Rory pointed, saying as he did, "There is Maguire's Ford below us, and there on the lough, Erne Rock Castle, where I hope, you will want to make your home, Fortune."
"Look in the meadows below, poppet," Jasmine said to her daughter. "See our horses, and look! Sheep. I see the breeding stock we sent from Glenkirk took, Rory."
"Aye, my lady, they did," he replied.
They rode down the hill and into the village. Ahead of them a pack of little boys raced, calling to the villagers in both Irish and in English, "They're coming! They're coming!" People began to appear from out of the cottages and the fields, lining the road to see the absentee landlord of Maguire's Ford, returned after twenty years.
Spotting a familiar face, Jasmine drew her horse to a stop. "Bride Duffy!" She slid from her mount's back and hugged her old friend.
"Cai milk failte! A thousand welcomes," Bride Duffy said, her honest face wreathed in a broad smile. "Welcome back to Maguire's Ford, my lady Jasmine!"
The two women embraced again, and then Jasmine drew Fortune forward. "Here is your goddaughter, Bride Duffy. Make your curtsy, Fortune."
Fortune curtsied before the red-cheeked country woman. "How d'ye do, Mistress Duffy?" Fortune said, and met the woman's gaze with her own. "I am pleased to meet you at long last."
"Bless yer heart, m'lady," Bride replied, "and pleased I am to remake yer acquaintance for you were just a wee babe in nappies when I saw ye last." She hesitated just a brief moment, then hugged the young girl. "Now yer back to where you first saw the light of this harsh world, and come to marry, or so I am told."
"Only if I like him," Fortune said quickly.
Bride Duffy chuckled. "Just like her mam, she is."
"Both my daughters have minds of their own," Jasmine said. "Come, Bride, and meet my husband, James Leslie." She drew her friend over to where the duke now stood, and introduced them.
Finally Rory was able to draw Fortune and the Leslies away so they might see the castle. The coach carrying Adali and Rohana had already gone ahead. Erne Rock Castle was set upon a small headland and surrounded by water on three sides. It was almost three hundred years old. To gain entrance one crossed a drawbridge that lay over a moat, which was actually a part of the lough that had been dug out on the land side, and lined with large stones to keep it from collapsing. With its drawbridge raised, Erne Rock was an invincible fortress, small though it was.
They walked their horses across the drawbridge, and upon entering the courtyard they were greeted by several stable lads who took their mounts. Fortune looked about her in order to get her bearings. There were the stables, and there a gatehouse. The courtyard was paved in large flat stones, and not particularly large. She followed her mother up a small flight of steps. There was a red rosebush at the foot of the stairs, growing up from an open flower bed. Fortune cupped one of the roses in her hand and sniffed appreciatively. Then she hurried after Jasmine.
Inside, Erne Rock Castle was a warm and friendly place. There were stone floors on the main level and beautifully polished wooden floors on the upper level. The Great Hall had two fireplaces alight with bright fires this May afternoon. It was not a large room at all, being no bigger than the family's private hall at Glenkirk, Fortune noted. There was a tapestry depicting St. Patrick driving the snakes from Ireland on one wall. The furniture was of glowing golden oak. There was a paneled and well-stocked library on the main floor as well as a room that Rory used to conduct estate business. The kitchens were located behind and below the Great Hall. On the second floor of the castle there were several bedrooms, each with its own fireplace.
Jasmine opened the door to the large bedchamber, and stepped back so her daughter might look inside. "Here is where you were born," she said softly. "Madame Skye's sister, the doctor nun, Eibhlin, delivered you into this world. You were the hardest of my babies, and were turned about the wrong way. I wagered Mam a gold piece that you were a boy."
"Were you disappointed?" asked Fortune, who had never heard this story before.
"Nay," Jasmine replied. "How could I be? You were a perfect little girl with your grandfather's mole just below your left nostril above your lip. But more important, you were your father's last gift to me, Fortune, and I loved him very much. You, India, and Henry were all I had left of Rowan Lindley, along with some sweet memories. It was the greatest legacy I have ever received."
"What happened to my grand-aunt Eibhlin?" Fortune wondered. "Is she still alive? Could we go and see her?"
Jasmine smiled. "Nay, poppet. Eibhlin O'Malley, God assoil her good soul, died almost two years after you were born." She wiped the tear that had come to her eye for thinking of Eibhlin made her think of her grandmother. Ireland, Jasmine decided, made her sad. Catching herself she said, "This will be your room now, poppet, for it is the chamber belonging to the head of the household."
"I am not the mistress of Erne Rock Castle yet, Mama," Fortune responded. "You and Papa take this room. I want one that overlooks the lough. If I take William Devers for my husband, then after we are wed I shall move into this room, but not now, Mama."
"You are sure?"
"Aye," Fortune replied, and then her look grew distressed. "Will it upset you, Mama, to share a room with Papa that you once shared with my father? Would you prefer to be in another chamber?"
"Nay, poppet," Jasmine told her daughter. "I have happy memories of your father here, but sad ones as well. Perhaps being with my Jemmie will erase those unhappy recollections, and I will come to recall Erne Rock only as a happy place, for you were born here, and will be wed here as well. My grandchildren will be born at Erne Rock."
"Perhaps," Fortune said.
Jasmine took her daughter by the hand, and together they sat upon the chamber's large bed. "Poppet, I have sensed a reluctance in you from the beginning regarding this marriage. It is natural for a maiden to be hesitant when facing her wedding, but I feel it is more than that with you, Fortune. What bothers you, my daughter?"
"You and Papa keep saying that I don't have to wed this William Devers if I do not like him. Yet at the same time you speak as if it is just a matter of time before we meet and are married. I am not you, Mama. I do not want my husband chosen for me. I want to choose my own husband! You have brought me from my home to a strange place, and you expect me to marry a stranger. What if I really don't want to marry William Devers? What will happen to me then?" Fortune's blue-green eyes were troubled.
"If you really do not like this young man," Jasmine answered her, "then that will be the end of it, but what makes you think you won't like him? Is it only because you do not know him? Fortune, it is true that my father, the Mughal, chose my first husband for me. I did not not see Prince Jamal Khan until the hour in which we were wed. My parents chose wisely, however, and I was happy, with him. My grandmother chose your father, although I did know him beforehand; and old King James chose your stepfather, whom I also knew. Sometimes your elders know better, Fortune, but if you truly dislike this young man, you do not have to marry him. Neither Jemmie nor I want you unhappy."
"None of us knows this William Devers," Fortune said darkly.
"My cousin, Father Cullen Butler, knows of him. The Reverend Mr. Steen knows him. They feel he is a most suitable and eligible candidate for your hand, poppet. Perhaps he is, and perhaps he isn't. Only time will tell. We shall see what we shall see," Jasmine told her daughter. "However, since his family has been approached, it is only proper that we give this young man a fair hearing."