“But the view must be beautiful from the top,” Elizabeth argued. “All the bay and the hills on the far side of the Firth, and the green islands far out on the sea!”
He gave her a sharply penetrating look.
“All right,” he agreed. “Go up and have your view, if you prefer it to the shops.”
She smiled without answering, and he drove away into the town.
Climbing up to the strange round monument which he had called “a memorial to a man’s foolish pride,” she remembered Caroline and the fact that Caroline could offer Hew so much. She could offer the money he needed now as well as her love, and perhaps his remark about the foolishness of pride had been a reflection of his innermost thoughts. Even Shona had said that he would sacrifice anything to keep Ardlamond.
Breathlessly she came to the Folly and, looking about her at the rubble and the debris within, was vaguely disappointed. She could not say what she had expected to find in this strange, high place far up on the hill. Only that it had drawn her irresistibly and she had had to climb up to it to satisfy some odd sort of urge within her.
She had also come for the view, she told herself, and the vast panorama of sea and hill and distant mountain ranges which met her eyes was truly magnificent.
Away out on the silver Firth of Lome she could see the islands dotted like green gems on the blue sea, emeralds, glittering in the sun, and one of these islands was Lingay, where the lairds of Ardlamond had been buried for hundreds of years. No wonder Hew was proud. No wonder he would do almost anything to safeguard this heritage of his!
Silhouetted in one of the high archways, she stood with her back against the sun-warmed stone, gazing at the distant hills. The kindly, rounded shoulders of Mull were near and friendly, and already she knew them and called them by name—Ben More and Ben Tala, and the lower hills that swept down to the great red basalt cliffs which ran in a grim finger of stone out into the sea along the Ross. But to the north and west there were other hills, dark and fearsome mountains which seemed to cradle only despair.
Today these distant mountains had a peculiar crown of light upon their heads, but the shadows were still dark along their riven sides. Morven of the Sorrows! The name sprang out at her from the past, cradled by memory down through the years. Her mother had lived there for some time as a girl before her family had gone to live at Dromore, and there had been a song called Maid of Morven which she had sung quite often. Elizabeth was remembering it now, and how the inevitable sadness of the theme had always lingered after the song was done.
She had never imagined that she would look out across Loch Linnhe to the dark faces of these mountains on such a day as this, and she could not say now why her heart felt suddenly choked with tears. The haunting sadness of an old refrain was surely no reason for her eyes to fill, although she was deeply aware of belonging among these silent hills. There was always a heart’s place, she thought wistfully; a place of memories and love and sure belonging.
So lost in thought did she become that it was minutes before she became aware that she was no longer alone. Hew had parked the Daimler on the steeply-sloping roadway beneath her and climbed up to her vantage-point.
He stood for a moment or two watching her as she gazed out across the bay before he said:
“Well, was it worth the climb?”
Elizabeth turned slowly, accepting him without question in that high place.
“I’ve never seen anything more wonderful,” she answered simply. “It’s something to capture for ever.”
He climbed the last few steps, standing close behind her in the broken archway. There was so little room that barely an inch separated them, and in the stillness she imagined that she could hear the heavy beating of his heart.
Minutes which held all the enchantment she might ever know fled away. The sun glittered on the water and there was no cloud visible in the sky. She turned her eyes away from shadowed Morven to look at the green hills of Mull, and in that moment, without moving, it seemed as if Hew had bent his dark head and pressed his lips against the nape of her neck.
The shock of contact was almost physical, and she drew back with a small, inarticulate cry on her lips.
Instantly his arm shot out, steadying her.
“Afraid?” he asked.
“No,” she said. “No.” But inwardly she was trembling. It was as if his kiss had been real.
CHAPTER FOUR
AT one o’clock they reached the hotel where Hew had ordered lunch and were immediately accosted by a breezy voice.
“Hullo, there!” said a man coming down from the cocktail bar with a drink in his hand. “What brings you to Oban on a fine day like this, Hew, and at such an unlikely hour?”
Hew wheeled round in the direction of the voice, his hand shooting out instantly in welcome.
“Steve!” he said. “You old fraud! I thought you were on your way to America?”
“So I was, until Thyra let me down.”
“It wouldn’t be Naomi, by any chance?” Hew laughed. “You ought to buy a decent boat, you know!”
“There isn’t a better little yacht this side of the Atlantic! But don’t let’s go into all that again, shall we? I’m waiting to be introduced!”
Hew turned to put a hand under Elizabeth’s elbow, drawing her forward.
“This is Stephen Friend,” he said without hesitation. “Commander Friend, R.N., to give him his full title! He’s a very near neighbour of ours at Ardlamond when he is content to stay in these parts. Stephen—Miss Stanton.”
Elizabeth’s fingers were gripped in a close, warm handshake and Stephen Friend looked deeply into her eyes. What he might be searching for in that first moment of contact, she could not say, but he gave a little nod which seemed to indicate that he had found it. His eyes were the bluest she had ever seen. They were frank and twinkling and hidden in a network of tiny wrinkles as if their owner laughed often, enjoying life to the full. He was not a very tall man, with an amazing breadth of shoulder which seemed to detract even from the height he had, but everything about him suggested that he was an honest man. In a word, Elizabeth mused, he had the look of the sea about him.
“You’re staying in Oban?” he asked.
“No—at Ardlamond.”
Commander Friend looked surprised.
“Miss Stanton’s brother was made my father’s ward,” Hew supplied. “They arrived at Ardlamond the day he died.”
“I only heard this morning.” Stephen Friend gave Hew a brief, sympathetic look which seemed to suffice between them. “We were down on the Solent when it happened. I’m sorry I didn’t know in time, Hew.”
“I realized that something of the sort must have happened,” Hew said. “Imogen wired me yesterday.”
“She’s been in Edinburgh,” Stephen said, “But she’s coming home.” He glanced towards the double doors leading into the dining-room. “Look here,” he suggested, “if you’re having lunch why not share my table? I’m completely on my own. I promise I won’t talk boats once during the meal if you do!”
“It’s a bargain!” Hew decided.
“I haven’t heard your news for months,” Stephen complained when they were settled at a window table overlooking the bay. “Nor you mine.” He turned to Elizabeth with his quick smile. “This is going to be tough on you, Miss Stanton,” he warned. “The fact is that Hew and I haven’t seen each other for six months, and that’s quite something. Now that I’m going to settle down at home we really must get up to date.”
“You’re what?” Hew asked incredulously.
“Going to settle down. Don’t grin derisively,” Stephen smiled. “It’s quite true. I’ve decided that I really ought to make a proper home for Imogen, and Thyra’s of the same mind. She says it’s about time I gave up wandering around the world in a boat and did something about Glenisla.”
“Thyra always retained a sensible approach to life,” Hew reflected, the smile still lingering in his eyes. “Has Imogen left school, then?”
For the second time he gave Hew a quick, probing look, as if he would discover any change there might be in his friend’s attitude to life, and what he saw did not appear to put his mind at rest, for his dark brows drew together in a worried frown. In the next instant, however, he had turned back to Elizabeth with a smile.
“If you’re going to be any length of time at Ardlamond,” he suggested, “I’d like you to meet my sister. I think Imogen and you might get on very well. My other sister, Thyra, is married and lives on the Isle of Wight—at Bemberg. She will be up with her husband later for a week with the guns when her two boys go back to school. Imogen is coming over from Edinburgh next week. What age is your brother?” he asked, as if statement and question must necessarily be linked.
“Tony is nineteen,” Elizabeth told him almost too eagerly, thinking that here might be the natural antidote to Caroline Hayler, as far as Tony was concerned. “He’s a little lost at the moment, having left most of his friends behind him in London.”
“We’ll have to do something about that,” Stephen agreed. “Especially if he’s going to stay for any length of time.” He glanced at Hew. “Have you settled anything about Ardlamond yet?” he asked.
“Only that I have taken over,” Hew said.
“And Whitefarland?”
Elizabeth’s heart gave an uneasy lurch, because she knew how much Hew cared about the farm.
“Whitefarland will have to go,” he said briefly.
“Isn’t that rather a pity?” Stephen asked. “Isn’t there someone who could take it on?”
“Not anyone who hadn’t a great deal of money to spend on it,” Hew answered. “It’s been ticking over and no more.”
“I see.” Stephen evidently decided to leave his questioning there. “Well, I guess you’ll have your hands full at Ardlamond,” he mused. “You’ll want to keep everything as it was.”
“That is my idea,” Hew said, as the waiter came to change their plates.
During the remainder of the meal Stephen Friend kept up a lively flow of conversation which did not touch too closely on Ardlamond, although it could not entirely avoid some mention of Hew’s home. When they were ready to leave he looked closely at Elizabeth and said:
“If your brother fancies a day’s sailing bring him over to Glenisla. He can have his choice of dinghy racing or the big stuff. Imogen’s tremendously keen on dinghies,” he added briefly.
Without quite knowing why, Elizabeth felt that she had made a new friend. The second in twenty-four hours, she smiled, as she remembered Shona Lorimer and the kindness she had been shown at Ravenscraig. Shona’s name had cropped up more than once in their conversation over lunch, and it was evident that Stephen’s respect for her was no less than Hew’s.
“I’ll see you at the Trials, I expect,” he said as they were about to leave.
“Yes,” Elizabeth said, “I hope so.”
Suddenly Stephen stiffened as he looked beyond her to the revolving doors, and she saw his eyes narrow and all the kindness go out of his face.
“We’ve got company, I’m afraid,” he said in a clipped tone which made his pleasant voice sound cold and distant.
Elizabeth and Hew turned together to see Caroline coming across the foyer towards them. She was immaculately dressed in the finest of Italian knitwear, her hair blown a little by the wind as she had run up the outside steps from her car.
“I spotted the Daimler in the car park, Hew,” she informed him after the briefest of nods in Stephen Friend’s direction. “I was on my way back to Ravenscraig.” She glanced from Hew to Elizabeth with slightly calculating eyes. “But perhaps there was no need for me to do that,” she added. “I take it that Tony is all right when you have come away so quickly.”
“He appears to have been lucky,” Hew told her. “I don’t think there’s any need for you to go to Ravenscraig, Caroline.”
She took time to study him coolly.
“I suppose not,” she admitted with a shrug. “I was rather anxious because I believed myself responsible, but now that everything has worked out smoothly we needn’t worry any more.”
She spread her hands in a small, deprecating gesture which infuriated Elizabeth, who had noticed it before.
“It may not have worked out quite so smoothly as you think,” Hew was forced to remind her. “There’s still the little matter of your car.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Caroline assured him. “I’ll get it fixed. You are an old, worrying dear,” she added with a smile, linking her arm in his. “Come up and buy me a drink and forget about it. I have another car.”
He glanced at his watch.
“I must get back,” he said. “I have to phone the police before three, and I think you had better contact them as well. One can’t just go leaving an unattended car in a ditch without some sort of reference being made to it.”
Caroline bit her lip, but she said contritely enough: “I really am sorry about all this, Hew. You having so much unnecessary trouble, I mean. But I wish you would come with me when I go to see about the car. I know I shall speak entirely out of turn and cause a whole lot of needless questioning. I never could resist having a jab at the local constable!”
“It rarely pays,” Hew returned dryly. “I’ll go along with you if you think it will help, though.”
“I’m sure it will!” There was triumph in her tone. “And Commander Friend can amuse Elizabeth while she’s waiting for you.”
Hew turned to look at Elizabeth.
“I’m sorry about this,” he apologized. “But I think it ought to be cleared up right away, if we can manage it.”
“Of course,” she tried to smile, but her lips felt stiff and, somehow, Caroline seemed to have won a victory. “I don’t mind waiting.”
“Come along and see my boat,” Stephen invited, taking her by the arm. “In spite of what Hew says about her, she’s a beauty!”
“I can see you’ve entirely lost your heart to her!” Elizabeth smiled as they went out into the sunshine together.
“To Caroline? Good heavens, she’s the last person on earth I would care to trust with a heart—or anything, else!”
“I didn’t mean Mrs. Hayler,” Elizabeth said in a small, tight voice. “I was thinking about your yacht—Naomi, isn’t it?”
“But you do agree—wholeheartedly—about Caroline,” he reflected without answering her question. “She’s a first-class nuisance, to say the least of her, and I’m sorry if Hew has forgiven her for what she did to him four years ago.”
“Perhaps he never really fell out of love with her,” Elizabeth suggested.
“He should have done, by all the rules. And Hew’s not the type to forgive and forget easily. It was a sort of nine days’ wonder in these parts when she went off and married someone else. Of course,” he added dryly, “the old chap had plenty of money.”
Elizabeth did not want to go on talking about Caroline, and Hew and the past, not even with kind, generous Stephen Friend.
“Tell me about Naomi,” she prompted.
His smile was quick and boyishly pleased.
“Come and see for yourself,” he invited. “Hew is likely to be some time with the police.”
And Caroline, Elizabeth thought. Caroline had wanted Hew to herself and she had won her point, but perhaps she had a right to claim his services and his attention.
Stephen handed her into the trim white launch which lay moored at the jetty steps and they cut through the calm water of the bay.
“Here we are!” Stephen said, throttling back the engine as they picked their way between the trim craft dotted all over the anchorage. “The good ship Naomi at your service, ma’am!”
“She’s utterly lovely!” Elizabeth’s eyes were bright with admiration for the graceful little ketch riding at anchor just ahead of them. “Like a white, flo
ating bird!”
He surveyed her with deepening interest.
“You sound as if you might be my sort of girl!” he told her laughingly. “Come aboard and I’ll show you how she sails.”
Elizabeth hesitated, not quite sure what to do.
“Do you think we ought to? Today, I mean. You see,” she explained impulsively, “I don’t want to keep Hew waiting unnecessarily. Tony and I have caused so much trouble already—coming to Ardlamond. Hew couldn’t have wanted to take on the responsibility of having Tony as a ward, and now there’s been this accident and he finds himself involved quite deeply right away.”
Stephen caught hold of the yacht’s gunwale to steady them as he shut off the launch’s engine.
“So that’s the way of it,” he mused. “I wondered why you looked so concerned about everything.” He gave her a brief, thoughtful look. “Hew would take on all his father’s commitments, I guess. He’d settle for the lot. What about you?” he asked abruptly.
She looked puzzled.
“Have you no say in the matter?” he asked.
A faint colour stained her cheeks.
“Not really,” she confessed. “And I don’t suppose I should interfere. My mother thought that Tony might benefit by a steadying hand.”
He put his own hand out to cover hers.
“Don’t worry,” he advised. “These sort of things invariably straighten themselves out in the end, and Hew isn’t nearly so impatient as he might seem.”
“But Tony is!” Elizabeth answered ruefully. “He’s terribly impatient, and he’s going to resent it dreadfully if Hew decides to adopt a disciplinary attitude, even over small things.”
“He’ll learn!” Stephen grinned. “We all do. And we must see that Hew isn’t too hard on him. Between us,” he added with a twinkle in his blue eyes, “we ought to be able to lick ’em both into shape!”
But what about Caroline? It wouldn’t be so easy to deal with Caroline, Elizabeth knew, especially as she already distrusted Stephen.
The Last of the Kintyres Page 8