The Dance of Death Read Online Free PDF Page A

at . . . at this place you mentioned?’
    â€˜Montlhéry? Sadly not. My father died in vain.’ Then her little face brightened, losing its bitter look. ‘But King Louis got the better of them all in the end, not by force of arms, but by cunning and sheer strength of will.’
    I chewed my thumbnail thoughtfully. ‘And now it would seem that he intends to bring Burgundy to heel by marrying his son to Maximilian’s daughter.’
    â€˜We don’t know that for certain,’ she said quickly. ‘That’s what we’re going to France to find out.’
    I agreed. ‘But I don’t suppose it’s King Louis’s intentions we’re being sent to discover, but Maximilian’s. I have no doubt whatsoever that Louis will happily repudiate the English alliance in favour of the Burgundian. He would be a fool not to. And once Burgundy is a spent force, no longer a thorn in France’s side, well then . . .’
    â€˜Well then what?’
    â€˜It will be farewell to that annual pension that King Louis pays King Edward so promptly every year.’
    â€˜Why?’
    â€˜Because it’s been paid for the past seven years on the understanding that England would refrain from going to Burgundy’s aid in any conflict she had with France. Which is exactly what has happened. In spite of all the pressure on him from nobles and commoners alike, the king has steadily refused to send an expeditionary force to help Maximilian in his struggle against the French, with the result that he looks likely to have cut off his nose to spite his face.’ I grimaced. ‘My own guess is that this mission you and I are being sent on is a sheer waste of time. Any fool with half a brain could predict that Louis will choose the Burgundian marriage. He has everything to gain from it and nothing at all from the English alliance. Indeed, he’ll be the richer in more ways than one for breaking with King Edward.’
    Eloise raised an eyebrow. ‘You think we’re being sent on a fool’s errand? I agree with you about King Louis, but you said yourself that it’s Maximilian’s intentions that are the more important, and what we have to find out.’
    I snorted. ‘My dear girl, I’ve just told you that anyone with half a brain could foretell what Louis will do. Well, anyone with the other half must surely harbour very few doubts concerning Burgundy’s reaction. He’s appealed to us, his closest ally, in vain. He’s in a fair way to being beaten to his knees. His wife, who commanded his subjects’ loyalty, is dead and their child too young to be a rallying point. He’s an Austrian, a stranger, which many of the duchy’s people resent. He can either wait for his lands to be overrun or he can rescue a little dignity from the situation by marrying his daughter to the dauphin and making a peace of sorts with King Louis. An idiot could work it out.’
    My companion looked thoughtful. ‘So, as you rightly ask, what is the purpose of sending us to Paris? My cousin Olivier, although a very shrewd man as I understand it, can only tell us what we already know.’
    â€˜Guess,’ I corrected her. ‘As for the rest,’ I went on scornfully, ‘our superiors, those set in authority over us, don’t need reasons for squandering money. The discovery that you and this Olivier le Daim are in some vague way related to one another is a heaven-sent pretext for Master Plummer to arrange a secret mission for us into France. It makes him look as though he’s busy protecting the safety of the realm. Our wonderful spymaster general, ever vigilant!’
    She laughed. ‘You sound like a man with a grudge.’
    â€˜I am. I should be on my way home now to my wife and family, none of whom I’ve seen for months. Instead, that little runt has enmeshed me in one of his precious schemes, which, as far as I can see, is