After dinner they went into the ballroom and had coffee at one of the small tables arranged around the dance floor. A piper came in dressed in full Highland costume, and an impromptu concert was followed by dancing to a small Highland band. Later Sue found herself circling the room in Meric’s arms.
‘It’s good of you to condescend to dance with me, Miss Fraser,’ he murmured. ‘I wonder that you trust your toes to a clumsy chap like me?’
‘Don’t apologize, Mr. Findlay,’ she smiled, in the same vein. ‘If you tread on my toes I shall no doubt find some means of retaliation, you may be sure.’
‘Don’t you always?’ he retorted suavely, glancing keenly down at her. ‘Is Tim Mason your latest form of retaliation?’
‘Tim?’ Her feet stumbled and she almost fell against him. ‘How could he be?’
‘Well, he certainly doesn’t exert himself to please me.’ Meric’s hold tightened with slight cruelty on her waist as he swung her around, and his voice grew cooler. ‘I might last out over the week-end, but I couldn’t guarantee my temper much longer than that.’
Sue flushed, whether with dismay or annoyance she couldn’t say. Perhaps it was a mixture of both. 'He’s due to leave on Monday or Tuesday,’ she replied stiffly.
‘Just so long as he doesn’t extend his visit,’ he said dryly. ‘Or that you ask him back. ’
‘You’ve not exactly gone out of your way to make him welcome,’ she said sharply, stung to open rebellion by his derisive tone. ‘What about
your famous Highland hospitality?’
‘It isn’t always extended without discrimination! Not everyone is greeted with open arms.’
‘But you can’t slay people with a claymore these days just because you don’t like them!’
‘True.’ His eyes glinting beneath raised brows brought a flare of colour to her cheeks. ‘Words are about the only weapons left to us, but we have been known, even in this day and age, to use something stronger.’
Sue shivered slightly as his eyes slewed over her. Was he referring to their deer-stalking trip to the mountains? The thought of that day tinged her next words with an unintended hint of desperation. ‘I can’t imagine Tim will want to come back, even if you were to ask him!’
‘Don’t worry, I won’t.’ The glint in his eyes hardened, confirming that he misconstrued her reaction. £He’s no good to you, Sue. He’s not your type at all with his mealy-mouthed ways. And the sooner you forget about him the better.’
‘Why, you ...’ Quickly furious, Sue tried to escape from his arms. She hadn’t a great deal of enthusiasm for Tim herself. From the time he had first called on her mother, a pleasant young man from the Tax Office obligingly leaving some forms on his way home, he had become more of a habit. But, she assured herself, if nothing else, she owed him a little loyalty. ‘If I wanted to ask him, or any of my friends, to Glenroden, you couldn’t stop me,’ she gasped.
‘Just try me and see!’ Meric’s grin was wholly mocking as he pulled her closer, stilling her struggles as the lights faded low for the end of the waltz. She felt herself slump against him, completely without defences as his breath quickened in her ear. ‘I should enjoy a fight with you, sweet Sue, and I know who would be the victor.’
When the lights went up again with the close of the waltz, she left him, retiring blindly to her seat, aware that he followed at a more leisurely pace. Tim she found deep in conversation with Carlotte, who had her hand on his arm, obviously giving him her whole attention. Uneasily Sue remembered thinking Carlotte would not be above questioning Tim if she got the opportunity, and she had little doubt what those questions would be about. Carlotte had been told little except that Sue’s parents had been separated, but Sue imagined her curiosity knew no bounds.
‘You don’t seem to have enjoyed that very much.’ Leaving Tim,
Carlotte rose to her feet, a mocking lilt to her voice as her eyes went from Sue’s flushed face to where Meric lingered a few yards behind, exchanging a word with another man. ‘You seem to be running away.’
I didn’t run away.’ Sue drew a deep breath, adding with daring indifference, ‘You do like to give the wrong impression.’
‘It was you who was giving it, not I, dashing down the room as if wild animals were chasing you.’ Undisturbed, Carlotte countered, ‘As a matter of fact I’ve been enjoying a cosy chat with Tim. He’s been telling me a little of your previous history. You’re on the make, he appears to think, by coming to Glenroden. I really must relate the gist of it to Meric.’
Bewildered, her mouth slightly open, Sue stared after her, as she turned to join Meric for the next dance. She had been foolish to imagine she could ask Carlotte about a job when she was so patently her enemy!
The evening continued with Highland dances, mostly reels, until it was time to go home. Tim didn’t dance, but Meric, to Sue’s surprise, danced a lot, although he didn’t ask her again. But they joined with another party, comprising several young people from the neighbourhood, so Sue suffered no lack of partners. Fortunately she had taken Highland dancing in evening class, as part of a keep-fit curriculum at college, and being particularly light on her feet was no mean performer. She took part eagerly, hoping her rather forced enthusiasm successfully hid the longing in her heart for a tall, handsome Highlander who never came near her.
The two girls were tired when they arrived back at Glenroden and went straight to their rooms. Carlotte was staying for the night as it was too late to return to Perth. Unhappily Sue wondered if Meric had deliberately arranged it this way. Yet if he had romance in mind he didn’t seem inclined to linger with Carlotte in the still warm drawing room where Mrs. Lennox had left out sandwiches and coffee in a flask in case they were hungry. After a very short time he followed them upstairs to bed. Sue heard him walk past her bedroom door, then there was silence apart from the wind blowing down the glen.
The wind usually lulled her to sleep, but on this occasion, an hour later, she was still lying awake. Her thoughts disturbed her, refusing to allow her to rest. Wholly they concentrated on Meric, clinging to him feverishly, turning the whole problem of Glenroden over and over in her mind. She knew beyond doubt that she loved him, although she realized the hopelessness of such misplaced affection. If she had ever had cause to hope, those hopes had been more than dashed this evening when he had practically ignored her existence. Sue shivered and tilted her head back on her pillows, letting a cool stream of air from the window play over her face and neck as she pushed back her heavy hair from her hot forehead. Then, exhausted by tossing and turning, she lay still, trying to remember everything he had said during their one dance. Not that there was a deal of comfort to be gained from that! He had lectured her about Tim; on whom she might not invite to Glenroden. He had talked as if he had actually owned the place! Suddenly, as her thoughts turned back, Sue sat straight up in bed.
Frowning through the darkness, she recalled how, when they had toured the estate, Tim had suggested that she searched the office to try and discover Meric’s true position. Of course she had refused to have anything to do with such a scheme, and he hadn’t mentioned it since. Now, at this very moment, she found such an idea curiously tempting — not from Tim’s completely mercenary point of view but rather regarding her own relationship with Meric. From a personal angle it would make no difference to her feelings whether he was manager or not, but there was a possibility that he really was her father’s partner. Or, worse than that, he could probably own half or even more of Glenroden. The thought had never occurred to her before. She couldn’t think why not, but suddenly it seemed imperative that she knew the truth.
As she thought this, her eyes flew open, and with a quick twist of her supple body she pushed back the blankets and slid out of bed. Not stopping to put on her dressing-gown or slide her feet into a pair of slippers, she made for the door and gently opened it. She dared not switch on a light, and if she were to fumble after these things, someone might hear.
She need not have worried. The b
ig house was silent, but she felt the palms of her hands go moist and sticky as she waited to make sure there wasn’t anyone around. Reassured by the quietness, she slipped through the door, dosing it carefully behind her before running down the thickly carpeted stairs to the hall, her bare feet making no sound.
The library which Meric used as an office lay along a passage at the back of the stairway. Wraith-like, Sue moved towards it with only memory and instinct to guide her. Otherwise there was only a very faint gleam of light from the moon coming in through an uncurtained glass pane high up on the wall. The only noise she could hear was her own heart beating too loudly in her ears.
At the library door she stopped, of a sudden drawn back within herself in an agony of uncertainty. Then resolutely, feeling that her decision had been a right one, she thrust open the door and went in. Once inside she stumbled, then paused on the threshold, wishing she had remembered to bring a torch. There was one in the kitchen, but somehow she didn’t dare risk returning for it. The kitchen was full of bits and pieces, she might easily knock something over. As her fingers nervously flicked down the switch she waited apprehensively, but no one was likely to see a light at this time of night, and the sooner she found what she was looking for the better.
A quiver ran through her as she stared around the room. She had only been here once or twice before, once when she had come to collect Meric’s dog for a walk - Carlotte had been here then - and another occasion with a message from a caller. She remembered the desk, but little more. Now her gaze wandered tentatively to the high bookshelves, the comfortable chairs by the wide fireplace before coming back to rest on the large oak desk with its leather-covered top. Then, suddenly, her heart was beating so heavy and fast it was unbearable, and her eyes widened with perplexity. It was a frightful thing, but now that she was here she found she couldn’t go through with it. It had been an idea, impulsively born in a moment of stress, but Sue knew, standing there, that whatever secrets the old desk contained it must keep them. To start and search, even though it was her father’s property, was quite foreign to her nature, if only she had the sense to realize it before. Perhaps, she thought despairingly, if after Tim was gone she came here and asked Meric frankly, he would tell her all she wanted to know.
CH APT ER TE N
IN A MOMENT OF ENLIGHTENMENT WHICH SHOULD HAVE BROUGHT ONLY RELIEF, SUE SUDDENLY FOUND HERSELF FREEZING INTO IMMOBILITY. INSTINCTIVELY SHE KNEW THAT SOMEONE STOOD OUTSIDE THE DOOR. AND WHEN THE DOOR OPENED SLOWLY, ALTHOUGH IT SCARCELY MADE ANY NOISE, THE FAINT CREAK OF THE TURNING KNOB RANG LIKE AN EXPLOSION IN HER EARS.
After one suspended, crystalline moment she spun, like a top out of control, stunned disbelief illuminating her features as her shattered glance fell on Meric. Taut with despair, she stared at him, wondering speechlessly if he intended to strangle her. Every vestige of colour left her face as she heard him mutter some violent exclamation beneath his breath. As if the sight of her standing beside his desk aroused feelings of unrestrained anger.
For the first time since she had known him, his fury appeared to leave him incapable of words, and, because she couldn’t seem to stand it any longer, she managed to speak.
‘I’m sorry,’ she stammered stupidly, through the heavy frightened beating of her heart. ‘I didn’t mean to disturb anyone. I don’t know how you came to know I was here.’
His dark eyes narrowed even further as his cold, glittering glance went over her; the thick fall of hair, bare feet; the thin blue cotton boy’s pyjamas. ‘I came down to see if John was all right,’ he said grimly. ‘I followed you downstairs. It was dark and like you I didn’t put on a light, but I didn’t know who the cat-burglar was until I opened this door. I thought perhaps it was your friend Mr. Mason, taking a look around.’
‘Is Father ill?’ Fear took her breath, stinging through her head, so that she scarcely heard the last bit about Tim.
He replied harshly, ‘You’re changing the subject, Sue. He hasn’t been well lately. You know that.’
Remorse caught her, but with it a flicker of indignation which seemed to dispel a fraction of fear. She met his eyes. ‘I should have looked in myself when we came home, but I did think he’d be sleeping. And I’m not changing the subject!’
‘No?’
It was just one word, but seemed to speak volumes. Her eyes clung to his, widening apprehensively. In his dressing gown he looked larger than usual, the breadth of his shoulders solid beneath the dark blue silk. He seemed older, entirely unapproachable, his hard face completely devoid of sympathy. He took a step nearer, continuing to watch her. The room was intensely quiet, and she wondered if he could hear the frantic thudding of her heart.
‘You haven’t told me what you were doing in my desk?’ he rapped out, with such force she winced.
‘I wasn’t in your desk.’ Stiffening with resentment, she tried to conjure up some gesture of defiance as she tilted her chin. From this angle she could see the terse set of his jaw, the dark, downy hair on his chest where his pyjamas lay open at his throat. Her resolution wavered as, with a quickly indrawn breath, she dragged her eyes away. She was aware that he waited, that if he was to believe her she must think of something convincing to add to her brief statement. But for a second time her mind refused to function and she remained silent - an uncertain, self-condemnatory silence.
Meric’s dark eyes scanned her face. He insisted without mercy, ‘If you weren’t here to go through my desk, then what exactly were you doing? You’d better have a good explanation!’
Once before, Sue remembered, he had accused her of being a liar. It had only been said in jest, but she didn’t want him to have an occasion to accuse her seriously. Yet what could she say? Despairingly she stepped backwards, away from that unnerving gaze. How was she to get out of this one when she hadn’t the courage to admit the truth?
He gave her no longer than ten seconds before his patience broke. With one stride he reached her, his hands clamping down on her shoulders, gripping tightly through the thin cotton. ‘Mason put you up to this, didn’t he? You’re trying to cover up!’
His question, like his hands, hurt. Hurt because in a way, he was right. Yet how could she possibly explain that her involvement was completely divorced from Tim’s suggestion! It was impossible to involve Tim when she hadn’t intended to share with him anything she might discover. And if she did confess any of this to Meric he would never believe she had changed her mind at the last moment. It was all too irrational to ring true.
Helplessly she shook her head, attempting to squirm from his hold. ‘Tim doesn’t know I’m here tonight in your office. That I swear.’
‘Which doesn’t really answer my question, as well you know!’ Disregarding her feeble struggles, his fingers bit deeper as his temper increased.
Sue found herself stammering wildly, ‘I know it was silly of me to come here. Perhaps I was sleepwalking, but I’ve done no harm. I haven’t even touched your desk, and I certainly haven’t stolen anything, in spite of what you suspect!’
If her tone of voice was meant to annihilate then she failed dismally as his mouth twisted sarcastically. ‘You’re wasting your time. You certainly weren’t sleepwalking, although you might have been, dressed as you are!’ His eyes, once more, went narrowly over her thin attire in such a way as to bring a deep flush to her white cheeks. ‘I must admit,’ he went on, ‘that those pyjamas are better than what you were wearing in London, but even these don’t leave much to the imagination. Maybe because they’re too small.’
‘I hate you!’ Pent-up emotion released the words in a rush as, stunned, she realized for the first time how very scanty were her pyjamas. Defensively she tried to wind her arms about her nerveless body.
He taunted, ‘When a man finds a girl going through his property at this hour he’s not usually bothered as to how she feels exactly.’
You wouldn’t have found me,’ she cried witlessly, ‘if you hadn’t been sneaking around yourself. You gave me a horrible shock, creeping up
behind me, and then you accuse me of all sorts of things ...’
‘Sue!’ He interrupted the hysterical flow, shaking her none too gently. ‘Are you going to tell me, or do I have to drag it out of you?’
His face was now as pale as her own, and his dark eyes cold, but keyed up, nerves jangling, she ignored the danger signals. Lips tightly closed, she made no response, just stared at him mutinously.
‘So ... ’ he ground out, his voice hard with anger, ‘you enjoy being insolent! I’ve told you once in the past few hours and I’m telling you again. I don’t have to spell it out. Get rid of Tim Mason, or heaven help me, I’ll do it for you - which could be a lot more humiliating for him!’
Sue gasped on a wave of pure apprehension. ‘Don’t you dare say anything to Tim, do you hear me! Or he won’t be the one to go, I can tell you.’
‘Could that be a threat, Miss Frazer?’ His fingers tightened ominously on her shoulders before sliding to grip the soft flesh of her arms, imbuing swift terror.
How could she answer him? How could she say - ‘I have to find out your exact position at Glenroden? Not knowing is driving me crazy’ - But there was her father to be considered. Suddenly, as confession trembled impulsively on her lips, this angle struck her. It was John who must tell her what she wanted to know, not this grim-faced man who held her so hurtfully because she refused to give him the explanation he asked for. She must have been blind not to have seen this before!
Little beads of perspiration appeared on her upper lip as her bewildered mind veered back to Tim. At all costs she must save him from Meric’s anger. ‘I don’t like to see people hurt,’ she faltered, ‘especially Tim.’
He treated her short statement to the contempt he obviously thought it deserved. ‘You seem determined to protect Mr. Mason,’ his voice slurred sarcastically, ‘so why isn’t he around to protect you now from the scoundrel who runs Glenroden? Is he sitting up in bed, I wonder, waiting for whatever it was you intended to bring him?’
The Kilted Stranger Page 17