Friarsgate Inheritance: Until You Part 12

"Of course, madame. The gown but waited for an owner," Celestina said. "I can have it by tomorrow. Try it on now, and we will see what other alterations need to be done to it. And I have brought a variety of materials for madame's inspection as well."

"I will choose the materials for both the earl and myself," Rosamund said. Then she let Celestina and her helper aid her in getting into the gown and bodice.

Celestina spoke in rapid Italian to her companion, who from the look of her was the seamstress' daughter. "The waist will need to come in, Maria. And she is larger in the bosom than I would have antic.i.p.ated, given her slender stature. The length seems fine. The sleeves will need alteration. This lady is delicately made."

"But she is strong," the earl murmured, and Celestina gave him a broad grin.

"Aye, Patrizio," Celestina said. "Your heart is engaged, my old friend, and it does me good to see you happy again. When you left us, your poor heart was broken. This lady has obviously mended it."

"She has," he admitted.

"What are you speaking about, Patrick?" Rosamund asked. "I do not understand the tongue in which you babble."

"Celestina is more comfortable in the Italian tongue, lovey. She says you have mended my broken heart, and I agree," he told her.

"You flatter me, especially under the circ.u.mstances," she told him.

"I should rather have a year with you, Rosamund," he told her, "than a lifetime with any other woman on the face of this earth. Now, sweetheart, let us decide upon the materials we are going to want."

The pale green gown had been pinned where it needed alteration, and so Rosamund removed it carefully.

Celestina snapped her fingers at Maria, and the girl brought forth a silk garment in the most incredible shade of blue that Rosamund had ever seen. "Wear this instead of that pretty chemise," she said, proffering it.

"What is it?" Rosamund asked.

"The people across the sea here, where they are ruled by the Turkish sultan, wear them. They call them caftans. They even go out into the streets there in them, I am told. I thought it might make a better garment for you indoors than your chemise. Do you like the color? It is the color of the Persian turquoise."

"It's lovely," Rosamund said. "Thank you, Celestina! I shall very much enjoy wearing this . . . caftan."

"And now," the seamstress said, "let us look at the materials I have brought for you and Patrizio, madame. Maria! The samples. Vite! Vite!"

The fabrics were brought, and they were indeed a rich a.s.sortment in wonderful colors. Silks and brocades and lightweight velvets along with delicate cottons and linens.

"How Tom would love all of this," Rosamund said to her lover. "He has such exquisite taste. I can but hope I have learned from him." She fingered a brocade in a rich shade of green. "It would suit me," she noted.

Celestina nodded. "And this sea-blue silk and the russet velvet that matches your lovely hair. Perhaps this cream and gold brocade?"

"It's beautiful," Rosamund agreed, and the seamstress set it aside. "Oh, what a wonderful shade of lavender!"

Patrick watched indulgently as she chose. And then she turned to him and began to seek his advice on the colors he would wear. "I am a gentleman, and so will be less flamboyant," he told her.

The two women gave each other a look and ignored him after that, picking and choosing what they thought was right for the earl's garments. When they had finished, Celestina gave orders to her helper to pack everything up again.

"It but remains for me to measure Patrizio," she said with a wicked smile. "Come, my lord, and let me see how you have grown over the years. You do not look greatly changed, but one can never tell." She took out her tape and began, muttering to herself beneath her breath, making little scratches with her charcoal stick on the tiny piece of parchment she had brought with her. When she had finished, she arose and tucked the notations she had made into the pocket of her skirts. "You are as fine a figure of a man as you ever were," she chuckled. "I shall be back for a fitting tomorrow, and I shall bring the pale green gown with me when I come, madame. Its bodice will be nicely, but simply, embroidered," Celestina promised. Then she turned and was quickly gone from the apartment.

"She moves swiftly for a lady of such girth," Rosamund noted.

He chuckled. "So you are no longer jealous?" he teased her.

"I did not say that, my lord, for her hands were all over you, especially when she measured the length of your legs. I thought she came a bit too close to your manhood, and I thought that you seemed to enjoy it," Rosamund said with a small smile.

"Celestina always had the most clever hands," he remarked, and then, pulling her into his arms, he kissed her soundly. "But you, my darling, seem to be clever all over, and I adore you for it."

"Is there anything that we need to do now, my lord?" Rosamund asked him.

"See that Dermid and Annie have supper on the sideboard when we want it and then disappear so we may be wanton together without fear of being disturbed?"

"Are you suggesting, my lord, that we go back to bed?" she asked him innocently.

"Aye, la.s.s, I am," he replied, a slow smile lighting his eyes. "We have several weeks of loving to make up for, Rosamund, and I am ready to begin."

She smiled back at him. "Then I shall not need this caftan for a while," she said. "Shall I, my lord?"

"Nay, sweetheart. You will not need it for some time to come," he agreed, and taking her hand in his, he led her back into her bedchamber.

Chapter 6.

Sebastian, Duke of San Lorenzo, was a man now closer to sixty than he was to fifty. He was still what would be considered a fine figure of a man, if perhaps a bit portly. His once black hair was now steely gray, but his black eyes were as sharp as they had ever been. He pinned his gaze upon the man he had never again thought to see. They had not parted amicably. How could they have? The Earl of Glenkirk's daughter was to have married his heir, Rudolpho. But then the girl was stolen by slavers. Even if they had gotten her back, and the Blessed Mother knew he had attempted to retrieve Janet Leslie, there could no longer have been a question of her marriage to his son. She would certainly have been despoiled. His negotiations with Toulouse for one of their princesses had been, he thought, secret. But Patrick had known immediately, even before it was confirmed his daughter was lost forever, that her match with Rudolpho di San Lorenzo was no longer a possibility and that the formal betrothal celebrated just a brief few weeks before was annulled and San Lorenzo's duke was seeking another bride for his son. The duke and the Scots amba.s.sador's previously cordial relationship had soured badly. They had parted formally, neither expecting to ever see the other again.

"While I am certainly astounded to see you, Patrick," the duke said, "I welcome you back to San Lorenzo. I can see the years have not been unkind to you."

"I thank you, my lord duke," the earl replied.

"Patrick, my old friend," the duke said jovially. "Surely we may still be friends? Has time not softened the memories?"

"Perhaps yours, Sebastian, but not mine," Patrick responded, but his tone was mild. "Still, here I am in San Lorenzo again."

"And returned with a beautiful lady, I am informed," the duke chuckled. "You were ever a man for the fairer s.e.x, my friend. But why are you here?"

"The lady and I wished to escape the harsh northern winter and the curiosity of King James' court," the earl said.

"Nay, I do not believe that. I have a letter from your king asking me to extend to you every courtesy," the duke answered. "If you were just an ordinary man with his lover, I might accept your explanation, but you are not, Patrick Leslie," the duke said.

"The less you know of the purpose of my visit, Sebastian, the better for you and for San Lorenzo," the earl answered him. "I am here to meet with some people, but it is better that our concourse remain most private."

"So your king has suggested, but he has also said that if I am not content with that explanation you will give me a better one."

Patrick sighed. He did not trust Sebastian di San Lorenzo. Not after what had happened. Still, he had no choice in the matter. To gain the duke's cooperation and goodwill he must tell him the truth. "You know of the Holy League?" he asked.

The duke nodded. "Papal politics in G.o.d's name once more," he said dryly.

The Earl of Glenkirk found himself smiling. He might not trust the Duke of San Lorenzo, but Sebastian had never been a stupid man. "Aye, but it has put my king in a very difficult position."

"Why? James Stewart has always been a favorite of this pope. I believe that Julius even presented him with the Golden Rose for his devotion and piety to Holy Mother Church," the duke countered.

"All that is true," Patrick agreed. "But Scotland is married to England's sister. This match was conceived by King Henry the seventh in order to foster peace between Scotland and England. It has done just that, with only minor border skirmishes over the years. Queen Margaret is devoted to her husband and loyal to Scotland. Now, however, her brother sits on England's throne. He is young, ambitious, envious, and filled with a great sense of his own importance and destiny.

"King James is a man of peace. He has brought much prosperity to Scotland. Prosperity that comes through an absence of war or strife. It has made him a distinguished figure among the other rulers of Europe. And Henry Tudor is very jealous of him. He seeks to destroy what he perceives as Scotland's influence, for England, he believes, is more important. It is not meet in his eyes that Scotland take precedence over him. And he is ruthlessly clever, Sebastian. Make no mistake about it. He will have his way in this. The first step in his plan was to encourage the pope, who has previously had good relations with King Louis, to demand that the French give up their possessions north of the Italian states. You will recall that previously the pope was allied with the French in a campaign against the Venetians in the north of Italy."

"The same Venetians who are now members of the Holy League," the duke murmured. "Ah, the vagaries of mankind."

"And, of course, pious Spain is a part of the league, along with Maximilian and his Holy Roman Empire," the earl said.

"But conspicuously absent is Scotland," the duke noted.

"Aye. Scotland has an alliance with France. It is an auld alliance going back many years. My king is a man of honor, and he can find no reason to break that alliance. So he will not. Henry Tudor is not a man of honor. He has engineered this situation in order to harm my king's good relations with Pope Julius and the Holy See."

"Would your king send troops to France's aid?" the duke asked Patrick.

"Only if absolutely forced into it, if there were no way in which he could eschew it. You know how well a ruler may avoid a situation like this when acting in the best interests of his country, Sebastian."

"So in actuality Scotland would remain neutral," the duke noted.

"Aye, which under any other circ.u.mstance would suit the pope," the earl said.

"Except that the English king is pressing the point and making an issue of it. Us or them. Aye, Patrick. This Henry Tudor is indeed ruthless and clever. Now, tell me why you have come."

"King James hopes that perhaps he might weaken the alliance and in doing so take the attention away from what our nation will or won't do. If the pope must struggle to maintain the allies that he already has, he is unlikely to be overly concerned with Scotland's position as long as it is not overtly hostile towards his league. I am here to meet with two gentlemen. One from Venice and the other from Germany. My king considers them the weaker links. Spain will not be moved because England's queen is Ferdinand's daughter."

"It is a bold idea, but you are not likely to succeed," the duke said.

"King James knows that. But he also knows he will not break the auld alliance, and if he does not, England will use it as an excuse to invade Scotland. This means we must invade them first, a faux invasion, mind you, for we have no interest in conquering England. But we must direct Henry Tudor's attention away from this mischief he is causing between the pope and James Stewart," Patrick replied.

The Duke of San Lorenzo nodded thoughtfully. Then he asked, "Why have they sent you, Patrick?"

"For two reasons. Once I was Scotland's amba.s.sador to San Lorenzo. Its first amba.s.sador. And second, since I returned from here eighteen years ago, I have not left my Highland home at Glenkirk. I am barely known by the court, and it is unlikely that I would be considered a candidate for such a mission as this one. If indeed anyone knew of why I have been sent here. And no one does."

"Not even the lovely lady who accompanies you, my friend?" the duke pried.

"Not even Rosamund," the earl lied facilely. "She is English, and the queen's friend. I didn't want her put between her love for me and her loyalty to Margaret Tudor and England. She departed the court under the excuse of an ill child. It is a.s.sumed I have gone with her, for our pa.s.sion was hardly secret."

"Rosamund," the duke said. "It is a charming name. When am I to meet her?"

"Because we traveled secretly, we came quickly with but one servant apiece, a-horse. We carried only the bare essentials. A wardrobe is now being fashioned for us both, Sebastian. I come before you today in altered secondhand garments. They are neat and serviceable, but hardly what I would normally wear, remembering your most elegant court."

"I should be less splendid in my later years but that my daughter-in-law insists that we keep up appearances," the duke remarked.

"How is Rudolpho?" the earl asked.

"Fat. Content. And the father of ten daughters and two sons. The eldest of my grandsons, Henrico, the firstborn actually, is my heir after his father. The second son, who is only a little lad of five, will go to the church, of course, unless something happens to his brother. It is good they are so far apart in age. Roberto is the youngest. But ten granddaughters! Marone! I do not know if I can find husbands for them all. Some will have to go into the nunnery. And you, Patrick? Has your son wed and given you grandchildren?"

"Aye. Two lads and a la.s.sie," the earl said. "He did not choose a warm wife."

The duke nodded. "Neither did I," he remarked. "But my wife was young and fair, and I was filled with l.u.s.t for her." He chuckled. "It was the same with your son, I a.s.sume."

Patrick nodded. "Aye," was all he said.

"Do you want it known you are in San Lorenzo?" the duke asked his companion. "We have an English amba.s.sador now."

"I know. Richard Howard, I believe," the earl answered.

"Your amba.s.sador told you, of course," the duke said.

"Rosamund saw him in the street as we entered San Lorenzo and recognized him, although she could not remember his name," Patrick replied.

"Your lady is a member of the English court?" The duke was interested now.

"Rosamund spent part of her youth as a ward to King Henry the seventh. That is how she became friends with our queen. They were girls together. But since she was wed, in the same year in which our queen married our king, she has remained home on her estates, which are in the north of England."

"And her husband?" The duke was even more curious.

"She is a widow," the Earl of Glenkirk replied.

"Ahhh," the duke sighed. "A woman of experience as well as beauty. You are indeed a fortunate man, Patrick."

"Our demeanor here will be discreet, Sebastian, as is fitting for a man who has run away with his lover. Let the English amba.s.sador learn of our presence when he learns of it and report it to his master if he thinks it would be of interest to King Henry, but I doubt he will. As I have told you, I am not known to the English or the Scots courts. I am unimportant, as is Rosamund. Hence my value to King James."

"You are remembered here, Patrick," the duke noted.

"If the English amba.s.sador should learn of my former position for Scotland, I will explain it by saying we are here because I thought this a romantic place to bring my lover. Does Lord Howard prefer the English winters? And Scots winters are far worse." He grinned. It suddenly had occurred to Patrick that he was enjoying this adventure, and he had certainly not thought he would.

The duke laughed, seeing his companion's grin. "I believe you like this game that you find yourself playing, Patrick," he chuckled.

The Earl of Glenkirk nodded. "I think I do, Sebastian," he agreed. "It has been a long time since I have enjoyed myself. I am always filled with a sense of my duty, but now I feel like a lad released from his studies. I remember I like the feel of the winter sun on my back and the fragrance of mimosas in February. I have not smelled mimosas since the day I departed San Lorenzo last."

"Were you always this romantic, Patrick, or is it just that you are in love?" the duke teased him.

"I could not tell you, Sebastian," the earl replied. "But, aye, I am in love."

"I look forward to meeting her." Sebastian di San Lorenzo smiled toothily. "Will you marry her?"

"If she will have me," Patrick said, feeling that the wily duke need not be privy to the truth of his relationship with Rosamund. Perhaps the white lie he told would protect her from an attempted seduction. But he would warn her nonetheless of the duke's easily aroused nature.

"Who is doing your wardrobes? Celestina, I a.s.sume," the duke queried.

"Aye."

"I well remember how you stole her from me," the duke said. "Her first daughter is mine, you know. We gave her to the church to expiate our sin," he said with a grin.

"Celestina had a generous nature," Patrick remembered with a smile.

"She still does, but alas I am much too old to please her now. But, still, we remain friends," the duke said. "I will see her girls work quickly so you may attend a small party I am giving in three days. It is to welcome the artist Paolo Loredano, who is coming from Venice. He has decided to spend the winter painting in San Lorenzo. It is a great honor to have him here. I hope to commission him to do our portraits. He is a member of the doge's family, and has studied not only with Gentile Bellini, but his brother, Giovanni, as well. It will be a festive evening, Patrick."