‘Not gratitude—from you,’ said Alec in a low voice.
‘Love,’ I said, and slipped my hand into his.
‘Yes,’ said Alec, holding it in a warm, firm clasp.
We walked on in silence, hand in hand, until we came to the edge of the wood, and there we stopped of one accord looking down at Craig-an-Ron. The dear little cottage lay peacefully in its hollow with the cliff behind; around it was the sward of emerald-green grass.
It was going to be mine—my very own. I felt so pleased and happy that it was difficult not to feel grateful.
‘Alec,’ I said. ‘You’ve made all sorts of wonderful plans for me—and the boys. Have you forgotten Daisy?’
‘Daisy!’ exclaimed Alec, laughing. ‘Goodness, we needn’t make plans for Daisy! She can look after herself all right. In another ten years she’ll have a string of young men—all ready to die for her, if need be!’ He paused and then added thoughtfully, ‘We shall have to see that she chooses the best.’
Chapter Thirty-One
The children were about to start breakfast when we went in; they all jumped up when they saw Alec and greeted him with cries of delight. They wanted to know when he had arrived and how long he was going to stay and they all wanted to tell him what they had been doing.
The noise was astounding. Anyone might have thought there were half a dozen children all talking at once.
Mrs. MacRam peeped in to see what on earth was happening; she welcomed Alec cordially and rushed away to the kitchen to prepare more food.
‘Hush!’ I exclaimed loudly. ‘You’re making too much noise. Alec has been driving all night and he’s tired and hungry.’
‘But I want to show him my yacht,’ objected Simon. ‘It won’t take a minute. I just want to ask him——’
‘How exciting to drive all night!’ exclaimed Daisy. ‘Did darling Clara go like lightning?’
‘Where is Clara?’ asked Den. ‘Is she standing in her usual place underneath the——’
‘I just want to ask him——’ repeated Simon, raising his voice to be heard above the din.
‘Presently,’ said Alec. ‘Let’s have breakfast first. Here’s Mrs. MacRam with the porridge.’
‘Come and sit next to me, Uncle Arly,’ cried Daisy, seizing him by the hand.
The advent of Mrs. MacRam with her large tray made a welcome diversion; we all sat down round the table and began our meal. For a time there was silence (except for the usual requests to pass the cream and other necessities). It was broken by Den.
‘Uncle Arly,’ he said, ‘you’re going to stay, aren’t you? I want to show you our harbour. Mums got us some little boats and we’ve made a harbour for them.’
‘And I want to show you a water-mouse’s hole,’ put in Daisy. ‘We found it under the bank. We haven’t seen the mouse yet and we wondered whether it only comes out at night.’
‘I was wondering about the island,’ said Simon. ‘Mums said you told her there was a bit of an old wall. I want to——’
‘I know you’d like to see the harbour,’ said Den earnestly. ‘You’ll come and see it, won’t you?’
‘Yes, of course,’ said Alec. ‘I want to see everything. I shall stay as long as I possibly can.’
Daisy had begun to bounce up and down in her chair with excitement. ‘I’ll tell you something!’ she cried. ‘Mums ought to marry Uncle Arly and then he could stay with us all the time.’
There was a momentary silence. I couldn’t think how to deal with the situation.
‘Not a bad idea,’ said Alec reflectively.
‘It’s a good idea,’ declared Den. ‘It’s a splendid idea. Don’t you think so, Mums?’
Simon said nothing.
We had not intended this to happen—but it was happening and it had gone too far. It was impossible to retreat. I had to say something because they had all stopped talking and were waiting for me to reply to Den’s question.
‘We might—think about it,’ I said feebly.
‘It would be much cheaper,’ urged Daisy. ‘Uncle Arly could come and live with us at the flat.’
‘There wouldn’t be much room, would there?’ objected ‘Uncle Arly.’ ‘It would be rather a crowd. Don’t you think it would be better if you all came and lived at The Cedars? Plenty of room there for everybody.’
‘Mums!’ exclaimed Simon. ‘Is it a joke?’
‘No, not a joke, Simon. Alec and I have been—thinking about it. You see, I’m rather lonely when you’re all away at school, so Alec suggested . . . I mean we both think——’
‘We’re both lonely,’ said Alec, coming to my rescue. ‘Mums is lonely in the flat and I’m very lonely all by myself in that great big house. It’s silly for two people to be lonely when they could be together, isn’t it, Simon?’
‘Gosh, what an extraordinary idea! I never thought . . .’
‘It isn’t extraordinary,’ Alec said. ‘People often——’
‘It’s a gorgeous idea!’ cried Daisy.
‘It won’t make any difference,’ I said earnestly. ‘It will be just the same, Simon. We’ll still be a complete family—all of us together—with Alec.’
Simon drew a long breath. ‘It will be absolutely smashing,’ he declared.
Alec began to laugh and I joined in, somewhat hysterically. We laughed and laughed. Every time we stopped, and Alec and I looked at each other, we started off again.
At last we managed to control ourselves and went on with our interrupted meal.
When we had finished Alec glanced at his watch and said he must go.
‘But you haven’t seen the harbour!’ cried Den.
‘I’m coming back,’ Alec explained. ‘I’m going to the inn to make some telephone calls and I shall have to look in and see Mr. Buchanan for a minute.’
‘Can I come with you?’ asked Simon.
Alec looked at me—and I nodded. It was a good idea for Simon to have a quiet sensible conversation with Alec about our plans.
They went off together. I watched from the window and saw them walk up the slope and disappear into the wood.
Den and Daisy had gone to put on their bathing shorts; a moment or two later they came out from the house and stood on the path, talking earnestly. Alec had said I must not let them brood. Were they brooding and getting all sorts of wrong ideas into their heads? I leant out of the window to hear what they were saying; their voices came to me quite clearly in the still air.
‘It’s a pity,’ said Daisy. ‘I mean it’s so nice just as it is.’
‘I know,’ agreed Den. ‘But it can’t be helped.’
‘We must make it bigger.’
‘Yes, bigger. There isn’t enough room for all the boats . . . and there might be a storm.’
‘All right—let’s hurry—we’ll have to get a lot more stones out of the burn.’
‘Big ones,’ said Den.
They took to their heels and ran.
*
2
I was alone now. It was the first moment of peace since dawn. I thought of Gerald and spoke to him silently in my heart, as I had done before, so often: You don’t mind, do you? It isn’t disloyalty. I still love you, and I shall never forget you as long as I live, but it has been so lonely all these years without you, so terribly lonely and difficult. I love Alec—and we need each other. You understand, don’t you, Gerald?
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Katherine Wentworth (The Marriage of Katherine Book 1) Page 26