The Fairbairn Girls (27 page)

‘Come inside; my sister is looking forward to meeting you.’

At that moment a middle-aged woman with the same dark, intelligent eyes as her brother stepped forward, and Laura had the distinct feeling she was being examined from top to toe.

‘How do you do? I’m Rowena Marshall and I’m so glad you could come and stay.’ Her tone was brisk and businesslike. ‘This is Neil, my nephew.’

A small, dark-haired boy in a white sailor suit stepped dutifully forward. His expression was sour.

‘Hello, Neil,’ Laura said, smiling encouragingly.

‘Say how-do-you-do-Lady-Laura,’ his aunt prompted sharply.

Neil mumbled something and extended a small, limp white hand which she held gently for a moment.

‘I’ve been longing to meet you, Neil. I’ve heard so much about you from your father,’ she continued, bending down to his level.

Neil continued to stare down at the carpet and remained mute.

‘He’s shy,’ Walter remarked jovially. ‘I was the same at his age. Let’s all go into the garden and have a cool drink before luncheon.’

Rowena led the way and Laura followed, taking off her gloves and opening her travelling cloak as she did so.

‘Allow me,’ Walter said, taking her things and handing them to a waiting butler.

Stepping through French windows, Laura found herself on a large lawn that stretched away to trees down one side and a tennis court on the other.

‘Let’s sit in the shade,’ Rowena suggested, but as soon as they were settled in wicker chairs under a Cedar of Lebanon tree that spread out its great horizontal evergreen arms, she murmured something about checking with Cook to make sure luncheon would be ready at one o’clock. Neil immediately followed her.

‘It’s so wonderful to see you here,’ Walter said as he poured her a glass of chilled elderflower cordial. ‘I’ve been longing to show you the house.’

Laura smiled, feeling comfortable and relaxed. ‘It’s lovely to be here. Have you lived here for a long time?’

‘It used to belong to my parents. My two sisters and I were born here so we’re quite attached to the old place.’

‘How wonderful that you were able to keep it on.’

Walter looked at her sympathetically. ‘Is your family really going to give up Lochlee?’

‘I don’t think we have any alternative.’ Her expression was sad.

‘You’ll continue to live in Edinburgh, will you?’

She nodded. ‘That’s where my work is and that’s where I’ll remain.’

‘Won’t you miss the countryside?’

‘Of course, but I can always stay with Diana, who is quite near or Georgie, who recently married a man who lives in Northumberland.’

Walter looked at her in silence, as if wondering what he dared say next. She knew what he was thinking and so she added in a casual voice, ‘I also have some friends with whom I can spend a few days relaxing or going for walks on the moors.’

His eyes lit up. ‘I hope you’ll look upon this as a place you can visit as often as you like.’

Laura couldn’t help being amused by his careful and very proper approach to wooing her. Rory had been much more impetuous and outspoken, declaring his feelings for her almost immediately. The difference was Rory had been only twenty-two at the time. Walter, she guessed, was in his late forties.

‘I’ll come as often as you ask me to see you, not the house particularly,’ she told him gaily. ‘I see you’ve got a tennis court? Can we have a game after luncheon? I’m probably very rusty as I haven’t played for ages but it’s one of my favourite things.’

Walter started to relax from that moment on and the next two days flew past as Laura realized this was more than just having a romance with an attractive man. As far as Rowena was concerned, Laura felt she was being sized up to see if she would make a suitable wife for Walter and an exemplary stepmother for Neil.

Laura was grateful for the moments she and Walter had on their own because now that her fantasies looked as if they were turning into reality she needed to find out if she really cared enough for Walter to step into his dead wife’s shoes, with all that it would entail. She and Priscilla were very different in every way; would she fit into Walter’s life? He was so different to her own father, who cared only for his dogs and horses. He forgot his children’s birthdays and had sometimes even forgotten their names, while he lavished his love and devotion on his animals. To find a man who cared so much as Walter obviously did for Neil was a revelation. She also had to remember that she would be moving into another woman’s house and from the fussy way it was decorated it looked much more like the handiwork of Priscilla than it did of Walter.

‘You’re a wonderful father, Walter,’ she told him frankly as they sat talking on the Sunday evening after the little boy had gone to bed. This was a side of him she found deeply touching and attractive. ‘Neil is a lucky little boy,’ she continued. ‘I believe my Papa only married and had children to secure an heir for Lochlee. Imagine the irony of it? Nine girls and only two boys, and both of them dead in their early twenties. He’d probably have had a much happier life if there’d been no title and no inheritance, and he could have worked as a simple gamekeeper.’

Walter nodded thoughtfully. ‘Those who envy the very rich and exalted don’t realize what a heavy burden it can sometimes be. I’m sure your father really loved you all but the responsibility of owning a place like Lochlee must have weighed heavily on him. Why people seem to love their animals is because dogs and horses can’t talk. They can’t nag and ask questions or make demands.’

Laura raised her eyebrows. ‘Is that what people do?’ she asked quizzically.

Walter blushed, then grinned. ‘Some people.’

‘Women in particular?’ she queried, smiling.

He laughed outright. ‘You’re very astute, aren’t you?’

‘I’d better not be too astute or you’ll never invite me here again,’ she quipped spiritedly.

He instantly reached for her hand and held it tightly. ‘Intelligent conversation is wonderful. Foolish prattling can become wearing,’ he said, suddenly looking serious. ‘You’re not given to chattering inanities and frivolous nonsense.’

He’s thinking of Priscilla
, she thought, remembering how, from the moment Priscilla Leighton-Harvey had arrived to order an outfit, she’d talked non-stop about nothing in particular until the moment she left. It had driven her and Helen mad.

Laura squeezed his hand and wished he’d take her in his arms. ‘Men can talk balderdash, too,’ she informed him playfully.

‘Can they indeed?’ Then he suddenly leaned forward and kissed her.

A moment later she slid her arms around his neck and at once felt that this was where she belonged. As he drew her closer she closed her eyes, all doubts swept away.

This was the man she’d marry and live with for the rest of her life. She’d really known it from the moment they’d met at Diana’s wedding and it felt right as she lay in his arms.

As if he knew what she was thinking he drew back and looked down into her eyes. ‘I fell in love with you the moment we met, you know,’ he said with sudden passion. ‘I want you in my life now, Laura, more than I’ve ever wanted anything.’

They were the words she wanted to hear and they’d been a long time in coming. ‘That’s all I want, too,’ she whispered, hardly able to believe her good fortune.

Lizzie and Humphrey persuaded Lady Rothbury and the rest of the family that if they had to leave Lochlee Castle they must do so with a memorable ball, the likes of which hadn’t been seen in the county for half a century.

‘We’ll all pitch in, won’t we?’ Humphrey asked his brothers-in-law. Robert, Andrew, Shane and Laura’s new husband, Walter, all agreed. It would be a splendid affair with pipers and fiddlers, fireworks and flowing wine. The castle would be filled to capacity with all of Lady Rothbury’s children and grandchildren, the eldest of which would be allowed to stay up until late. Hundreds of guests would also be invited to bear witness to what was the end of a noble era.

They’d dance Highland reels all night and forget that the valuable portraits of past generations would in future be looking down on strangers. The family would also use the best silver for the very last time before it was sent to be auctioned. The reception rooms were already half-empty; not so that guests had the space in which to dance but because the best pieces had already been carted off to the sale rooms.

Three days after the ball the new owners, an American railroad millionaire and his family, would take possession and try and pass off the family portraits as their own ancestors, whilst vulgarizing the castle with extravagant drapes and French furniture. None of the family wanted to think about that now. This was the last time they’d all be together in the family seat and they all wanted it to be a happy, unforgettable occasion, although they knew many secret tears would also be shed on both sides of the green baize door. Only those who toiled on the land were happy because Lochlee’s new owner had also managed to buy back the surrounding acres, providing employment for everyone in the neighbourhood. Henry’s dream come true, in fact, but under the auspices of another family.

Laura found that Henry was very much on her mind when she arrived a few days before the ball with Walter and a nanny to look after their six-week-old baby, Caroline and little Neil.

‘All this makes me feel that Henry’s really gone for ever,’ she said as they walked around the echoing rooms.

Walter slipped his arm around her waist. ‘It’s strange how things work out, isn’t it?’ he said, looking around. ‘Who would have thought the day we first met that Lochlee would no longer belong to your family? I imagine you thought there would be Fairbairns living here for the next five hundred years?’

‘We all took it for granted that Henry would marry and have at least one son and that Mama would live in the west wing for ever, and we’d all come home for Hogmanay.’ Her voice broke. ‘It really hurts to realize that after these next few days none of us will ever come back.’

Walter held her close. ‘Alas, nothing is for ever,’ he said sadly. ‘But you have a new home now, my darling, and I promise Lasswade Hall will be yours for ever and ever.’

‘I know it will and I’m so thankful. It’s a beautiful house and I feel so safe when I’m at home.’

Walter quickly averted his eyes. ‘And so you should be,’ he replied stoutly.

Laura’s sisters may have been opposed to her marrying Walter because she hardly knew him; they may have begged her to wait because she knew nothing about him, but she had refused to listen to their disquiet and now she was thankful she’d gone ahead and married him. They’d slipped away for a quiet wedding on what was the happiest day of her life, and then he’d taken her to Paris for their honeymoon.

Laura had never realized such happiness existed. To add to her joy she’d become pregnant almost immediately and now she had Caroline.

She knew that even to this day they weren’t sure he would make her happy. She’d known all along, though, that Walter was the right man. Yet she could tell by the careful way they looked at her that they wanted to be sure she was all right. It was because they cared for her; she knew that. They feared she’d seized the chance of getting married before it was too late; she knew that, too. It might take time but one day they’d all realize she’d married the most marvellous man.

‘What are you two talking about?’ asked Beattie, coming down the stairs with Andrew. In her arms she carried her small son, named after Henry. ‘Isn’t it strange us all being back together? I’ve just been talking to Di and she says it seems like years since she left here.’

‘It
is
years since she left here!’ remarked Georgie, joining them in the hall. She patted her heavily pregnant stomach with pride. ‘None of our children are going to believe we were all born and brought up in a castle. At least mine aren’t! Surrounded by the constant smell of ale they’ll think they were born in a brewery!’ she added, laughing loudly. These days she almost boasted about living in a house attached to one of Shane’s pubs, as if it was much smarter than anything she’d previously been used to.

Diana in particular had found this extremely amusing. ‘She practically apologizes for being titled these days, and mocks the way the rest of us live,’ she whispered to Laura.

Robert came in through the front entrance of the castle at that moment. ‘What’s this? A mother’s meting?’ he remarked jokingly. Then he looked around. ‘Where are the other chaps?’ He dropped his voice. ‘We’ve got things to discuss and I want to tidy up some loose ends before the ball, as we’re all heading back home the next morning.’

Laura and Diana looked at each other and their expressions were momentarily bleak. They didn’t want to think about what happened after the ball was over and they didn’t want to be reminded that when they departed the morning after, they would be leaving Lochlee for the very last time.

Walter spoke. ‘Shall I send out a search party for Shane and Humphrey?’ he asked. ‘Then we can get the business over and done with and start enjoying ourselves,’ he added, squeezing Laura’s hand and speaking jovially.

Georgie, Diana and Robert glanced at Walter with disapproval, his flippant manner jarring them at a tense time like this.

The lawyers had looked after everything and had reported regularly, at Lady Rothbury’s request, to Humphrey and Robert as the disastrous financial details of valuation, probate and finally the amount due in inheritance tax to the Inland Revenue unfolded. It was a long and complicated business, involving the deaths of three Earls of Rothbury in quick succession.

‘The bottom line,’ Robert had announced, thinking it only right that Andrew, Shane and Walter should also be kept informed, ‘is that the Fairbairn family face ruin. Everything will have to be sold and I’ve never known one family to be hit so hard financially.’

After lengthy discussion and a failed court appeal in which they had hoped to avoid paying death duties on Freddie’s inheritance, seeing as he’d fled the country and never taken up his father’s title, they found there would be enough money left to buy the manse, a large house three miles from the castle, formerly lived in by the late minister and his family.