Besieged by Bertrice Small Read Free Book Online Page A

would not fuss with Fortune. If you do you will only make her dig her heels in harder. If she and William Devers do not suit it will be unfortunate, but hardly the end of the world, my darling.” Jasmine laughed. “There is a man out there in the world who is just right for Fortune, and she will find him in her good time. Of that I am certain.”
    “Yer beginning to sound more like yer grandmother every day,” James Leslie grumbled. “In this day and age a maid must have a husband. We’ve found her a perfectly respectable young man from a good family, who, I am told, is handsome and well formed; and who is to have a respectable inheritance one day. She’s lucky the lad will consider someone as old as she is. Twenty is practically past time to wed.”
    “Bridal nerves,” Cullen Butler assured the duke. “Once she meets with young William she will be reassured, my lord. I guarantee it.”
    “Rory?” James Leslie looked to the estate manager for some sort of confirmation and reassurance.
    “I’ve heard nothing bad about him, my lord. His mother rules the roost up in Lisnaskea, I’m told, but the young couple will be living here at Erne Rock. He’s a fine lad, they say, although I prefer his elder brother myself,” Rory Maguire told the duke.
    “Elder brother? I was told this William Devers is his father’s heir. If he has an elder brother, how can this be?”
    “The older brother has been disinherited, my lord,” Rory said.
    “Why?”
    “He is a Catholic, my lord,” came the explanation.
    “How awful!” Jasmine exclaimed.
    “ ’Tis the world in which we live,” the duke said darkly. “That such a thing should be allowed in our time, and yet it is.”
    “Even here in Ireland, and especially here in Ulster,” the priest said quietly, “we are discriminated against and hounded. The penalties are the same here as in England. Catholics cannot hold public office except in the House of Lords.”
    “But that is because they cannot in good conscience take the oath of supremacy to the king for they cannot acknowledge him as head of the church in England,” Jasmine put in.
    “Mass cannot be heard in public, nor can anyone harbor priests,” Cullen Butler quickly countered. “Do you not pay the fines to the crown for us here in Maguire’s Ford? We would be driven away otherwise. I make certain my people attend Reverend Steen’s services several times a month to ease suspicions that we are a nest of traitors here. Failure to take communion on important feast days is subject to a fine of twenty pounds. Three such offences are considered treason.”
    “You know the reason for that,” Jasmine spoke up. “Grandmama herself was in Paris with Grandfather Adam in 1572 when the St. Bartholomew’s massacre occured. Pope Gregory XIII openly rejoiced in Rome when he learned of it, and held a public procession of priests and cardinals to celebrate the death of those poor Protestants. Why, he publicly encouraged the murder of good Queen Bess. He even offered absolution in advance to anyone who would assassinate her. Then in 1605 a group of foolish English Catholics plotted to blow up the Houses of Parliament while old King James was speaking. Still, I do not believe that the Catholics should be so penalized and persecuted for the sins of a few fanatics,” Jasmine concluded.
    “In that, Cousin,” the priest chuckled, “I concur, and I know I speak for my whole flock when I say, thank you.”

    The next few days were quiet ones as Jasmine, James, and Fortune recovered from their journey from Scotland. Fortune explored the estate alone and with Rory Maguire. There would be no changes, she quickly decided, at Maguire’s Ford for she liked the Irishman and the way he managed the estate. They seemed to have a great deal in common, particularly their love of the horses. It seemed to her as if they had known each other their whole lives.
    On Monday morning the Reverend Mr. Samuel Steen arrived at Erne Rock to greet