The Kadin - Bertrice Small [185]
“Walk down two flights, my lord Take the door to yer left on the second landing.”
He raised her hand to his lips, and turning it quickly kissed the palm. Pushing him through the door, she closed it behind him. Turning to Marian she said, “You may tell the lady Anne that I will receive her now.”
43
AUTUMN DEEPENED, and the trees turned glorious shades of yellow, gold, scarlet, russet, and brown. The crisp, short days turned into long, chill nights. Janet had promised each workman a bushel of white flour and a fattened pig if her house was finished by Saint Margaret’s Eve. It was, and after mass on Saint Margaret’s Day she personally presented each workman with his bonus. To it she added a gold piece, and the foreman found himself richer by five gold pieces. The master builder was astounded and delighted to find that he, too, was included in the festivities.
His bill, presented with much ceremony, was paid on the spot, and in full. His delight was somewhat tempered when his satisfied client insisted on waiting while he paid off his men. The workmen chuckled with delight for had the Lady Janet not pressed the matter, they might not have been paid. Now their families would be safe over the long winter.
Sithean was to be dedicated on November thirtieth, Saint Andrew’s Day. During the next two weeks the house would be furnished and the servants hired. Anne claimed that her sister would have great difficulty hiring servants as the Leslie peasants were lazy and did not want to work. However, this was not the case. The people flocked to Janet, and within a day her servants’ hall was full. Lady Leslie was known to be a fair employer who paid the yearly wage on hiring and at Michaelmas thereafter. Her servants’ quarters, according to the workmen’s gossip, would be warm and dry for there were fireplaces everywhere.
A week before Janet was due to move into her house she asked her son to visit with her after the dinner hour. The fire burnt high in her bedchamber fireplace. She prepared coffee Turkish fashion for them both.
As they sat and sipped the sweet, thick coffee, Charles said, “You’ve never told me why you came home. You’ve been here six months, and you’ve never said a word to me.”
“Thanks to my meddling, your brother took a second wife—Khurrem—the Laughing One.’ She was the one I had chosen to lure him from Gulbehar. Suleiman, however, seems to have an unfortunate tendency towards monogomy. He simply switched his allegiance from a passive kitten to an ambitious tiger cat Khurrem presented your brother with three sons and a daughter. Gulbehar is now exiled to Magnesia where yer nephew, Prince Mustafa, governs for his father. When yer uncle Adam arrived in Istanbul seeking me I took it as a sign and staged my death so I might return home. It had reached the point where either I must go, or I must dispose of Khurrem. Twice in the last year she tried to poison me. Suleiman adores her, and I could not have hurt him. So I chose to come home to Scotland”
“I would have had the girl bowstringed” said Charles grimly.
“Ahhh,” smiled Janet “There speaks the Turk! You are yer father’s son, Prince Karim.”
“I was only six when ye sent me away, mother, but I forgot nothing. As a child I whispered my memories like a litany in the dark of night Tell me. Are my aunts Firousi and Sarina still alive?”
“Yes. They live with the twins and their families. Sarina is raising her grandson, Suleiman.”
“And my father? How did he die? We only heard that the Grand Turk Selim was dead There was much rejoicing and masses of thanksgiving until Suleiman showed his teeth and attacked Belgrade.”
“He died of the cancer that had been eating at his belly all those years. He was on campaign.”
“I’ll pray for him, mother.”
“Then there will be two of us. I pray for him each day.”
“And yet ye’ve taken a lover.”
For an instant her eyes blazed green fire at him. Then she laughed softly. “Yer shocked aren’t ye, my son? How typically Turkish. Yer Aunt Anne is firmly convinced that the peoples of the East are evil, debauched creatures. How surprised