LITMIR.BIZ

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sleep?”

      Adali signaled the two maidservants to cease their activity. “You would leave your children, my lady?” he said quietly.

      “Of course not!” she cried. “The children will come with us. Why would you think I would leave the children?”

      “In your determination to have your own way, my princess, you would deliberately disobey the king of England and rob your four children of their inheritance? Such irrational behavior reminds me of your brother, Salim, now the Grande Mughal Jahangir,” Adali said. His brown eyes surveyed her calmly. As a boy he had resembled his Indian mother. Now, a man in his late middle years, he favored his French father.

      Jasmine was surprised by his words. Adali had been with her her entire life, and she thought of him as her best friend. Her anger diffused, she said, “Surely you do not suggest that I wed with the earl of Glenkirk?”

      “He is a good match for you, my princess. A wealthy man who stands in high favor with King James. He is attractive, and you have already had the benefit of a night in his bed those many years ago. I do not seem to recall you considered him a poor lover then. He likes your children, and wants sons of his own. What more is there, my princess? Women of your high caste do not wed on whim, and without a powerful husband you can do nothing but sit and wait for death to come.”

      “Violent death has claimed both of my husbands, Adali,” Jasmine responded. “And death reached out to claim Prince Henry, unexpectedly and in his prime. The earl of Glenkirk would do well to reconsider before wedding with such a woman as I. Perhaps my brother has cursed me from afar. Besides, James Leslie has no love for me any longer. He marries me to please the king and for no other reason. Indeed from the look in his eye I would say he hates me, Adali.”

      “Then you should have no great feeling of loss if he dies violently as did Jamal Khan and Rowan Lindley,” Adali reasoned with her, “and you will have obeyed the king, thus regaining his favor for yourself and your children. If your brother has indeed cursed you, my princess, and the men you give your heart to die, then surely Lord Leslie will feel the sting of the Mughal’s malediction, too. It is an ideal way to rid yourself of your enemy, is it not?”

      “You do not believe for a moment that I am cursed, do you, Adali?” Jasmine said irritably. “You are all against me now, even my grandmother. She will help the earl, which is why I must flee tonight else I shall never have another opportunity.”

      “Again you put your self-interest before that of your children,” Adali scolded her roundly. “You have been alone too long, my princess. You must come back into the world again, and the children with you. I will not help you to run this time, and neither will Rohana or Toramalli. Besides, my daughter, where can you go if you leave Belle Fleurs? King James’s lands will be forbidden, so you cannot go to England, Scotland, or your Irish estates. You have only managed to hide here in France with the aid of your relations; but when Madame Skye tells them ‘Nay,’ then France will be closed to you, too. Besides, there is already war in this land over religion. Soon it will not be safe at all. Where else is there for you? We both know you cannot return to India and your brother. There is no place for you except by your husband’s side, my princess.” The eunuch was firm of tone, and his look told Jasmine that for the first time in her life she had no other options but those very unpalatable ones presented to her. “Shall I tell his lordship you will be joining them at the highboard, my princess?” Adali gently pressed her.

      She wanted to say no, but she was hungry. The idea of sneaking down into her own kitchens to steal food was intolerable. Besides, why should he drive her from her own table? James Leslie was arrogant beyond any man she had ever met, but God’s nightshirt, he would not keep her from her supper. “I must change my gown,” Jasmine said in regal Mughal tones. “Please tell my grandmother that I shall join her shortly.” Dismissing Adali, she turned to her maidservants.

      Adali restrained his delight that his mistress had decided to act in a reasonable fashion. It was, he knew, a temporary measure until Jasmine could come up with some other scheme to avoid doing her duty, but they would defuse that problem when it reared its head. Reentering the hall, he said, “My mistress will join you momentarily. She is changing her gown, my lord.”

      “Well done, Adali!” Skye complimented him. “Was she packing?”

      The steward laughed. “Aye, madame, she was, but as I pointed out to her, she has no other place to hide. Her place is by her husband’s side now not just for her own standing, but for the children’s as well.” Adali bowed, then began directing the serving of the evening meal.

      James Leslie watched him with a speculative gaze.

      “He is loyal to her first and foremost,” Skye said quietly in answer to the unspoken question, “but he serves her best interests even when she disagrees with him. Treat her well, and he will be your most valuable ally, my lord. Remember, a powerful king trusted him.”

      The earl nodded, and then he saw her enter the hall. For a moment he almost forgot his anger, for she was every bit as beautiful as he had remembered her. Gowned in burgundy velvet, her black hair now dressed in the familiar chignon, she made her way to the table. James Leslie rose, bowing, kissing her hand, seating her by his side. Jasmine acknowledged him but briefly.

      “How lovely you look, my darling girl,” Skye said. “The picture of fashion, I vow.”

      “Have fashions not changed that much then these months?” Jasmine said lightly. “What a shame. I was anticipating having your Bonnie make me a brand new wardrobe, grandmama.”

      “You shall have whatever your heart desires, madame,” the earl said. “As my bride you are entitled to a bridal wardrobe. My pockets are deep as you well know.”

      “If I wish new garments, my lord,” Jasmine said in scathing tones, “I am more than able to pay for them. I am far wealthier than you are, sir. We had best discuss this now. The king may order us to wed, but until I agree to do so there will be no marriage between us. First there must be the legalities. While I will give you a reasonable dowry, my lord, the bulk of my wealth remains mine. Until you agree to that, you will not have me to wife.” There, she thought, that will set his proud Scots heart back a pace.

      “Of course, darling Jasmine,” the earl said smoothly. “Your wealth remains your own. My own mother, and I am certain yours, too, had such arrangements in their marriage contracts. I would suggest we do it immediately, but I am not certain a contract drawn by a French advocate would be considered legitimate in England. I think, therefore, we must wait until we return to England.”

      “Until the papers are drawn to my satisfaction, and signed, my lord, there will be no formality between you and me,” Jasmine replied.

      “Naturally, madame,” he returned.

      Skye speared a haunch of rabbit and gnawed on it vigorously as she listened to her granddaughter and the earl of Glenkirk battle back and forth. James Leslie had obviously taken her advice, and was going gently with Jasmine, but Jasmine was not making it easy on the man. Why she has decided he is her enemy, I do not know, the matriarch thought to herself. If I were twenty years younger I should be tempted to cast a lure for him myself were I a single woman. Reaching across them, she tore herself off a piece of bread from the loaf.

      “I mean it, James Leslie,” Jasmine snapped.

      “I am well aware of it, madame,” he answered, his voice testy now.

      “Then we might as well leave tomorrow for England,” she decided.

      “Nay, madame, we will leave Belle Fleurs in a week’s time. Your grandmother needs the rest, having departed her own home almost immediately following your grandfather’s demise. And, I believe it advisable that you and I become reacquainted on neutral ground.”

      “Indeed, sir? What is it you do not know about me that you need to know? I am beautiful. I am wealthy. I am royal. I have had two husbands, and a princely lover. I am the mother of four children, and I pleased you in bed those many years back. Is there more?”

      “Aye,”

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