" in the fortunes he told Mariotta and Agnes? And his description of Agnes is incomparable: "a face like a pound of candles on a hot day." Lucky for her she is rich. 

At the end of the chapter Lymond tells Johnnie he has had a very annoying day, probably because of what happened--or didn't happen--at the papingo shoot. Events did not turn out to his liking. Lymond's leave-taking of Johnnie is classic Lymond: at once careful and brisk. Notice he leaves a "small memento" for Johnnie, certainly one to the gypsy king's profit. The other payment Lymond offers Johnnie may be more valuable: the raw pleasure of watching a master at work.

Questions

1. Sybilla invited the gypsies to Bogle House before Richard was injured at the papingo shoot. Did her motives for doing so change once the incident occurred?
2. Does Sybilla know that Bullo has a message for Christian? Is that why Sybilla wants to go to the fair that night? Are she and Christian in cahoots?
3. Can you think of other examples of Sybilla's "own brand of humane genius"?
4. Why does Christian blush when Sybilla mentions "love potions" when speaking of the Philosopher's Stone?
5. Why did Lymond leave his shooting glove behind, knowing it could be used to identify and track him? Was it accidental?

Favorite Line

"Truth's nothing but falsehood with the edges sharpened up, and ill-tempered at that: no repair, no retraction, no possible going back once it's out."

Words that Describe Lymond in A Variety of Mating Replies, 2. Check and Cross Check

• sober (not drunk)
• voluable
• witty
• clever
• mocking
• sensitive
• cynical
• thoughtful
• annoyed
• conflicted
• worried

Part One: The Play for Jonathan Crouch. Chapter I: Taking en Passant

1. The English Opening

I wonder who Jonathan Crouch is...

He is listed among the characters as a former officer of the Royal Household and prisoner of war. That's all we know except Lymond wants to find him.

Translation into modern English of the last line of the epigram:
"...and if it be in time of war, they ought not open the gates by night to any man." ...even if he seems to be one of yours.

We meet Lymond's band of merry and not so merry men, in particular Turkey Mat and Johnnie Bullo. What I find interesting about this group, which is undoubtedly made up of rough men with rougher backgrounds, is that they are not ruffians. Turkey Mat is a former soldier, a veteran of some serious battles, including at least three against the Ottomans. Johnnie is a gypsy (we'll learn more about him as time goes on). 

During the conversation between Johnnie and Turkey Mat, Turkey says that Lymond's men met an English messenger carrying dispatches from "The Protector" to his commander in Annan. 

Edward Seymour, Lord Protector of England

The Protector refers to the Lord Protector of England, Edward, Duke of Somerset, King Edward's uncle. He is also called Somerset. He is waging war on Scotland, again.

Not only did Lymond not capture or kill the messenger, he sent one of his men to make sure the messenger, who we later learn is named Bannister, gets to Annan with his message.  

More clues to Lymond's character: Johnnie Bullo notes Francis's appearance as he arrives at camp: "...the dairy-maid skin, the gilded hair, the long hands jewelled to display their beauty." Francis's appearance is in stark contrast both to that of his men and to the setting. He is like a butterfly flitting among horseflies. Also, DD's descriptions of characters' hands are revealing. Pay attention to how she describes Lymond's and certain other personage's hands. 

Enter Will Scott, who is the young man Janet Buccleuch and Sybilla are discussing at Midculter. What sets Will apart from Lymond's men is that he is of Francis Crawford's social class, with a classical education and formal training in the arts of weaponry and war. When he offers a Latin quotation, "flat incomprehension informed every face" except, of course, Lymond's. Will is something new: a potential rival to Lymond.

But Will has a long way to go to challenge Francis, whose own men describe him as "the devil" with a "tongue like a thorn tree." Lymond certainly demonstrates on Will his ability to humiliate, going so far as to call him "infant" and, hilariously, listing "wetting the bed at night" as one reason for Will wanting to join the band. 

Francis uses Will to punish one Oyster Charlie, who has been giving Lymond "a little trouble." Francis warns Oyster, whose "hearing is sensational," that an attack is coming, so Will proves his willingness to kill and Oyster gets a painful but less than fatal lesson. 

Lymond also quotes from Thomas More's A Merry Jest, how a Serjeant would learn to play the Friar, "When a hatter/will go smatter..."

This quotation is interesting on several levels. In the poem a sergeant disguises himself as a friar to get into the house of a thief who is pretending to be sick in bed. Unfortunately for the sergeant, even though the ruse works, he ends up getting the beating of his life. The point of the poem, written when More was a young man, is that people should stick to what they know and to their own profession. 

The moral of the story applies both to Will Scott, who wants to become an outlaw, and to Lymond himself, who is clearly operating outside his milieu and given to using ruses and disguises ("I propose to appear in one of my twenty-two incarnations"). Francis knows he is playing a dangerous game. It is unclear if Will also realizes the potential pitfalls and dangers of the life he proposes to lead.

The mortification of Will Scott is painful to read, so thorough is it, culminating in the disclosure that Francis knew all along who Will is. The humiliation is Will's hazing ritual, to test if he is serious about joining Lymond and if he can be trusted not to betray him. Maybe Francis really does think he can trust Will, or maybe he simply wants to use him to his advantage, which is immediately borne out by Lymond taking Will with him to Annan.

2. Pins and Counterpins

Lymond is going to Annan, this time playing the part of an English soldier, to look for the mysterious Jonathan Crouch. Thus far we do not know why he seeks Crouch. 

Nothing seems to go right at Annan. First, Lymond discovers Crouch has been taken prisoner on the battlefield, but by whom the English commander does not know. Next, the commander, who is not entirely without his suspicions about these two men who suddenly appear at the city gates, insists on taking Lymond to see Wharton, who has threatened to gut him publicly. Wharton may not recognize Lymond, but Lennox will. 

Just as Francis and Will seemingly have extricated themselves from this deadly danger, what does Lymond do but force Wharton's son to take him to his father, much to Will's shock and dismay. 

"The events which followed were always to have for Will Scott of Kincurd the curious narcotic quality of a bout of fever." Such a vivid and apt description! It rings true to anyone who has ever had the surreal experience of horror and fear tinged with the chilling thrill of walking on the knife edge of disaster.

The wordplay between Lennox and Lymond, which says so much and yet leaves so much unanswered, is a beautiful thing to behold. What we learn:

1. Lennox and Lymond have a history.
2. Lennox stole a shipload of gold from the Scottish Queen Dowager (Mary of Guise) and took off for England.
3. Lennox was responsible at some point for freeing Francis from "his stinking oars," which indicates Francis was trapped in a very bad situation, yet to be explained.
4. Francis hits Lennox below the belt with this curious comment, which alludes to Lennox's wife, Margaret: "I was brought up in bad company. From oar to oar, you might say."
5. Francis and Margaret Douglas, Lady Lennox, also have a history.

Lymond tells Wharton and Lennox the (purported) contents of the Protector's dispatch Bannister is carrying. Furthermore, Francis plays to the Englishmen's vanity and ambition, saying that the Protector wants to talk to Lennox at Stirling about putting him on the throne of Scotland and Wharton on the Privy Council. 

Continuing in his role as rogue, outlaw, and thief, Lymond liberates Wharton's gold, which will help Francis finance his activities, and, in what seems to be a wanton act of cruelty, drops a helmet that has been heating in the fire onto the head of Wharton's son Henry. However, it's important to remember a few things. 

1. Henry Wharton is 25 years old, hardly a child.
2. Henry is "already a leader of horse," meaning he is a military commander and thus involved in the sacking of Annan.
3. Annan has been burned and pillaged. Many innocent men, women, and children have died or lost everything in this English attack on their town.

Lymond's action of dropping the flaming helmet on Henry's head is symbolic payback for the cruelty inflicted on Annan, which suffered by fire. It also serves the important purpose of creating a distraction that allows Francis and Will to escape.

3. Capture of a King's Pawn

In the aftermath of the terrible defeat at Pinkie, Richard Crawford (Lord Culter) and Tom Erskine, with their beaten and tattered men, are going to try to stop the English from moving north to Stirling, where the Scottish Court and other noblewomen with their children have been sent for safety.

Into their arms walks Charlie Bannister, the English messenger bound for Annan. Bannister destroys the message he is carrying and refuses to give up the contents, which he has unwisely let the Scots know he has read. Faced with a terrible dilemma of whether to stay put or go north to try to protect Stirling, Richard decides to do just that. 

Richard sends his man to get Erskine so they can join forces and move towards Stirling when Lymond's men descend on Culter and his company. Lymond's aim is to free Bannister and send him on his way to deliver his message. Francis infuriates his brother and his brother's men with his outrageous behavior and language.

Recurring theme: "After all, I'm on the horse, like the frog in the story..."  

From "The Battle of the Frogs and Mice"

Frogs and mice are first alluded to in Opening Gambit when Francis says "and tonight the frogs and mice fight, eh, Mungo?" 

This may be an allusion to Batrachomyomachia or "The Battle of  Mice," a parody of the Iliad, something a person of Francis's education would know. Or it may refer to "The Ballad of the Frog and the Mouse," which is included in The Lymond Poetry, an anthology compiled by Dunnett herself. Most likely, Francis is thinking of both.

However, in the scene with Richard, Francis, sitting on his horse looking down at his brother, clearly alludes to the latter ballad.

"When upon his [the frog's] high horse sat
Humble-dum, humble-dum
His boots they shone as black as jet..."

This version is actually by Thomas Ravenscroft, originally titled "The Marriage of the Frogge and the Mouse," published in 1611. But there is an older Scottish version that first appeared in print in 1548, which means the ballad would have been part of popular culture for some time before appearing in print. The Scottish version is from The Complaynt of Scotland, written in reaction to England's "Rough Wooing" of Mary, Queen of Scots by Henry VIII.

Why would Francis evoke this children's song when talking to his brother? There are many possible explanations, but I think perhaps the primary reason is to remind Richard in a subtle way of their shared childhood experiences and familial ties. Think about the stories and songs you shared as a child with siblings and how they make a lifelong mark on you. It takes only a word or two for all the associated memories to come flooding back into your mind the way the smell of a madeleine evoked Proust's childhood for him.

Richard, as the elder brother, may have sung this to his little brother. Or perhaps, as was the case in my own family, it was a grandparent who sang the ballad to them both.

Lymond is rude, obnoxious, and vulgar in addressing Richard. He comments on Richard having put on weight, mentions the fire that could have killed his wife and mother ("encaramelled" them...what an image!), asks crudely if Marriota is pregnant ("am I superseded yet?"), and admits that he has taken money from Wharton ("Well, he's certainly paying me." Ha, ha). Francis also tells Richard that the Protector is to the north in or near Stirling, where the Court and the women were placed for protection, and Wharton will be heading that way as soon as Bannister delivers his message at Annan.

As Erskine's men arrive, Richard takes his opportunity to lash out at his brother, accusing him of wanting to claim his baronetcy and his wife. In response, Francis backhandedly challenges Richard to a shooting contest (the Popinjay) in Stirling, betting his elder brother will not be able to resist such a goad.

Questions to Ponder

1. Francis's appearance is clearly important to him. Why does he play up his beauty, his wealth, his glamour? Does he have a motive or is he merely vain?
2. Why does Francis tell Wharton and Lennox the Protector wants them to go north to Stirling?
3. Why does Francis tell Richard the message orders the English troops north to Stirling?
4. Why does Francis want Richard to meet him at the Popinjay challenge at the Wapenshaw in Stirling?

Favorite Line

"Oyster is not dead; merely lightly boiled in the shell."

Words that Describe Lymond in Taking en Passant

• duplicitous
• hot-tempered
• treacherous
• daring
• cruel
• condescending
• rude
• clever
• vain
• funny (e.g., favorite line above)