“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.
