The Marquis Is Trapped (8 page)

“There is no need for us to be in any hurry in the morning,” Neil told the Marquis, “but Brian and I wish to inspect your yacht from top to bottom.  I hear it has all the modern gadgets and I would just love to see them before you leave.”

“I will be delighted to show them to you.  Perhaps you would like to come a little way with me on my voyage, but there is no hurry if it is still blowing hard.”

He said goodnight to Lady McTranar and thanked her profusely for a delightful evening.

When he took her hand into his, he felt her fingers tighten on his and although it was such a familiar action, it surprised him a little.

Gilbert helped him undress.

Then, because he had not slept a great deal the night before, the Marquis climbed into bed.

He was about to blow out the candles, when to his surprise the door opened.

For a moment he felt it must be Gilbert – maybe he could have left something behind and had come back for it.

Then as the newcomer did not speak, he turned his head.

To his astonishment he saw Lady McTranar.

She was looking extremely attractive with her soft auburn hair falling almost to her waist.

Slowly she walked towards him.

Then, as the Marquis stared at her, she murmured very softly,

“I came in to see if you were comfortable and had everything you wanted.”

Just for a moment the Marquis was silent and then he replied,

“Not everything!”

*

The following morning the Marquis awoke early.

He could hardly believe that what had happened the previous night had been anything but a dream.

Having rapidly run away from Isobel, he had never imagined for a moment that anyone in Scotland would take her place so quickly.

It would have been impossible, he thought now, not to have been attracted by Lady McTranar.

She was not only incredibly beautiful, but lived up to the fiery colour of her hair.

It was an unexpected episode that any man would appreciate.

She had left two hours later in the same unexpected and quiet way she had arrived.

It was certainly something that the Marquis had not anticipated could happen at the very moment he set foot in Scotland!

He had, as he had only been there as a boy, thought of Scottish women as kind and friendly, but not particularly alluring or glamorous.

Lady McTranar had undoubtedly proved his views completely wrong!

He had to admit he had enjoyed every moment she had been with him.

*

Equally the Marquis told himself, as he dressed in the morning, that it would be a mistake to linger.

He was quite certain that the two brothers he had known as a boy would not expect their stepmother to be an attraction for him.

It was with a sense of relief that he realised the sun was shining and yesterday’s storm had blown itself out.

When he went down to breakfast, he found only the gentlemen of the party were present.

“It’s a nice and calm day,” Neil greeted him, “and we are both longing to see your yacht.”

“And that is what I will show you before I leave.”

“You will come back for luncheon, Oliver?”

The Marquis shook his head.

“I think I must take advantage of the good weather to sail North.  I would expect that I will have to shelter at night and that always means a delay.”

Neil and his brother accepted this without arguing.

The Marquis had already told Gilbert to return to the yacht with his luggage.

When they were preparing to drive to the harbour, there was no sign of Lady McTranar.

“I think I should say goodbye to your stepmother,” the Marquis suggested, as he stepped into the carriage.

“She will not yet be awake,” responded Neil.  “But I have left a message with her maid to let her know where we have gone and I expect she will join us later.”

The Marquis made no comment, as he was thinking that actually it would make it easier if he wrote to her later.

Gilbert had told the Captain they were coming and they were piped aboard and everything was shipshape and ready for their inspection.

Neil and his brother said that they were so delighted with everything they were shown.

The vast majority of all the modern innovations and changes the Marquis had installed on
The Neptune
had not yet reached Scotland.

Captain Gordon was clearly pleased at their praise of everything they saw as they went round the engine room and into every other part of the yacht.

At the end of the tour there were drinks waiting for them in the Saloon.

“I am determined now,” said Neil, “that I will have a yacht and I will try to make it even more magnificent and up-to-date than yours, Oliver.”

“That is indeed a challenge, Neil, but I will be very annoyed if you succeed!”

They all laughed.

Then, as
The Neptune
moved slowly out of the harbour, they went up on deck and stayed on the yacht for another half-an-hour.

Next they said they must go ashore, as it might be difficult further on to find a conveyance to take them back.

The Marquis warmly thanked both Neil and Brian for a most enjoyable evening spent with them.

He then requested them to pay his respects to their stepmother and thank her for her kindness, as she had not put in an appearance.

He thought it might seem strange if he suggested sending her some flowers.

He found a book in the Saloon that had recently been published about Queen Victoria and he thought it was something anyone would like to possess.

He asked his Steward to pack it up and then he gave it to his friends to take back to Lady McTranar.

“She will be sorry she did not say goodbye to you, Oliver, but perhaps you will come and visit us again when you journey South.”

“Yes, you must,” Brian chimed in.

“You are both exceedingly kind and I will certainly accept your kind invitation if it is at all possible.”

They said goodbye again, being very complimentary about the yacht as they did so.

The Neptune
moved slowly away towards the open sea and the Marquis waved from the deck till they were no longer in sight.

It was a great relief when they left the Firth of Forth to find that the sea was comparatively calm and there was no sign of the storm rising again.

The Marquis spent the day with the Captain.

Then, having dined alone, he went to bed in his comfortable cabin, although it was not as impressive as the room he had occupied last night.

As he lay in the dark, the Marquis could not help thinking it was so extraordinary of Lady McTranar to come to his room on such a short acquaintance.

It was something he had never expected to happen in Scotland as he had always thought of the Scots as more elderly and very proper in their behaviour.

The situation had taken him so much by surprise that it was only now did he appreciate that Lady McTranar was a widow.

He had sworn never again to become involved with one!

However, it was, he thought, very unlikely she had any further interest in him except as ‘
a ship that passed
in the night
.’

He was young, he was attractive – and so was she.

He guessed if they had met each other unexpectedly in London the same thing would have happened.

It only seemed strange because it was in Scotland and in a house he had only known when he was a boy.

She was certainly most seductive and he supposed in a way it had helped him to forget how afraid he had been of Isobel and her demands on him.

Then he told himself that he had come to Scotland to forget women and to think only of sport.

‘That,’ the Marquis said to himself firmly, ‘is what I will concentrate on in the future.’

He did not believe there would be many attractive redheaded Lady McTranars ahead of him.

If there were any, he must be astute enough to avoid them.

*

The next day the sea was calm and the sun warm.

The Marquis enjoyed every moment of the clement weather.

The Captain had suggested that they might stop at Montrose, but the Marquis thought it would be wiser to press on to Aberdeen.

Once there he knew that it would only take another day to reach Darendell and the Castle was situated in a bay only a short way from the River Daren.

He was looking forward to the salmon fishing as if he was once again a young boy.

He recalled learning from his father how to cast and looked back with pride at how proficient he had become and how many salmon he had managed to catch.

There had been small fish in the lake in front of his ancestral house in the country and in the clear stream that ran down the middle of the estate.

Although he had enjoyed proudly taking his catch back to his dear mother, it was not the same excitement as catching a salmon.

‘I suppose I am really just a sportsman at heart,’ the Marquis told himself.

He was thinking of the grouse he had shot over the years and the pheasants in his woods, as well as his horses that he enjoyed riding more than anything else.

Now he began to surmise that he had been spending far too much time lately in London chasing women, rather than enjoying himself in the fresh air of the country.

He felt that he was now almost accusing himself of being unsporting.

He reflected on the long hours he had spent with Isobel rather than with birds and beasts.

Then he laughed at himself for becoming pompous.

‘It’s part of my education and by this time I must be nearly top of the form!’

*

It was three o’clock the next day when
The Neptune
moved slowly into the bay in front of Darendell Castle.

The Marquis had never seen a picture of the Castle, but it was so exactly how he felt a Highland Castle should look that it seemed almost familiar.

It was white against a green background of fir trees, raised above a garden massed with flowers.

The turrets on each side of the main block of the Castle made it most imposing and almost threatening.

In fact it came to the Marquis’s mind that it was a Fairy Castle and not real.

The Captain skilfully berthed
The Neptune
along a wooden jetty that stood out into the bay.

As soon as the yacht appeared, it was apparent that the Earl had members of his staff looking out for him and by the time
The Neptune
was safely moored, there was a man waiting to greet them at the end of the jetty.

A number of what the Marquis took to be footmen were also in sight and the young man waiting came aboard and explained that he was the secretary to the Earl.

“His Lordship has been expecting you for the last two days, my Lord.”

“We were delayed by a rather vicious storm,” the Marquis explained “and turned into Edinburgh.”

“That was a very sensible thing to do, my Lord, if I might say so.  Those storms can be dangerous for a small vessel.”

The Marquis stepped ashore.

He was taken through some beautiful gardens by the secretary and up a flight of steps that led to the Castle.

“His Lordship has been so looking forward to your visit, my Lord, and I feel sure you will enjoy the fishing, which has been particularly good lately.”

“I am much looking forward to the sport.”

They entered the Castle by the front door and into a vast hall.  It was hung with antlers and surprisingly there was the head of a tiger over the fireplace.

As if he was accustomed to making explanations, the secretary informed him,

“His Lordship killed several tigers in India and you will see their heads in various parts of the Castle.”

The Marquis smiled.

He had thought of bringing back home the head of the tiger he had killed in India, but then he had decided it was too much trouble.

It might, however, have looked rather impressive in his house in the country.

They climbed up the wide staircase.

The secretary was still with him, but a butler wearing a kilt had also joined them.

Then, throwing open a large door, he announced in a stentorian voice,

“The Marquis of Kexley, my Lord.”

The Earl was standing at the window looking over the garden at
The Neptune
in the bay.