"Good. Go and see if he"s through. Then ye may go to bed. See that the Kira boy is fed and given food for his journey in the morning. Have Hugh tell him posting stations tonight and see Aaron is brought to me at dawn."
"What have ye written to my lord Suleiman?"
That I forbid any formality between him and Khurrem."
"Will he listen?"
"I pray to G.o.d he will!"
"I also. Good night, madame."
"Good night, Marian."
45.
THE KING was coming to Sithean. He had sent word that he would return to Edinburgh from his highland progress via the Leslie lands. Anne was furious he was not staying at Glenkirk. was coming to Sithean. He had sent word that he would return to Edinburgh from his highland progress via the Leslie lands. Anne was furious he was not staying at Glenkirk.
"Undoubtedly the countess"s reputation as a hostess has been bruited about to his majesty," laughed Lord Hay.
"Possibly," said Janet, "but I rather fancy our Jamie comes to see me. He made me a very flattering offer when we met at court A l.u.s.ty c.o.c.k is our wee king!"
"He"s also a rapacious little b.a.s.t.a.r.d when it comes to money," said Colin. "His greed is unbelievable. He adds to his wealth by seizure and forfeiture of his n.o.bles" lands. His l.u.s.t for money is like his English grandfather"s, Henry VII. He"s already ruined the earls of Bothwell, Morton, and Crawford, as well as others I could name. The Douglases have suffered worse, though they deserve it I pity our Jamie should war break out He"s made so many enemies among his own, that there would be none to fight for him."
"Would you, my lord?"
"Only if the country were invaded. Unlike the more prominent members of my family, I hae no wish to be involved wi" the Stewarts."
Janet smiled. "Neither do I, toy love. I simply wish to live quietly in my own little world."
"If that be the case, sweetheart ye hae best not let Jamie guess at yer wealth, or ye"ll be back in yer tower at Glenkirk under the vigilant eye of my lady Anne."
"Come to bed, my lord." She shrugged her robe off and stood facing him, her lovely b.r.e.a.s.t.s full and pointed in the firelight.
"Jesu, if Jamie could see what I see, my head wouldna be long on my shoulders!"
"Flatterer!" She climbed into their bed, and he joined her. "Remind me to pick a pretty bunch of extra housemaids tomorrow so his majesty may be diverted. Hae ye anything nice on yer estate?"
"My dear, I couldna tell ye. The one condition ye made to becoming my mistress was that I shouldha no other women. I value ye too highly to jeopardize our arrangement"
"Why, Colly, "I"m touched; however, I simply said I didna want ye sleeping wi" another woman. Ye may look all ye like."
His eyes twinkled "In that case Gilbert tells me that there are two girls, sisters I believe, who are worthy of mention. I"ll have them sent over."
James V, king of Scotland and the Isles, arrived at Sithean on the fifteenth of November. It had been a long and warm autumn, and the trees were still full with their gold and scarlet leaves, a fitting frame for the small gray stone castle, set on its green island in the little blue loch. The lady of Sithean greeted her liege, who was accompanied only by Lord Gordon, the earl of Huntley, and half a dozen retainers. Noting Janet"s astonishment at the small size of his party, the king smiled and said "I dinna wish to impose on yer hospitality, Lady Leslie. I hae sent the better part of my people on to Huntley"s castle. d.a.m.ned nuisance, anyhow!"
Janet laughed. "My lord the king is always welcome at Sithean with or without his retinue. Come in now, my lord and I shall show ye my little home."
As they entered Janet explained that the castle was built in the shape of an H and that her son, Charles and his family lived in this, the East Wing, and she lived in the West Wing.
"I have put ye and Lord Gordon in the West Wing, sir. I thought perhaps the children in the East Wing would disturb yer majesty."
"How many children, madame?"
"Well, there are my grandsons-Patrick, who"s almost three, and his brother, Charles, who"s a year and a half. Then there"s my nephew"s son, Wee Patrick, he"s the same age as little Charles, and his baby sister, Mary, who is but five months. And my daughter-in-law is breeding again, and my younger waiting woman"s just been churched of her first child, a lovely boy." She paused for breath, and the king laughed.
"Faith, madame, ye present me a most domesticated picture."
Leading him into the main anteroom in the East Wing she presented the king and Huntley to Adam, Anne, Ian, Jane, Charles, and Fiona.
"We hae," said the earl of Glenkirk, "arranged a hunt for ye tomorrow, sire. Stag!"
The young king was pleased, and his mellow mood lasted throughout the evening. Dinner was a simple family affair; tomorrow would be time enough for the neighboring gentry to descend on Sithean. Afterwards James was escorted to his apartments, and Lord Gordon to his. Janet had warned Colin to stay away during the two nights the king was at Sithean. Janet wanted no scandal in her house when the king was there.
It was therefore with some surprise that she noted her chamber door opening to admit the king. She sprang from her bed. "My liege! Is aught amiss?"
James smiled charmingly. "My bed is cold."
"But I a.s.signed several pretty la.s.ses to prepare yer majesty"s rooms," she said severely.
"They dinna suit." His amber eyes flicked over her scantily clad body.
"I must again remind ye, my liege, that I am old enough to be yer mother."
"Yet ye fie wi" Lord Hay."
Surprised at his intelligence, she nevertheless coolly replied, "Lord Hay is my contemporary."
"Is it the same as when ye were young?"
She swallowed hard. "Aye." Then catching his thought, she bit back her laughter.
"Then G.o.d"s nightgown, madame! If ye lie wi" Lord Hay, and "tis the same as it ever was, why will ye nae lie wi" me?"
"Because, sir, I am no wanton. I dinna lie wi" boys, and when I take a lover I prefer to do my own choosing."
"I never thought ye were the wanton, my dear. Ye keep telling me ye could be my mother, yet ye are not my mother. From the moment I first saw ye at court seven months ago, I wished to sleep wi" ye. Why do ye think I broke my journey at Sithean? Now, madame, I have had enough talk, and I am cold Get into bed!"
She dared not disobey. Blowing out the bedside candle, the king took Janet in his arms. Stripping the sheer robe off her, James fondled her ripe b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Murmuring happily, the king buried his face in her body. She lay quietly neither encouraging, nor discouraging him. Forcing his knee between her legs he spread them wide, and mounting the body beneath him, he thrust up her.
She tried very hard not to respond, but her body betrayed her, and she moved smoothly under him in perfect rhythm. Sighing contentedly he sought his release, and finding it, he rolled off her and immediately fell asleep. There was nothing else for her to do but fall asleep also. When she awoke the following morning, the king was gone from her bed.
That morning after a ma.s.s celebrating the feast of Saint Margaret, they hunted stag in the hills around the loch. The king behaved courteously towards her as he had previously. That night she gave a banquet for the neighboring families of rank. Lord Hay was among them. Afterwards there was dancing, and leading her through a figure Colin asked "Tonight?"
"Nay, hinny! He goes tomorrow. Tomorrow night, my love!"
And after all was quiet that night James appeared again in her rooms, took his pleasure, and slept Janet didn"t know whether to be glad or sad that she had forbade Lord Hay to visit The following morning the king took her a final time, and then departed.
As they stood in the main hall of the East Wing, James smiled and said, "Lady Leslie. Ye hae given forty years of yer life, and more, to Scotland I canna let such devotion go unrewarded. Sithean is far too lovely for a mere "Sir" Charles Leslie. I am therefore creating yer son earl of Sithean, and ye madame," his eyes twinkled at her, "will be known as the dowager countess of Sithean."
Kneeling, she kissed his hand "My lord once again ye hae rendered me speechless."
He nodded graciously and raising her up said softly, "Were I ten years older, the master of Grayhaven would nae have a chance!" In a louder voice, "Farewell, madame! We hope to see ye at court again some day."
After the king had left, Janet went to her own apartments and indulged herself in a long and lovely bath in her Turkish bathroom Lying on the marble bathbench, the steam hissing on the stones, she thought how fortunate it was that she was not of childbearing age. Then she thought of her warning to Lord Hay concerning other women. Suddenly the incongruity of the situation hit her, and she began to laugh.
Dearest Colly, she thought I shall nae tell ye of the two nights James Stewart spent in my bed. Not only would it hurt ye, my love, but ye"de nae believe that despite the fact the Stewarts have a reputation for being supurb lovers, our Jamie performs in a rather dull and perfunctory manner.
When Lord Hay arrived that night his mistress greeted him affectionately.
"Were ye ten years younger, sweetheart, I might suspect ye. What on earth did ye do to get Charles an earldom?"
"Spent forty years in a Turkish harem" she laughed.
"Witch!" He tumbled her onto the bed and kissed her soundly.
"His majesty said that I had given forty years to my country. I suppose he meant that had his father not sent mine as his amba.s.sador to San Lorenzo, I should have remained home and not been kidnapped and sold as a slave. When ye think of it Colly, the royal Stewarts did owe me something."
"Were they bad, those years away, my hinny?"
"No, Colly. There wasna a bad year in all the forty, except when my husband died. And that my love, is all I"ll say about it"
The following morning the weather turned from unusually warm, to wet and cold. Within a few days the colorful trees were stripped bare. Janet organized an expedition of children from the village to go nutting, for she suspected it would be another long and cold winter. She was a good liegelady and took care of her people. The barns at the castle were full with provisions-wheat, rye, and oat flours; salted and smoked meats and fish; edible roots and apples; sugar; and dried peaches, pears, plums and raisins. Days had been set aside in season for the village women to make their preserves, comfits, cordials and soaps. Those who went without did so due to their own laziness. No one, however, on Sithean lands would go hungry. The food would be given as needed monthly. Milk was given daily, and each family owned several chickens thanks to their lady"s generosity.
The countess of Glenkirk remonstrated with her husband"s sister, the dowager countess of Sithean, for what she called "foolish wastefulness." Janet laughed to herself. Anne was like so many of the old n.o.bles. She did not understand that well-fed decently housed and clothed peasants worked better than half-starved half-frozen wretches. Hunger and cold bred despair, rebellion, and physical weakness that was called laziness by both the church and the rich. Janet had no patience with this kind of att.i.tude but kept silent and went her own way. If her family grew rich, it was because of her clever management and her policy of putting out her own effort as example to the peasants, a lesson she had learned from the Ottoman.
At New Year"s, Lord Hay presented his mistress with a heavy gold ring set with rubies and a golden brown velvet cloak lined in dark brown sable. On Candlemas he became a grandfather for the first time when his eldest son"s wife bore a son to be called James. On March sixth Janet became a grandmother for the twelfth time when Fiona presented Charles with a third son, Andrew.
In mid-spring word came at last from Istanbul. Young Aaron Kira had personally taken Janet"s message, going a shorter, albeit more dangerous way. Normally one would sail from Leith down into the English Channel, across the Bay of Biscay, through the straits of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean. The ship would then sail through the Mediterranean, the Aegean, the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmora, and into the Bosporus to Istanbul.
Instead this brave and resourceful youth had shipped out on a Kira-owned vessel for the Baltic port of Hamburg. In Hamburg he had bought a smaller boat and recruited some half a dozen young and adventurous Germanic Kira cousins to help him. They had sailed along the Baltic coast to the mouth of the Vistula River and then up the Vistula to its headwaters. Here he left five of the boys and the boat awaiting his return, taking only one cousin, Moishe. Buying horses in a nearby Cossack village, the boys rode to Gran, They were now safe in Suleiman"s empire, and here the Kiras had a network of posting houses to supply horses to their messengers. Within a few short weeks Aaron Kira and his wide-eyed cousin arrived safely in Istanbul.
Esther was astounded to see her nephew so soon, but when she read Janet"s message she understood. Enlisting the aid of Janet"s dearest friend, Firousi, she waited until she knew-thanks to her own spies-that Khurrem Kadin would be unavailable to Suleiman. The sultan was then invited to his aunt"s for a family evening, to see his half-sister and their children. Unsuspecting he went and after a time was discreetly hustled into a private room by Firousi. There he found Esther Kira who made him obeisance, and then without speaking a word handed him the letter. He broke the seal, little knowing that Esther, at his mother"s command, had already read the letter, and reseated it She watched as his face went from white to red, then white again.
"I must destroy the letter when you are sure you"re through, my lord sultan."
"Why?"
"Because the sultan valideh Cyra Hafise is dead, my lord."
"Do you know what is in this letter, Esther?"
"Yes, my lord Suleiman. Your mother wrote me, also."
"I have already married Khurrem"
"I know, my lord."
He didn"t seem surprised. Esther Kira, like his mother, had her ways of knowing things. "What shall I do, Esther? If mother heard rumors that I might marry Khurrem what will happen when she knows I have?"
"You married Khurrem in secret my lord. Divorce her the same way."
"Two months ago I stood before an old mufti and wed with her. The old man died shortly afterwards. There are no witnesses to our marriage. I cannot divorce her without a witness."
"I will be your witness, my lord. If I stand behind a curtain she need not know who it is; yet I can write your mother with truth."
"Khurrem will be so angry with me, Esther. She has nagged and nagged at me for months to marry her."
"Of course she will be angry, my lord. You should not have given in to her. If she complains, you must remember you are sultan! Besides, would you raise her above your mother?"
Several days later Sultan Suleiman, known in the Christian West as "the Magnificent," stood in a hidden kiosk deep within the gardens of the Eski Serai and said to his wife of just two months, "I divorce thee. I divorce thee. I divorce thee."
For a moment she stared horrified at him, then laughed.
"My lord, you must not frighten me again that way."
"It is no game, Khurrem. I have divorced you."
"You cannot without a witness!" she gasped "There was one. Behind the tapestry, now gone through the door back there. If need be, this witness can be brought forth,"
"Why, my lord? Why? I thought you loved me!"
"I do, my dove, but I cannot raise you above my mother, the late valideh."
"Sultan Selim never loved your mother as you love me! He could not have! He had four kadins, and G.o.d knows how many other concubines."
"My father held my mother above all women, and not simply because she gave him four sons. Zuleika gave him as many. He recognized her greatness as I did I married you to stop your nagging. I divorce you because I have come to my senses. If you speak one more word to me on the subject, woman, I will have you sewn into a sack and dropped into the sea! Get down on your knees and thank Allah that I have made you my second kadin!"
Suleiman then stormed from the kiosk leaving a very frightened Khurrem, He was usually so manageable. The only time he ever showed any s.p.u.n.k towards her had been after his mother, Allah curse her, had spoken with him. Now the old b.i.t.c.h reached out from the grave to her! Perhaps Suleiman had some spine after all. Khurrem shrugged her shoulders. You could live with a man for years and not really know him. Oh well, she would simply be more careful in the future. Besides, Suleiman had been kind enough to divorce her privately. The rumors were thick that they had married She had seen to that Who need ever know that they were not married? The witness, whoever it was, would say nothing unless called upon by the sultan. She was safe, and no one would ever know the truth.
That very day Aaron Kira and his cousin, Moishe, began their return journey to the headwaters of the Vistula, to Hamburg, to Scotland, to Sithean.
46.