LITMIR.BIZ

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yet, married,” James Leslie replied firmly. “Since India will nae choose a suitable match for herself, we will choose one for her.”

      “Ohh, Jemmie!” his wife murmured. “I don’t like to do that to India. I want her to love the man she marries.”

      “Your father chose Prince Jamal, your first husband, for you. You dinna know him until you married him, and yet you were happy,” the duke reminded his wife. “Your grandparents chose Rowan Lindley, India’s father, as your second husband, and you grew to love him, didn’t you? So much so that you almost died when he was killed. King James chose me as your third husband, and we have nae been unhappy, hae we? I know you love me, darling Jasmine, and I certainly love you. India is behaving in a childish manner. She hae deliberately fixated herself upon an unsuitable man, and refuses to look elsewhere, because she thinks if she continues in her stubbornness she will, as she hae many times before, get her own way. But this time it is nae about a gown or a puppy. This is India’s life, and I will nae hae her miserable for the rest of it because she chose the wrong man. I owe that to her father.”

      “Have you any ideas for an appropriate match?” Jasmine asked.

      “Well, I would hae you ask your aunt Willow about eligible young Englishmen, and I know both Angus Drummond and Ian MacCrae hae unmarried sons. They would be more than favorable to a match wi our daughter. Both the Drummonds and the MacCraes are solid families. Nae great titles, but educated, and nae fanatical where religion is concerned. Still, your aunt may know of some suitable young noblemen, and India, being English by birth, might prefer to live in England near her two brothers, Henry and Charlie, and your family.”

      “I suppose it is the only way,” Jasmine said reluctantly. Her husband might be taking a firm approach, but he certainly wasn’t being unreasonable, she thought. India, of course, would rage and howl, but they had no other choice. Her mother-in-law had been right when she had suggested that India was ripe for bedding. Before the girl caused a scandal with the wrong man, they were going to have to marry her off to someone more eligible.

      “By summer we’ll hae a wedding,” the duke decided firmly. “Then you and I will hae to consider what to do about Fortune, for she will be sixteen in July, and should also be wed.”

      “I had thought to take her to Ireland,” Jasmine said. “I had always intended giving her MacGuire’s Ford and its lands. I think she should therefore have an Irish, or Anglo-Irish husband, Jemmie.”

      “Excellent!” he agreed. “We will take Fortune to Ireland this summer. Henry will go to Cadby, Charlie to Queen’s Malvern. Patrick will remain at Glenkirk in my stead, and the other two lads may either go down to England, or remain at Glenkirk. Then it is settled, my love?”

      Jasmine nodded. “It is all for the best,” she agreed. “It is past time we established the girls, but I hate to lose them. The time has gone so quickly. Just yesterday they were little lasses, running barefoot through the vineyards at Belle Fleurs. Do you remember the first summer we brought them to Glenkirk and they swam naked in the loch? I remember how they splashed and giggled, refusing to come out of the water even when their lips were blue with the icy, icy cold.” Her eyes grew moist. “Where did my little girls go, Jemmie? Where did they go?”

      He put a comforting arm about her. He had no answer to such a question.

      In a dark corner of the family hall India had listened to her parents so cruelly deciding her fate. Now she sidled carefully from her hiding place and slipped into the hallway of the house, bumping into her sister, Fortune, as she exited.

      “You’ve been eavesdropping!” Fortune accused her.

      “Be quiet!” India hissed. “Mama and Papa will hear you. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. I was in the hall when they came in, and they didn’t see me, so I hid in a dark place, and listened. You won’t believe what I heard! Some of it concerns you. Come on!” She half dragged her younger sibling up the stairs to the bedchamber they shared. Closing the door behind her, she announced dramatically, “We are to be married!”

      “What!” Fortune squeaked. “Have they relented about your viscount? And what do you mean by we?” She plunked herself down upon the bed. “Speak up, India!”

      “They won’t let me marry Adrian, and they intend to pick a husband for me. Either some son of one of Papa’s uncouth friends, or someone our old dragon of a Great-aunt Willow thinks is suitable. Papa says I’m to be married by summer. Then Henry is to go to his seat at Cadby, and Charlie to Queen’s Malvern.”

      “What about me?” Fortune pressed. “You said we were to be married. I don’t know anyone I want to marry.”

      “They’re taking you to Ireland this summer. Mama says she’s giving you MacGuire’s Ford and its lands. I suppose you’re getting it because you were born there. She hasn’t been back to Ireland since our father was murdered before you were born. They are going to look for an Irish, or Anglo-Irish, husband for you. You will be married probably before summer’s end. Well, little sister, what do you think of that?”

      Fortune was strangely silent for a long moment and then she said, “There are three thousand acres belonging to MacGuire’s Ford. It’s a goodly estate to have. I wonder if the horses will be included as part of my dowry. I’ll get a fine husband with all of that.”

      India was astounded by her sister’s reaction. She had fully expected Fortune to rebel even as she was rebelling. “Don’t you care that you are going to be married to some stranger?” she demanded.

      Fortune turned her turquoise eyes on her sister. “A woman, particularly women of our class and wealth, must be married, India. I have absolutely no experience with men, and so I think I shall rely upon our parents to pick my husband. They will not force either one of us into a bad match. I imagine I’ll be given a choice, and can choose the man I prefer myself. If you were not so pigheaded you would not be in the difficulty that you are in now. Mama and Papa made no secret that Adrian Leigh was not for you. They said it plainly, but you will have your way, or die trying, won’t you, sister? Well, this time you will not get your way, and I think you had best accept that. It’s past time we were both married.”

      “I will marry the man I love!” India snapped.

      “Don’t be such a fool, India!” Fortune snapped back.

      “You will not tell Mama and Papa that I overheard them?” came India’s reply.

      “Of course not,” Fortune said. “It’s months away.” Then she grew thoughtful. “I wonder what he will be like. I shall enjoy having my own home, although I shall miss the family. We will all be scattered now, won’t we?” Fortune was a practical girl, if a bit wild.

      India was no longer listening to her sister, however. She somehow had to find Adrian, and tell him of these latest developments that threatened to part them. He would know what to do. Leaving Fortune, she hurried back downstairs to the writing room, penning a message to Viscount Twyford, and then, sealing it with wax, she pressed her signet ring hard into the soft substance. Slipping from the room, she let herself out into the garden and ran down the lawns to the riverside.

      “Oi!” she called to a passing wrerryman, who, seeing her wave and hearing her call, rowed over to the Greenwood quai.

      “Aye, lady? Where does ye want to go?”

      India handed him the packet, along with a coin. “Take this to Whitehall. Give it to the royal boatmaster and tell him it is to be delivered immediately to Viscount Twyford, the earl of Oxton’s heir. You’re to wait for him. Do you understand? You are to bring Viscount Twyford back here.”

      The werryman felt the weight of the coin in his hand. He didn’t have to look at it to know it was double, probably triple, in legal fare. “Yes, m’lady,” he said, pulling at his forelock respectfully. Then, pushing cockle away from the quai, he rowed away. It never occurred to him to keep her coin, and throw the missive in the rapids beneath London Bridge, for he was an honest man. Besides, the gentry had a way of repaying dishonesty.

      India

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