“God’s foot,” murmured George Villiers to the queen, “she has chanced all with a single throw of the dice! What incredible style!”
The king sat stupefied, not certain of what he should do. He had promised Jasmine the choice. He had promised Piers St.Denis the opportunity to court her; but here she was, troublesome lassie, refusing to cooperate once again. She had made it so publicly plain that she would not have St.Denis, poor sweet laddie, that he really couldn’t force her to continue to accept the marquis’s advances.
“Father?”Young Charles Stuart spoke softly to his sire. The king started. “Aye, my bairn, what is it?”
“While Lady Lindley has made her decision sooner than you would have wished, I think you knew she would choose Glenkirk in the end. The marquis is foolish if he believed otherwise, for in his heart he surely knew it also. Be gracious and generous, as only you know how, Father. I like Lady Lindley, and Hal loved her deeply. He would want you to give her this boon, and I know he liked Glenkirk.”
“The boy is right,” the queen interjected softly.
“Aye, my dear lord, he shows wisdom for one so young,” Villiers said, ignoring the fierce, irritated look the prince shot him, which plainly said that he didn’t need, or want, GeorgeVilliers’s help. Villiers forced back the smile that threatened to crack his lips. Prince Charles was jealous of him, he well knew, but eventually he would win over the younger man. James Stuart was nearing the end of his life, but Charles Stuart would be England’s next king. George Villiers intended to be on his good side when he inherited the throne.
The king heard them all. He looked at Jasmine, her royal blue skirts spread about her as she knelt before her, her dark head bowed. What a troublesome wench she was, he thought, but his son was right. Henry Stuart had adored her. He would want her happy, and if Glenkirk was the man to make her happy, then so be it. “Verra well, Lady Lindley,” he grumbled at her. “Glenkirk it is, and God help the puir man wi such a headstrong lassie for his wife. Still, I suppose he knows what he is getting. But ye may nae go from court until he returns from Scotland. I want to see my grandson again before ye both return north.” James Stuart held out his hand to Jasmine, and she kissed it gratefully.
“Thank you, Your Majesty,” she said.“Thank you!”
“Steenie, help her up, for pity’s sake, and dance wi her. Lady Manners won’t mind as it is a royal command. I hae had enough for one night, and I’m going to bed.”
“But my dearest, dearest lord!” The marquis of Hartsfield had finally regained himself, and stood before the king, woebegone.
“Dinna fret, Piers,” the king said. “We’ll find ye another nice lassie wi a good income.”
“But I want Lady Lindley, sire!”
“Ye canna hae her, Piers. Now cease yer whining, laddie, and trust yer old da to make it right, eh?” He got to his feet. “Come and help me to my bed, Piers. I am exhausted wi all this fuss.” He leaned heavily on the younger man.
“I’ll go with you,” the queen said, standing quickly, and offering the marquis a patently false sympathetic smile.
“I don’t want to dance another step, Steenie,” Jasmine told him. “Escort me to my barge. My servant is waiting.” She took his arm as they walked through the crowded hall. A path opened before them, and the whispers, quite discernible, hummed all about them.
“Well, my dearie,” Villiers said with a chortle as they were finally clear of the hall, “you have caused quite the most delicious scandal this night. What on earth made you do it? It was a dangerous ploy that very well might have gone against you.”
“I don’t like St.Denis to begin with,” Jasmine told the king’s young favorite, “but he attempted to make love to me, and I found it most distasteful. I knew then I could not play this game another moment until my Jemmie returned. Imagine keeping St.Denis completely at bay. The king did say, after all, that the choice was mine.”
“And a damned good thing he did,” Villiers noted. “Piers St.Denis appears to be totally obsessed with you, madame. I suspect he would have done almost anything to have you had the king not made the decision yours and yours alone.”
“Thank you for your help, Steenie,” Jasmine said as they gained the royal quay, and her barge was rowed quickly forward. “I do not forget my friends, nor does my family forget those who have rendered them a great kindness.” She took Adali’s outstretched hand and stepped down into her barge. “Hurry back to the king, my gentleman of the bedchamber, lest the dreadful St.Denis steal a march on you.”
“Not while the queen is there,” Villiers replied with a smile. He kissed her hand. “Good night, Lady Lindley. It was a fine match, excellently played. You have my admiration. Your skirts,spread so artfully about you, was indeed the crowning touch.” He turned and walked away, chuckling.
Jasmine laughed as she took her seat and watched him go. A very clever young man as she had earlier noted. He missed nothing. “Adali,” she said, “we are finally free of the marquis of Hartsfield!” And then she proceeded to tell her servant the details of her evening, unaware Adali had been in the hall and seen her pleading with the king.
“Shall we be able to return to Queen’s Malvern then, my lady?” Adali asked her as he draped a cloak about her shoulders to keep the chill from the night river wind from her.
“The king has requested that I remain until Jemmie returns so he may see the duke of Lundy again,” she replied.
“With your permission, my lady, I shall hire extra men-at-arms to patrol Greenwood and watch the house. The marquis of Hartsfield did not appear to me to be a particularly good loser. You have publicly repudiated him. He will, unless I miss my guess, be seeking revenge.”
“It’s just a few weeks, Adali, and then we shall be gone,” Jasmine reassured him, “but it does no harm to be cautious. Hire the extra men to guard the house and the grounds.”
“A few weeks and she will be gone, my lord,” Piers St.Denis said to the king. “I beg you to change your mind and give her to me!”
“Nay, Piers love, I gie my word too publicly to take it back, and I dinna think I would anyhow. Lady Lindley is too sophisticated for ye. Leave her to Glenkirk. ‘Tis better that way.”
The marquis of Hartsfield pouted angrily, turning his handsome face from the king in a show of both defiance and bad manners.
“We’ll find you a lovely young wife with a fortune,” the queen promised him. “‘Twill make up for your disappointment, I’m certain.”
“No!” St.Denis said vehemently. “If you would make me happy, my dear lord, and if I cannot have Jasmine Lindley, then give me the duke of Lundy to nurture and protect. Then I will know that I have not lost your favor. Do not saddle me with some young innocent and send me away, I beg of you!” He caught up the king’s hand and kissed it passionately.
