“Boredom has never pleased you, Mama,” he said. “You will find some mischief to get into, I have not a doubt.”
Skye O’Malley de Marisco laughed at this observation. “Aye,” she agreed with him, “I probably shall, Robin.”
Scotland
AUTUMN 1615–AUTUMN 1618
Chapter 13
Jasmine Leslie saw Glenkirk Castle for the first time on a sunny late-August afternoon. Of dark gray stone, it was battlemented and had four towers, one at each of the major compass points. It sat upon the crest of a hill, surrounded by forested hills. Its great oak drawbridge was down, welcoming her, and Jasmine Leslie knew in her heart as sure as she had ever known anything that she had come home. It was an incredible revelation for a princess, raised at the Imperial Indian court, who had known far greater palaces than the small stone edifice, topping the uneven green hill. And yet she knew! Glenkirk was home! How long had it been waiting for her? Her heart soared, beating just a little faster, and then she heard Adali say but one word.
“Yes.”
She turned and saw that he, too, felt the magic, and she smiled at him even as he smiled back.
“What do you think?” her bridegroom asked nervously. “Can you be happy here for almost half a year each year, darling Jasmine?”
Seated upon her stallion she turned her head to him, and nodded. “Aye, Jemmie, I can be happy anywhere as long as I am with you. The castle is beautiful. It’s a wonderful place for the children.”
“You are seeing it at its best,” he told her. “I did warn you that the autumn is Scotland’s best time. There is much gray and rain and mist the rest of the year.”
“I don’t care,” she said. “It is the land, the castle, the forest, they all sing to me, my lord. Rain or shine, it will matter not to me. I have come home.”
The earl of Glenkirk’s handsome face split with a wide smile. He could not have been happier to hear her words. He had always loved his home, but after Isabella and the children had died it had seemed such an empty place and was suddenly unfamiliar. Yet this was where he had been raised with his three younger brothers, and his five younger sisters. It had, for many years, been a warm happy place. Now it would be again with Jasmine and her children and the children they would have together. His spirits rose, and his smile broadened once more.
“There are men-at-arms on the battlements!” young Henry Lindley said in an excited voice. “Oh, Papa, ’tis a grand castle!” His horse danced nervously next to the earl’s stallion. “Can I ride ahead, sir?” he asked his stepfather.
“Nay, laddie,” Fergus More interposed. “ ’Tis the first time in many, many years that the earl has been home. ’Tis he who must be first of this party into Glenkirk.”
“But I could go ahead, and tell them that we’re coming,” the boy said hopefully.
“They already know we’re coming,” Fergus More said, and he pointed in the direction of the castle.
From Glenkirk’s courtyard and out over the drawbridge they came, up the road that wound down from the hills and toward the mounted party that rode onward to the castle. Clansmen. Leslie clansmen. Mounted and on foot; banners flying; a troupe of pipers led by Alpin More, who was Fergus’s kin, leading them as they came. The savage joy of the music rose on the wind, and instinctively the Scotsmen straightened in their saddles. The earl was dressed today as he had dressed every day since they had crossed over the border, in breeches and high boots, leather jerkin over his linen shirt, a cap with a chieftain’s badge on his head. Long gone, it seemed to Jasmine, was the elegant English courtier James Leslie had previously appeared to be.
“See that green-and-white banner, Jasmine,” he said, pointing. “Those are the Leslies of Sithean. We all descend from the first earl of Glenkirk, but the second earl’s sister managed to obtain Sithean for her son and his descendants. And I see my uncle Patrick riding at the head of his people. And I see my cousin, his heir, with his father. Behind the red, white, and green banner are the Leslies of Glenkirk. My uncles and my brothers will be there.” His voice had risen just slightly with his excitement.
“You should have come home long since, Jemmie,” Jasmine told him, reaching out to touch his hand.
“I almost did once, but then the king wept that he needed my acumen, with poor Cecil dead, and so I remained to serve James Stuart,” the earl told her. “But for our English summers, darling Jasmine, I do not think I shall ever leave Scotland again. My heart is full just looking about me, hearing the pipes welcoming me back.”
Now they drew to a halt, allowing the clansmen to come to them, and they did, surrounding the earl’s party with shouts of joy to see him back amongst them and for having brought a new countess. They reached out to touch the earl and his wife, and Jasmine, following her husband’s lead, reached back, her beautiful hand brushing the rough hands thrust toward her, a smile on her lips, her turquoise eyes dancing with an open delight that plainly told of her pleasure to be among them. When they had heard he had taken an English wife they had expected a haughty milady, a nervous creature who would recoil at their noisy earthiness, but this was no milksop. This was a real woman, and the clansmen were delighted.
The earl of Glenkirk and his party were escorted into the castle courtyard. Before either the earl or Adali could help Jasmine from her mount, she was whisked off it by a large, bushy-bearded clansman, who set her gently on her feet with a courtly bow and a grin.
“And who are you?” Jasmine demanded of him, eyes twinkling.
“Red Hugh More, madame, son and grandson of the same,” he said with another bow. “I’m the captain of yer guard.”
“The castle’s guard,” Jasmine said.
“Nay, madame, yer guard,” was the reply.
“I have my own guard?” Jasmine was surprised.
“As hae every countess of Glenkirk before ye,” he said. “This is Scotland, and Scotland is nae always a peaceful place.”
“So my husband has told me,” Jasmine said, laughing. “Well, Red Hugh More, this is Adali, who has been responsible for my life since I was born. You will cooperate in the matter of my safety, eh?”
Red Hugh More looked over the half-Indian, half-French Adali. It was a swift, but skilled assessment that was returned in kind. “He looks like he can handle himself,” was his vocal decision.
“I can garrote a man without his even hearing me enter the room behind him,” Adali said softly. “It is a quick, silent death.”
A slow smile slid over Red Hugh’s features. “We’ll get on well,” he said. “I like a man who can kill wiout a lot of blood to clean up.” Then, bowing to Jasmine, and with a respectful nod to Adali, he withdrew, allowing them to enter the castle.
James Leslie surprised his wife by picking her up and carrying her into the building. “ ’Tis an old custom, carrying the bride over the threshold, darling Jasmine,” he said, setting her on her feet, then taking her hand and leading her up the wide staircase to the second floor of the castle. The children, Adali, Rohana, and Toramalli, came closely behind them, eyes darting this way and that. The earl led them four steps up into an anteroom, and then four steps down into the Great Hall of Glenkirk Castle.
Jasmine’s eyes widened. It was an absolutely marvelous room. Huge fireplaces flanked by tall arched windows were set on each side of the room. Hanging from the hall’s rafters were multihued silken banners which had been carried into the many battles that the Leslie clan had fought over the centuries. At the end of the room was the highboard which was set in a T-shape. There were arched windows behind it on either side. Over each fireplace was hung a full-length portrait. The painting on the right was of a handsome male in the full flush of his manhood. The painting on the left was of an exquisitely beautiful young girl with an innocent, yet haunting look about her.
“Who are they?” Jasmine asked her husband, mesmerized.
“He is Patrick Leslie, the first earl of Glenkirk, King James IV’s ambassador to the duchy of San Lorenzo. He was my great-grea
t-great-grandfather. She is Lady Janet Leslie, his daughter, my great-great-grandmother. She is dressed in her betrothal gown, for she was to marry the heir to San Lorenzo, but instead was the lady of whom I told you, who was kidnapped and became a sultan’s favorite and a sultan’s mother. It was her youngest son, Prince Karim, who was smuggled out of the Ottoman Empire as a little boy and became Charles Leslie, the first earl of Sithean.”
“She is wonderful!” Jasmine said.
“Aye, I am told she was. My father remembered her, for she did not die until after she had arranged his marriage to my mother, who was just a tiny bairn at the time. She was always arranging everything,” he chuckled.
“Something like my own grandmama,” Jasmine smiled.
“Aye, I expect Madame Skye and Janet Leslie would have gotten along very well together,” he agreed.
“My lord, welcome home!” An elderly man made his way forward.
“Thank you, Will. This is your new mistress, Lady Jasmine Leslie. Jasmine, this is Will Todd, the castle caretaker. He has faithfully looked after Glenkirk since I left it.”
“And right glad I am to see yer lordship home,” Will Todd said. “Now, with yer lordship’s permission, and if I am no longer needed, I can retire to my wee cottage and go fishing for the salmon that hae gotten so fat in yer lordship’s absence.”
“What?” the earl teased the old man. “There are still salmon left in my streams? I would have thought them all poached by now, Will.”
“There are plenty of fine salmon for yer lordship. As to poachers, it is difficult to say as we hae nae ever counted the fishies,” the caretaker teased his master back.
“Aye, Will,” the earl said, “you may go back to your cottage, and you will lack for nothing for the rest of your days, I promise you; but before you leave me, I would have your help a final time.” James Leslie drew Adali forward. “This is Adali, who has been in my wife’s service since she was born. He will now take over the running of Glenkirk Castle for us, but he will need your help for the next several months that he know what to do, and where everything is, and who is to be trusted, and who will work hard, and who will not. Will you aid him, Will Todd?”
“Aye, my lord!” the caretaker said, and then he shook Adali’s hand, looking him up and down as he did so. “Hae ye ever run a big house, Master Adali? As big as this one, I mean?”
Adali forced back a smile, and said gravely, “Aye, Master Todd, I have. My lady’s childhood home was a large household.”
“Good! Good! Then ye’ll nae hae difficulty in learning our ways, and I’ll be fishing all the quicker,” he chortled.
“I have never fished, Master Todd,” Adali said.
“Will, me name is Will, Master Adali, and I’ll be glad to teach ye. Our salmon and our trout are worthy opponents, not to mention verra tasty when cooked over a slow fire,” he chuckled.
“I shall look forward to it,” Adali said. “And you will call me Adali, Will Todd, for we are equals in this household.”
The old man nodded. He liked Adali’s good manners and the fact that this stranger did not attempt to lord it over him. It boded well for all the servants that their new master was not just polite, but obviously a kind fellow. Then his eye lit on the children. “Bairns?” For a moment he looked a bit confused, but the earl explained.
“These are my wife’s children from her previous marriage. Lord Henry Lindley, and the ladies India and Fortune Lindley, Will. The littlest bairn is a very special child.” He nodded to the duke of Lundy’s nursemaid, who was carrying him, to come forward. “This wee lad, Will, is Prince Henry’s son, Charles Frederick Stuart. We call him Charlie-boy. The king has done me a great honor by giving me his mother to be my wife; and he has put his only grandson under my protection.”
“Prince Henry’s laddie?” Will Todd’s eyes filled with tears. “Ah, ’tis sad, my lord. ’Tis sad, but we’ll keep the bairn safe wi us here at Glenkirk. The king hae done us a great honor; but then when did the Leslies nae gie the Stuarts their complete loyalty?”
“Always, Will,” James Leslie agreed.
“The children are tired after our long journey, my lord,” Jasmine interposed. “I think they must have their supper and go to bed. Tomorrow they can explore, and see all of Glenkirk, but for now I think the day is over for them.”
“I’ll show ye their quarters, m’lady,” Will Todd said eagerly.
“I will go with them,” Adali said, “and then return. The journey has been long for you as well, my princess,” he finished meaningfully.
She nodded.
“Come, and we’ll sit by the fire,” the earl said. “Toramalli, there is wine on the sideboard. Bring us each a goblet. Already I can hear the family tramping up the stairs. There will be no rest for us for several hours, darling Jasmine, but we’ll take a small respite.”
The children and their servants followed Adali and Will Todd from the hall even as a troupe of people began to enter it. It was going to take time to sort out all these new relations, but Jasmine could already recognize the Leslies in the crowd. James Leslie’s paternal uncles all came forward. James, the Master of Hay; Adam, who had been closest to the earl’s father; Michael, the youngest brother, a big, ruddy man in his middle fifties. There was his father’s cousin, the old earl of Sithean, who was married to his father’s sister; and his son, Charles, who was married to James Leslie’s sister, Amanda. And, of course, there were his two brothers. Colin, the Master of Greyhaven, and Robert Leslie of Briarmere Moor. They clapped the earl of Glenkirk upon the back and embraced him happily.
“This is my wife, Jasmine,” he introduced her, lifting her up onto the highboard so they might all see her.
“Ye’ve an eye for beauty even as yer father hae,” his uncle Adam Leslie declared, with a courtly bow to Jasmine and a twinkle in his amber eyes.
“Aye, she’s fair enough, laddie, but can she gie us the next earl of Glenkirk,” his elderly cousin of Sithean asked bluntly.
“I gave my second husband a son, and two daughters; and I gave Prince Henry a bonnie son, my lord,” Jasmine defended herself.
The men were startled, but then they laughed, and Colin Leslie said admiringly, “Why, Jemmie, she’s as bold as our mother.”
“Aye,” his uncle Adam said, “she’s as bold as any Scots-born lassie, I’m thinking. Ye’ll hae strong bairns.”
“But when?” the old earl of Sithean persisted. “Ye wed her several months ago, and if yer like the men in this family, ye’ve bedded her regularly, cousin. Yer seed should be well planted by now.”
“Would late winter be soon enough for you, you old trout?” Jasmine asked him, laughing at the surprised look on their faces, her husband’s in particular. “Now, get me down, Glenkirk! Your relations have seen me. Where the hell are the women in this family?”
His brothers began to laugh uproariously, and, their surprise easing, the other men joined in, too.
The earl of Glenkirk lifted his wife gingerly from the table. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he whispered to her, unable to keep the grin off his handsome face.
“I was going to, tonight, when we were all tucked up in our marital bed, but when that old man started twitting me, now seemed as good a time as any. I wouldn’t want it thought, James Leslie, that you weren’t doing your duty by me.”
“A chair for the countess,” the earl of Sithean called, and his demand was immediately met. “Sit down, me dear,” he invited her. “Yer carrying a most precious burden, ye are. Ye must take a care of yerself, lassie,” he cautioned Jasmine.
“I’ve borne four children already, my lord,” she reassured him.
“Aye, aye, but yer a wee bit longer in the tooth now, lassie,” he said concerned. “Did ye ever miscarry of a bairn?”
“My first,” she told him. “ ’Twas the shock of my first husband’s murder that did it. I was fourteen at the time. I’ve had no difficulties since then, my lord, and this child is planted deeply and firmly.”
The old
earl smiled. “Aye, he’s a Leslie,” he said.
“Now, tell me, sir,” Jasmine said, “where are the women?”
“They will come tomorrow when yer rested,” Adam Leslie said. “All the aunts and yer sisters-in-law are anxious to meet ye, although when the word reaches them of how fair ye are, they may change their minds,” he teased her. “My Fiona is quite the beauty,” and then he lowered his voice, “but I canna say the same for my brothers’ wives. Once they were pretty creatures as the young always are, but they hae nae stood the test of time verra well, but Jemmie’s sisters are pretty lasses.”
“You are very wicked, aren’t you?” Jasmine said mischievously.
“It comes from living wi my Fiona all these years,” he told her. “When she and Jemmie’s mother were young, they were rivals for a time, but they later became friends. Both were headstrong, difficult lasses, I fear. My Fiona hae softened a bit, and I’ve grown wicked wi age,” he said, chuckling. “Are ye wicked, Jasmine?”
“Sometimes,” she said. “Ye must ask Jemmie. He will tell ye, I am certain. I think being wicked is far more fun than being good, Uncle Adam, don’t you?” Her eyes twinkled.
“Aye,” he agreed with her. “I’m glad ye hae a bit of spunk, lassie. Jemmie’s first wife was a sweet child, but about as exciting as a bowl of oat stirabout. Ye look like a lass wi hot blood in her veins, and that’s just the sort of wife he needs.”
“Are you flirting with my bride, Uncle?” the earl of Glenkirk said.
“Nay, laddie,” Adam Leslie declared. “ ’Tis she who is flirting wi me, the pretty vixen. Yer a lucky man, laddie.”
“He’s won my heart because he has grandpapa’s name,” Jasmine replied to her husband. “You know my weakness for men named Adam.”
“Perhaps we’ll name our son Adam,” James Leslie said.
Darling Jasmine Page 25
