made young Master William his heir.'
'Yet Kieran Devers still lives in his father's house?' Jasmine was curious about such a thing.
'His stepmother would not allow the father to dispossess the son for fear of what would be said. She wanted it to appear all her stepson's fault. She wanted to be the good and gentle lady. So Master Kieran lives in his own rooms in a separate wing of the house. While there are those who are saddened by the loss of his inheritance, none can say with certainty that Lady Jane is responsible. It is very important to the lady how she appears before others,' Rois explained.
'Poor Master Kieran has nowhere else to go. His mother's family are all gone, and the rest of his father's family are over in Donegal. They are hardly known to him, if they know him at all. While Kieran Devers is proud, he's no fool. Me grandmam says she thinks he enjoys remaining just to annoy Lady Jane, who would appear charitable towards him but is really not. 'Tis said she attempted to stop her husband from settling a sum on his son so that his wicked conscience might be salved, but Sir Shane would not listen to her then for he, too, cares what people think. The eldest son is in his will, and is given an allowance each year into the bargain. That generous allowance, I am told, comes from the inheritance the lady was bequeathed from her late father. I have heard it delights Master Kieran to donate a goodly portion of that allowance to the church just to annoy his stepmother.' Rois giggled. 'I have never seen him myself, but they say Kieran Devers is as handsome as sin, and as wicked as the devil himself to boot. Yet he is kind, and always ready to help those who need it. Mostly our kind who have been driven off our lands for our faith,' she said.
'I have never heard you speak so eloquently before,' Fortune teased her maidservant.
'There was nothing to say until yer mam asked me,' Rois replied.
Jasmine smiled. 'You're a practical puss like my daughter, Rois. Bride did well to choose you for Fortune.'
The door to the chamber opened again, and the duke popped his head into the room. 'The Deverses' coach is just coming through the village,' he told his wife. 'Come along, or we shall be late, and appear rude. We want to make a good first impression now, don't we?'
'I obviously didn't beat ye enough when ye were a wee lassie,' James Leslie responded.
'You didn't beat me at all, Papa,' Fortune said, linking her arm through his, and smiling up into his craggy face.
'Well, I probably should have,' the duke teased her. He turned to his wife. 'Where shall we greet them, madame?'
'In the hall,' Jasmine responded. 'Adali will escort them in to us. It sets the proper tone, for our rank is far greater than theirs. They should be honored to even be considered as a possible match for our daughter. The more I learn about the Deverses of Lisnaskea, the less certain I am that they are the right family with which to be allied. Perhaps we did not look closely enough back home.'
If James Leslie was surprised by his wife's words he gave no sign of it. The duke knew Jasmine would have her way no matter what he said, and much of the time she was absolutely correct. 'Nothing is signed, or even agreed to yet,' he told her. 'We can change our minds if Fortune does not like this young fellow, or we decide he is not at all suitable for her, darling Jasmine.'
'I am glad you see it my way, Jemmie,' came the reply.
They descended down into the Great Hall even as they heard the wheels of the coach rumbling into the courtyard through the open front door. Adali, garbed in his usual white trousers, tunic, and turban, was awaiting the visitors. Stepping out onto the portico, he waited until the Deverses had descended from their carriage and were halfway up the steps to the house. It was then he bowed deferentially to them.
'Sir Shane. Lady Jane. Master William. I am Adali, the duchess's majordomo. You are welcome to Erne Rock Castle.' He turned. 'If you will please to follow me. I shall bring you to the duke and the duchess who are awaiting you in the Great Hall with Lady Fortune.'
Chapter 3
Lady Jane Devers looked sidewise at her husband, and whispered in discreet tones, 'She has a brown-skinned foreigner for a servant, Shane? We were not told she consorted with such people.'
'If the man holds a position of such importance in the duchess's household, Jane, then he must be a person worthy of her trust, and the duke's,' Shane Devers whispered back. 'Now shut yer mouth before you destroy William's chances for this marriage. The girl is quite an heiress.'
'I was an heiress,' came the icy reply.
'Not like this lass,' her husband shot back as they entered the Great Hall. He was a tall man with iron gray hair and dark blue eyes. His face was weathered and ruddy from the outdoors, and his big hands those of a horseman.
His wife was petite with fading blond hair and light blue eyes. Her complexion was yet fair, although her rosy cheeks owed much to the artifice of light rouge which she thought made her appear younger. Her gown was old-fashioned, the bell-shaped, ankle-length skirt worn over a farthingale with a wasp waist, and a long pointed stomacher. It was deep blue in color, and while it was of an excellent material, Lady Jane, looking at the duchess's gown, saw at once she was at a disadvantage. She almost cried with her frustration. Why hadn't she found out what Lady Leslie would be wearing? But then she had assumed that coming from Scotland, the lady would be no more up on the latest fashions than she was.
Seeing the woman's scrutiny Jasmine felt a surge of triumph. Lady Jane was obviously already intimidated. Excellent! She had not yet made up her mind about William Devers, but if he was indeed to be her son-in-law, Jasmine felt they were already off on the proper foot with his dominating mother. She smiled graciously. 'Welcome to Erne Rock, Sir Shane, Lady Jane, and young William. May I present to you my husband, James Leslie, the duke of Glenkirk, and my daughter, Lady Fortune Mary Lindley.'
Sir Shane bowed to his host and hostess as did his son, while his wife curtsied. Their greetings were acknowledged with a bow and two curtsies in exchange. Then Sir Shane said, 'I thank you for having us, yer grace. I've always been curious to see the inside of Erne Rock.'
'But I understand your late first wife was a cousin of the Maguire lords of Erne Rock,' Jasmine said sweetly.
'Her kinship was closer to Conor Maguire and his ilk, although the Maguires of Erne Rock shared a great-grandfather with her,' he replied.
'Ahh,' Jasmine intoned. Then she smiled at the handsome young man by his father's side.
'This is my son, and heir, William,' Sir Shane said. His wife poked him with a sharp finger. 'And my wife, Lady Jane,' he finished quickly.
'How d'you do, your grace,' Jane Devers said. Then she turned her gaze on Fortune. The girl was much too pretty, and in a rather bold way with that bright red hair. Why she almost looked Irish. 'I am pleased to meet you, my dear,' she said in dulcet tones. 'My dear stepdaughter is a Mary also.'
'I am not called Mary,' Fortune replied. 'I am called Fortune, madame, for my mother considered it good fortune that I was conceived the very night before my father was murdered.'
Jane Anne Devers caught her breath in sharply. Had the girl no sense of delicacy, using a word like
