Besieged by Bertrice Small Read Free Book Online Page B

its mistress, and the bride-to-be. He was a tall man with fine gray eyes. His deep brown hair was peppered with bits of gray as was his imperial, a small tuft of beard that grew from his round chin. His voice was deep and resonant. “Good day, my lady,” he said, bowing to Jasmine.
    “I am pleased to finally meet with you, Reverend Steen,” Jasmine told him. “Steen. It is an odd name, sir, although I certainly mean no offense to you. Please, sit with me by the fire on this damp day.”
    Samuel Steen accepted her gracious invitation. “The name Steen is from Hainault, my lady. My family, who were master weavers by trade, came to England over three hundred years ago as part of Queen Philippa’s dowry. There were several families of weavers who came. It was our task to set up a commercial weaving industry for England so its wool would not have to be sent abroad to be woven into cloth. We left England some years ago, and went to Holland because we were being persecuted for our religion. Ten years ago we were offered the opportunity to go to England’s colonies in the New World, but alas, our ship, the Speedwell, sprang a leak. We had to put into an English port. We were then offered the chance to come to Ireland, or be returned to Holland. We chose Ireland. By God’s good fortune Master Maguire was on the docks the day we landed. He offered us shelter here at Maguire’s Ford if we would but keep the peace with our Catholic neighbors. How could we not agree? We know persecution far too well. Some of our people, however, could not manage to restrain their prejudice, so we left them behind. We have never regretted the day we came here, my lady.”
    “Nor have I. My cousin, Cullen Butler, has written to me of how you have begun a small weaving industry here in the village, and that you have taught your Catholic neighbors this trade as well. I am very pleased by your initiative, Reverend Steen. And tomorrow I shall see if you are a good judge of bridegrooms,” Jasmine smiled.
    “I have seen the young lady riding with Master Maguire. She is a pretty child. Young William will make her a fine husband,” he responded, returning the smile.
    “If they suit,” Jasmine replied. “I am a modern parent, and will not force my daughter into an unhappy alliance, Samuel Steen.”
    He looked a trifle startled, but the Protestant minister said nothing. He was certain that the young couple would like each other. Besides, in the end all the parents would have their way, and the marriage would be celebrated. “Your daughter is a Protestant?” he inquired.
    “She was born here at Maguire’s Ford, the posthumous child of my second husband, and she was baptized by my cousin. However, she has been raised in England’s church,” Jasmine explained.
    “Perhaps I should baptize her a Protestant,” he suggested. “Sir Shane and his wife are very strict, and may be upset by this knowledge, my lady. I mean no offense, you understand.”
    “One baptism is quite enough for any good Christian, Samuel Steen,” Jasmine told him. “If the fact my daughter was baptized a Catholic distresses them then perhaps their son is not for Lady Fortune. My daughter is, after all, a great heiress. She can have her pick of husbands. It does not have to be William Devers. It is providential that Fortune considers him at all.” She smiled sweetly at the minister.
    She was a strong-willed woman, the minister thought, but he was not in the least put off by it. He hoped her daughter was as strong, for Fortune Lindley’s future mother-in-law, Lady Jane Anne Devers, was as tenacious as the duchess of Glenkirk. She was an uncompromising Protestant who had already spoken to him about removing the Catholics from Maguire’s Ford when her son became its master. Young William, of course, was more flexible, and if the young couple made Erne Rock their permanent home, he would be under his wife’s influence rather than that of his mother, which Samuel Steen