"God's blood!" her brother swore. "How did you know?"

"Are all men that noisy when they fuck?" India wondered aloud.

The chevalier burst out laughing. "India, you have not changed, little cousin. I am so glad!" Then he paused a moment and said, "But Henry is correct in one sense, chérie. A man is rarely unlike his family in his behavior. Besides, you can do better than a mere viscount. You are the daughter of a marquis, the stepdaughter of a duke. You have a marquis for a brother and a duke for a brother, and that little duke is the king's own nephew. Aye, chérie, you can do much better than a provincial little viscount."

"I shall do as I please," India answered him, and he laughed once more. "I am not just well connected, but rich as well, René, and when you are rich, you can do as you please," she told him.

"Within the law," her brother reminded her disapprovingly.


***

While the queen struggled to find her way within this new court she had been married into, and her French household and the English court jockeyed for dominance, the younger, less important members of her train, led by the chevalier St. Justine, and the younger English courtiers became friendly. None of them cared for power. They simply wanted to have fun. It was summer. The weather was pleasant, and new to court, most of them found it exciting. Filled with youthful exuberance, they involved themselves in hunting and picnics, boating, tennis, and archery contests from dawn till dusk. Then they danced the night away, or took part in little masques. Often the young queen joined them, for like her late mother-in-law, Anne of Denmark, she loved such merriment. The king, however, who had enjoyed his mother's revels in his youth, was now weighed down by his office, and not often amused.

"I want to go to Queen's Malvern," Lady Fortune Lindley complained to her mother one warm and muggy morning. "Why must we remain here with the court? We have never followed the court. Soon summer will be at an end, and we shall be returning to Glenkirk, Mama."

"Your sister has entered society, and if we are ever to find her a husband, Fortune, we must remain with the court. Right now, all the eligible young men are here," Jasmine explained to her middle daughter.

"If India wants to remain here, fine!" Fortune said, "but can't the rest of us go up to Queen's Malvern? It isn't just me. We all want to go, isn't that so, Henry?"

"I should be at Cadby," her brother agreed, nodding.

Jasmine looked to her children. "Charlie?" she said.

"I have paid my respects to my uncle, Mama, and been presented to the queen," Charles Frederick Stuart, the duke of Lundy replied. "It is not necessary for me to show myself at court again until the coronation, which my uncle, the king, says will be next winter."

The duchess of Glenkirk peered questioningly at her three Leslie sons.

"We would rather be in the country, Mama," said Patrick, speaking for himself and his two younger brothers, Adam and Duncan.

"I suppose that we could send the seven of you to Queen's Malvern," Jasmine said thoughtfully, "and your father and I could remain here to chaperone India, but you would have to behave yourselves if I did," she warned them.

"Adali is at Queen's Malvern, Mama," Fortune reminded her parent. "You know Adali would not let us run wild. If anything, he is sterner with us than you and Papa."

"Well," Jasmine considered, nibbling on her lower lip.

"And I will help him oversee the boys," Fortune pressed gently.

"And I will be at Cadby, Mama," Henry reminded her. "It would just be our younger brothers and the baby for Adali to monitor. Fortune will spend her days riding, and she cannot get into trouble just riding."

"I see no reason for your father to object," Jasmine decided. "Very well, you may all go up to Queen's Malvern."

"Yaaaaay!" her offspring cheered.

"When?" Fortune pressed.

"Tomorrow, if you can pack yourselves up by then," her mother replied, and Fortune's siblings cheered lustily once again.

"What is this all about?" India demanded to know, coming into the family hall where they were all seated. She was dressed for riding in a deep blue velvet skirt, and a jacket trimmed in silver.

"We are going to Queen's Malvern…" Fortune began.

India shrieked. "Nay! We cannot! I do not want to go up to the country. It is boring, and then before we know it we shall have to return to Scotland. Ohhh! \ shall never see Adrian again!" She turned on her sister. "This is all your doing, Fortune! You are simply jealous because the gentlemen are attracted to me, and not attracted to you and your carroty hair! Ohhh! I hate you! I shall never forgive you! I shall die if I cannot remain with the court!" She flung herself into a chair.

"If you ask me, she should be sent home to Glenkirk right now," muttered Henry Lindley, darkly.

"You are not going to Queen's Malvern, India," her mother said. "I intended to let you remain here with your father and me, but now I wonder if Henry isn't perhaps right. Apologize to your sister this moment! And I was not aware that Viscount Twyford had caught your fancy. He is not at all suitable for a girl of your breeding and wealth."

Henry Lindley quickly shook his head at India, denying any betrayal of her secrets.

"But I like Adrian, Mama. He is charming, and he is very amusing. And he likes me," India finished smugly.

"Has he said so?" Jasmine asked her daughter.

"Gracious, no!" India replied. "But René says it is so."

"Fortune is awaiting your apology," Jasmine said quietly.

India quickly hugged her sister. "I'm sorry," she said. "You know I didn't mean it, Fortune."

"If this is what an interest in men does to a person," Fortune answered, "I hope I shall never seek to attract a gentleman's attention." Then, picking up her skirts, she hurried from the hall, saying as she went, "I have to pack if we are to be ready by the morrow. Come, laddies!"

Her brothers scrambled to their feet and dashed after Fortune.

"Why don't you and Papa go with them?" India said innocently.

Jasmine laughed. "Because you must have a chaperone."

"But I'm seventeen!" India protested.

"Just," her mother reminded her.

"In Grandmother Velvet's day girls younger than I came to court," India grumbled. "I don't understand why I can't stay alone."

"In your grandmother's day, the girls at court your age were either maids-of-honor serving old Queen Bess, married, or in the charge of a parent or older relative, and, like you, seeking husbands of good name, good repute, and suitable fortunes. This is not, however, your grandmother's day. A young woman of good family is properly supervised by her family lest society receive the incorrect impression that she is either not valued, or that her behavior is loose."

"You are sooo old-fashioned," India muttered.

"If I am," her mother replied serenely, "I shall remain so, and until you have left my home for your husband's home, you will obey me. You will also not give me cause to regret that I have allowed you to remain with the court when I should far prefer to go home to Queen's Malvern myself with your sister and brothers. I am quite capable of changing my mind, India. Now, tell me about Viscount Twyford. Does he seek to pay his addresses to you? He really is not suitable, you know."

"Why not?" India was curious as to what her mother had heard.

"His father's family is a respectable one," Jasmine said. "They are Glocestershire people. I am sure you know about his brother, Deverall. It was quite a scandal, and such things do not die."

"Deverall Leigh murdered a rival," India said.

"So it was said, and the fact that he fled England did nothing to erase that impression. Many, however, did not believe it. Deverall Leigh was an honorable young man, but still it was his knife found in the victim's chest, and he ran away. A convenience for his stepmother, and her son, Adrian. No one saw or heard the murder of Lord Jeffers. His serving man was away that night, and there was no one else in the house. And, of course, there was the knife. Deverall Leigh can never return to England without facing the hangman's rope, for there is no one to attest to his innocence, if indeed he is innocent. I had heard that his father had disowned him. What choice did the poor man have? So your friend, Adrian, will one day be the earl of Oxton, and sooner than later if the rumors are to be believed," Jasmine finished.

"But why do you hold Adrian to account for his brother's behavior, Mama? You have said the Leighs are a respectable family," India replied.

"I said his father's family was respectable. His mother, however, is another thing. She is a foreigner. Her family is not the equal of her husband's. She is said to take lovers. Men of low station. Her husband is a broken man. Some say her behavior is as much to blame as the alleged behavior of Deverall Leigh. This young man who has caught your fancy is her son. Raised by her. What kind of man can he be? The acorn, India, does not fall far from the oak. Besides, the Leighs are not a family of wealth, and you have always sought to avoid those young men who were fortune hunters. What makes you think Adrian Leigh is not?"

"Because he is obviously interested in me, Mama! The others were always asking about my lands, and my other holdings, and what kind of income I had from my inheritance. Adrian never asks such things."

"Then possibly he is different, India, but he is still not suitable," Jasmine responded. "Still, as long as his behavior is correct toward you, I see no reason you should not continue to enjoy his company." Better she think I have no violent objection to this young man, Jasmine thought. I do not want to drive her into his arms. He is clever, this Adrian Leigh. He has to know that India is very, very wealthy. It has never been a secret. He is willing to wait, and see just how wealthy she is until he has her securely netted. A dangerous opponent, I fear. Damnation! Why could not the perfect man come along, and sweep India off her feet? Jemmie's mother was right. My daughter is ripe for the taking, and a girl in love for the first time is not always prudent.

James Leslie stood with his wife the following day, waving the majority of their children farewell as they set out with their servants for Queen's Malvern. "I should just as soon go wi them," he said dourly, but he understood the importance of their remaining. Come autumn, though, they would return north whether it pleased India or not. And he agreed with his wife that they would allow India a certain measure of freedom, for nothing was more embarrassing to a young girl than to be obviously overseen.


***

India danced that same evening away, in a magnificent gown of peacock-blue silk with a silver lace collar, the bodice of which was embroidered all over with pearls and diamante. She wore pearls in her dark hair, and her lovelock was tied with a silver ribbon studded with twinkling crystals. About her slender throat was a choker of creamy baroque pearls. She was flushed with pleasure, and her creamy cheeks were rosy.

"You are the most beautiful girl in the entire world," Adrian Leigh told her passionately, his sapphire-blue eyes glittering.

"I know," India replied, and then she laughed at his surprise. "Do you want me to demure, and giggle like some little ninny?" she teased.

"No," he said, surprising her. "I want to steal you away and make love to you for hours on end. Would you like that, my India?"

"As a virgin, I have no idea whether I would like it or not," India replied pertly, "and I am not your India. Even when I am married, I shall belong to no one but myself, Adrian. The women in my family have always been both independent of spirit, and independent in their own wealth. I see no reason to change such a fine custom, do you?"

"I would change nothing about you," he told her fervently. "I adore you just as you are, India." He bent his blond head, and brushed her lips impulsively with his.