“A French princess would be better,” the queen murmured. “Jasmine, my dear, come and sit on a footstool by me while we watch the masque. St.Denis, you may stand behind me.”
The masque that followed was a salute to springtime and the coming summer. It had not the imagination of the masques that Jasmine and Prince Henry had taken part in several years before. It was more music and dancing, with little story, although the costumes, as always, were lovely. Jasmine recognized none of the young people involved.Times are changing,she thought,and I am getting older.After the masque ended, there was dancing. The marquis of Hartsfield made to lead Jasmine out onto the floor, but Prince Charles stepped forward.
“The first dance is mine, I believe, my lord,” the young man said. He did not stutter once.
“Of course, Your Highness,” Piers St.Denis answered, stepping back and bowing to the royal prince.
Charles Stuart took Jasmine’s hand, and they began to dance a stately country dance. “You are not going to marry him, are you, m-madame?” the prince asked.
“I most certainly am not going to marry him,” Jasmine said. “Because your father is so insistent, I must play at letting him court me, but I detest Piers St.Denis, Your Highness, and I love Glenkirk.”
“W-why did you run away then?” He twirled her gracefully.
“Like Your Highness, I am a king’s child. I do not like being told what to do, and I had not finished mourning Hal. I was not ready to marry again. Not so soon. Now, however, it is different. Lord Leslie loved me even before I wed with my beloved Rowan Lindley. He loves me now, and I have come to love him. Try to love the girl you finally marry, Your Highness. It is so important to a woman to be loved.” She dipped and, lifting her skirts, pranced three steps.
He lifted her lightly, swinging her about, and then replaced her on the floor, where they moved in the final elegant precise steps of the dance. “I d-do not like St.Denis. There is s-something unwholesome about him. And I like Villiers e-even less. He t-takes my father’s attention from m-me. S-still, if I had to choose, I suppose Villiers is b-better. He is greedy, but h-harmless.”
“I agree, Your Highness. You are very wise for a young man,” she praised him. Then she curtsied deeply, the dance over.
He returned her to St.Denis, nodding curtly at the marquis. Piers St.Denis could hardly contain his excitement. The royal family treated Jasmine as if she were one of their own! It was not only the child, but its mother as well who would bring him power. With a broad smile he led her into the figure of the next dance.
He was, she thought, an excellent dancer. It made the evening more pleasant than she had anticipated. He suggested a small interlude after a time, fetching them chilled wine and leading her to a cushioned alcove in a window where they might sit and be restored.
“The king and his family hold you in high esteem,” he told her approvingly. “You will, in time, wield a certain amount of power here at court because of your excellent connections.”
“When I marry Glenkirk,” she said, “I will not remain at court.”
“Why do you persist in this fantasy that you will marry the earl of Glenkirk?” he demanded of her angrily. “I am the man you will marry, Jasmine. And we will make our life at court.”
“My lord,” she said patiently, “the choice is mine to make, as you well know. This evening is the fantasy, and it is yours, not mine!”
“I can delay your marriage indefinitely, Jasmine. The king will do it if I beg him. I can convince the king to change his mind and give you to me,” the marquis threatened.
She laughed. There was nothing else for it but to laugh. It was either that, or she would scream. “The king is weak where his favorites are concerned, my lord, but he will never go back on a word so publicly given,” Jasmine told him with complete candor.
In response he forced her back against the stone sill of the window and kissed her fiercely. One hand dived down the low front of her dress to capture a breast and squeeze it hard. His lips worked feverishly against hers. His tongue forced its way into her mouth.
Taken unawares, Jasmine struggled with herself a moment to maintain her calm and not panic. His kiss was abhorrent. She gagged on his tongue. The hand fumbling with her breast was repellent, and he was hurting her. She would be bruised. She bit down on his tongue, shoving him away from her at the same time, then slapping him hard.
“How dare you lay hands on me!” she hissed furiously.
He tried to pinion her again, but Jasmine, ready for him this time, shoved her knee hard into his groin. Hearing his gaspof both pain and surprise, she pushed him aside to escape from the windowed alcove. Grasping at the skirt of her gown, he momentarily restrained her, preventing her flight.
“You will be mine!”he half groaned, nausea sweeping over him from the pain she had inflicted on his private parts.
“Let go of my gown, my lord,”she said through gritted teeth. “What must I do to convince you that I do not welcome your suit? Must I kill you, my lord? I am fully capable of it, you know. I personally hanged Rowan Lindley’s murderer in the very same hour as my husband’s death.” Jasmine’s anger rose. “You repel me, my lord. I would just as soon slit your handsome throat as look at you! I will not play this game any longer! I will, under no circumstances, marry you, my lord St.Denis!” Then, with a determined hand, she smacked his grip away and moved off swiftly across the hall.
Reaching the area where the royal family was seated, she curtsied low to the king. Her color was very high. “My liege?” she said in a quiet, but firm voice obviously directed at James Stuart.
“Aye, lassie, what is it?” he asked her.
“My lord, I beg you, do not force me to wed with the marquis of Hartsfield,” she said, sinking dramatically to her knees.
“Nah, nah, lassie, I said the choice was to be yers,” the king replied, genuinely distressed by her flamboyant action.
“Then I beg you, accept my decision in the matter. Your Majesty was absolutely right two years ago when your chose James Leslie for my husband. I need a man to whom I can look up, and I do look up to the earl of Glenkirk. I need a man whom I can love, and who loves me. That man is the earl of Glenkirk. I have pledged myself to him before God Almighty; and having to endure the embraces of another man seeking to have me to wife under such circumstances makes me feel as if I am being dishonorable. Please, I plead with Your Majesty to accept mydecision in this matter! I will not take any man for my husband but James Leslie, the earl of Glenkirk!
“I know how Your Majesty values the friendship of the marquis of Hartsfield. That is why I ask that you choose another suitable woman for his wife. If you love him, as I know you do, then find him a wife who will honor him and appreciate Your Majesty’s kindness,andthe marquis of Hartsfield as well. Unfortunately, that woman is not me. You have said that the choice of a husband is mine. I can say no more plainly than I have said that it is James Leslie whom I choose.”
