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questions. Just the duke of Glenkirk’s old mother returning to be buried in her native soil. And no one shall ever know where Bothwell’s grave is, Jemmie, for even in Naples there are those who believed those scurrilous tales of witchcraft and magic Cousin Jamie and his Protestants spread about Francis. There are some who come to take soil from his grave, believing it has powers. I must keep a watch there all the time, or they would surely steal his body away to use in their vile rites.”
    “I dinna think I will get you home too soon, Mother,” the duke said, seeking to lighten the moment.
    “No,” she replied with a small laugh. Then she hugged him. “Thank you, Jemmie, for your generosity.”
    “I hae always enjoyed sharing secrets wi you, Mother,” he chuckled. “Only Jasmine shall know besides we two.”
    “Agreed,” she answered him. “I will miss you.”
    “And I you,” he told her. And then the duke of Glenkirk took his mother for a final stroll in his sister’s gardens.

Chapter 2
    “ S uch extravagance!” the countess of Alcester said, in very disapproving tones. She turned to her niece. “You are spoiling the chit, Jasmine, by allowing her to have such a wardrobe. Every fortune hunter at court will descend upon you when India parades herself in this splendor.”
    “Am I so witless, Great-aunt,” India defended herself, “that I cannot separate truth from fiction? I have turned down half a dozen matches in Scotland for the very reason I knew it was my fortune that attracted the gentlemen in question and not me. Fine clothes will do little, if anything, to dull my perception of men.”
    “Your tongue is too quick for a girl of respectable upbringing,” the countess snapped. India was too damned headstrong, even as her mother had been. Even as my mother was, Willow, Lady Edwardes, countess of Alcester, thought irritably. Thank heavens my daughters have all been obedient girls , and my granddaughters, too , although perhaps one or two of them bear watching. “If you will take my advice, Jasmine, although I suspect you will not, you and James will make a good match for India and cease this nonsense and outrageous expense.” Then, heaving her bulk from the chair in which she had been sitting, Lady Edwardes shook out her own dark skirts. “I do not like London anymore,” she grumbled, “and no one should live here at this time of year. It is too warm, and much too damp, but what could we do? We had to come to London to greet the new queen.”
    “I think the queen is very pretty,” India noted.
    “All young girls are pretty,” her great-aunt said, “and this one no more or less than many, but there will be difficulty over her religion, mark my words. And if all those French with her persist in their rude habits, the king will do well to send them away.” She moved toward the door. “I am going back to your uncle’s house now,” she announced. “I will see you all in the morning when we go to court, and I hope, Jasmine, that your daughter will be suitably garbed like a proper young Englishwoman, and not decked out like some foreigner.” The countess of Alcester stamped through the open door, which a servant held for her, her skirts swinging indignantly as she went.
    “Fat old cow!” India muttered when the door had shut again.
    “She has just forgotten what it is like to be young,” Jasmine told her daughter, although personally she agreed with her daughter’s assessment. Aunt Willow had always been prim and proper. It was as if she strove to be entirely and totally different from her own mother, a lady of passion and colorful character. It often made her seem joyless and didactic. “Your great-aunt is correct in one thing, however, India,” Jasmine said. “Tomorrow you will wear one of your less spectacular gowns to court to greet the queen. It would not do to outshine Her Majesty when she is undoubtedly striving to make a good impression upon her new subjects. She will be