It was the first Vanora had heard that they were to go on the Earl’s yacht.
Her eyes lit up and she slipped her hand into his and then, as the pipes began to play outside again, they said goodbye to Ewen.
They stepped into an open chaise that was waiting for them.
They had a noisy send-off with the pipes playing and all the people cheering.
The children and the younger Clansmen ran beside the carriage as it went down to the road.
Only when the horses were able to speed up did they fall behind and Vanora and the Earl waved for as long as the people could see them.
Then at last the McKyle Castle was out of sight and just ahead of them was the sea.
“We can now go aboard the yacht,” the Earl said, “without stopping to talk to anyone. With any luck they should be at luncheon and have no idea we have returned.”
“What about your aunt?” Vanora enquired.
“Aunt Sophie is so delighted I am to be married to anyone as charming as you. She cried with joy when I told her this morning what was happening.”
“I think that my uncle will be very proud to have you as a relative,” Vanora suggested.
“And I am very impressed that Lord Blairmond is now my uncle by marriage,” the Earl replied.
He gave a little laugh before he added,
“Incidentally I found your family tree in one of the books in the library. I am bowled over with how important my wife is in being related to the Duke of Buccleuch and several Scottish Kings.”
Vanora grinned.
“I can say the same of you. I thought in fact that you looked like a King when we were being married and that is what you will always be to me.”
The Earl put his arm round her.
“And you, my precious,” he said, “will be far more important because you are a Goddess or perhaps an angel come down from Heaven to look after me.”
They reached the yacht without having to speak to anyone except Donald who was waiting for them.
Vanora found that the Master cabin of the yacht was now massed with white flowers.
There were lilies and roses that she knew had come from the garden and the Saloon was a picture of colour and nothing could be more romantic.
The yacht moved away from the harbour as soon as they were aboard.
They had a late but delicious luncheon cooked by the chef the Earl had brought with him from The Castle.
*
After luncheon Vanora went below to take off her wedding dress and tiara.
She was not surprised when the Earl then came into the cabin.
He was wearing the long dark robe he had worn that night when they had gone down to the library.
The Earl suggested that she took a rest and she put on one of her prettiest nightgowns.
”Neither of us had much sleep last night,” he said, “and now there is no hurry as we have quite a long way to go to where we will anchor for the night.”
“Where is that?” Vanora asked.
“It is a secret, my darling, and later you shall guess where you think we are.”
She knew that nothing mattered, except that they were together and she was now actually his wife.
Because she loved him so much she ran to him as he came into the cabin and he put his arms around her.
“You are more beautiful every time I see you,” he sighed. “I thought today, as you came onto the platform in your wedding dress, that I was marrying Aphrodite!”
His arms tightened and his voice was deep as he went on,
“Now I can only compare you to the lilies that are scenting the cabin and the stars that will be shining through the portholes at us tonight.”
“How can you say such wonderful things to me?” Vanora asked.
“I think because we are both fey that we know the answer to that question. I have been searching for you for centuries, but have always been disappointed.”
“I have known that you were somewhere – in the world if only I could find you,” Vanora murmured.
“And now we have found each other.”
He picked her up in his arms.
Gently he laid her down on the big bed that almost seemed to fill the cabin.
Taking off his robe he joined her.
The sunshine coming through the portholes seemed dazzling.
Once again Vanora felt that she was in a dream and would never wake up.
“I love – you,” she whispered as the Earl pulled her close to him.
“All I keep thinking is that I am the happiest and luckiest man in the world. I feel that we have climbed the highest mountains and swum through the roughest seas to be together! But we have won! Now at last you are mine and no one can ever take you from me.”
“You have made sure of that,” Vanora sighed. “I don’t believe anyone could be married in a more dramatic and sublime manner.”
“I was terrified,” the Earl asserted, “that at the last moment your brother would prevent it happening.”
“It was so clever of you to ask him to arrange the Highland Games.”
“He can arrange anything that he likes,” the Earl replied, “as long as I can be with you and tell you over and over, my lovely one, how much I want you.”
His voice had deepened even more and there was a note of passion in it.
Then, as he kissed her, Vanora knew that he was lifting her into the sky.
His kisses seemed to carry her into the sun itself.
The Earl was very gentle, but he knew that he was awakening in her just a little of the fire that consumed him.
He had found what he sought when he had felt that it was impossible.
Now he could only thank God with a sincerity that came from the very depths of his soul for bringing him the entrancing Vanora.
He knew that she would guide and inspire him as she had already done.
He would do great things for his Clan, which would set an example and vibrate through the Highlands and he would make Scotland important not only to her own people but also in the world.
He did not know how he knew this and yet his instinct told him that it was all possible and was lying just ahead of him.
He could only do it with the help and inspiration that Vanora gave him.
He knew that she would give him sons who would carry on into the next generation everything he would fight for in this.
It was all so overwhelming and at the same time so wonderful.
“I love you! God how I love you!” he whispered.
Then, as Vanora’s body seemed to melt into his, they touched the stars.
As the Earl made Vanora his, the Heavens opened and they became part of the Divine.
It was Love.
The real true Love they had both been seeking and which, by the mercy of God, they had now found.
Where to buy other titles in this series
The Barbara Cartland Pink collection is available for download at the following online bookshops :-
www.barnesandnoble.com - epub format for the Nook eReader
www.whsmith.co.uk - epub format for the Smiths/Kobo eReader
www.firstyfish.com - epub format
ebookstore.sony.com - epub format for Sony eReaders
www.amazon.co.uk - For UK Kindle users
www.amazon.com - For international Kindle users
itunes.apple.com - for Apple iOS users
www.barbaracartland.com - Printed paperbacks
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