He settled her into his bunk, and said quietly to his son, “Go to the harbormaster and tell him that Captain O’Flaherty needs a horse. Then get directions to the Leith-Edinburgh Road. It is not a great distance to ride.”
“How will I know where to find the earl when I get there?” young Ewan asked.
“Ask for Glenkirk House,” Jasmine said sleepily. “It’s on a side street as you go toward the Cannongate.” Her dark head fell back upon the pillow once again.
Obeying his father, Ewan O’Flaherty went to the harbormaster and asked for the loan of a horse. “I must ride to Edinburgh, and fetch the earl of Glenkirk,” he told the harbormaster self-importantly.
“Ye’ll nae find his lordship in the town,” the harbormaster said. “He is here in Leith, laddie, for he sent to me this very evening asking if any vessels were leaving tonight, or on the morrow. Then he and his men came down to these very docks and searched the two ships going out on this evening’s tide just before they sailed,” the older man finished.
“Oh, sir,” Ewan said excitedly, “can you please tell me where the earl is now? It is very important that I find him!”
“Why, laddie, ye’ll find him at the Mermaid, which sits just off the docks,” the harbormaster said, pointing a gnarled finger.
“Thank you, sir!” Ewan said, and he set off at a run for the Mermaid tavern and inn. Dashing into the taproom the boy called out, “I am seeking the earl of Glenkirk. Is he here?”
James Leslie arose from the table, where he had been sitting with his father-in-law, his uncle, and several other men. “I am he, lad,” he said. “What is it you want?”
Ewan O’Flaherty hurried over to the table, and bowed as his mother had taught him. “My father, Captain O’Flaherty, would speak with you, my lord, on a matter of import to your lordship.”
“And who is Captain O’Flaherty that he would speak with me?” the earl asked the boy. “I do not know him.”
“He is my great-grandmother’s grandson,” the boy replied, “and you are well acquainted with my great-grandmother.”
“Who is your great-grandmother?” the earl asked, smiling slightly.
“Lady de Marisco,” Ewan said, jumping back, frightened, as the earl leapt to his feet.
“Jesu, lad! Why did you nae say so in the first place?” He pushed Ewan gently. “Lead on then, laddie, and take me to your father.”
“We’ll go wi ye in case this is some sort of trap,” Adam Leslie said, standing up and beckoning to his companions.
The men, led by the boy, trooped from the Mermaid, and onto the docks, following Ewan to where theLord Adamwas moored. As the sound of their booted feet hit the deck of the small ship, Geoffrey O’Flaherty emerged from the cabin, sword in hand.
“Nay, father,” the boy cried. “This is the earl of Glenkirk. He was here, and the harbormaster told me where to look!”
Geoffrey O’Flaherty sheathed his weapon and held out his hand to James Leslie. “Jasmine is in my cabin,” he said withoutfurther explanation, for he knew that was what the earl wanted to know.
The earl nodded, and, moving past the captain, entered the cabin. Jasmine lay sleeping upon the captain’s bunk. He went to her and, kneeling down, kissed her cheek softly. “Darling Jasmine,” he murmured low. “I have come to take you home.”
The turquoise eyes opened slowly and filled with recognition. Jasmine smiled. “Jemmie! I knew that you would find me!”
Chapter Twenty
They returned to Glenkirk Castle, and it was as if Piers St.Denis, the marquis of Hartsfield, had disappeared off the face of the earth. He was nowhere to be found either in England or Scotland. BrocCairn and Adam Leslie had gone back to the cottage where Jasmine had briefly been held captive. It was as empty as when she had left it but for a jug of wine, a stale loaf of bread, and a bit of cheese lying upon the table. The wine carafe was full, and neither the bread or the cheese had been eaten. St.Denis had obviously returned to find Jasmine gone, deposited their meal upon the table, and sought after her. Not finding her, he had himself vanished.
George Villiers returned to England, his mission for the king successfully completed, and his only rival for James Stuart’s attention vanquished. Shortly after the new year the king, with the urging of the queen, created Villiers the earl of Buckingham. The king then pronounced Kipp St.Denis legitimate by virtue of his father’s public affection for him and the fact that his father had allowed his eldest son the benefit of his name. Kipp was then made marquis of Hartsfield, as he had been firstborn of the previous marquis’s sons.
The queen, who had made Kipp her especial pet, for Kipp, following Villiers’s lead had given Her Majesty much time, respect, and attention, found him a suitable wife. Kipp had, the queen was fond of saying, a good heart, and he had enduredmuch under his brother’s wicked domain. The bride, a beloved bastard daughter of one of the favorite courtiers, came with a suitable dowry. She was delighted with her good fortune and devoted to her husband, who was equally pleased with her.
The king spent the winter months personally making plans for his return to Scotland in the summer to come, for his family and advisors were resisting the idea. He sent orders that Holyrood Palace was to be completely refurbished for the visit and sent word to Glenkirk that he would expect to see both James and Jasmine Leslie there to greet him when he arrived in Edinburgh. It was to be a full state visit with both the queen and Prince Charles in attendance.
“When is he coming?” Jasmine asked.
“I expect he will arrive in mid-July,” her husband answered. “If I know Their Majesties, they will want to remain to hunt in August and September. They will begin their progress, however, in early June.”
“And every family in their path will both dread and anticipate their coming,” Jasmine laughed. “Particularly as they will travel with the entire court. It is outrageously expensive to entertain royalty, even for a meal, or a single night. Grandmama said it was months before the lawns at Queen’s Malvern were back to normal after the old queen came those many years ago; but when the king came after Charlie-boy’s birth, he and the queen came alone, with only a few attendants.”
“I am relieved to say we will nae have to entertain the royal Stuarts,” Jemmie said. His speech had begun to slip back now and then into the dialect of the land. “He’ll nae venture into the Highlands.”
