‘The dominie was nobody’s fool and he was a good friend to me. I forbid you to criticize him,’ Josiah interrupted sternly.
‘The dominie would have done better if he’d provided for his own daughter,’ Eliza sneered. ‘They tell me she’s ready for the poorhouse if death doesn’t claim her first. Be careful you don’t end up paying for two funerals as well as your own, dear brother.’
‘If I do, it will be nobody’s concern but my own.’
‘Of course it will, you stupid man. It will be my concern if you squander your money on every waif in the parish. I am your only relative. It is my due to inherit when you are gone. I must consider my son.’
‘Surely his father will provide for his own son?’ Josiah asked mildly. He liked the Right Honourable Edward Ross, but he had long suspected he was not as wealthy as Eliza had anticipated, or perhaps he had learned to keep a firm hand on his purse strings. ‘But this is not the place to stand and talk,’ Josiah said briskly. ‘Unless you and Henry wish to enter and risk taking home the coughing disease then I must bid you good day.’
‘And good day to you, you stubborn, foolish shadow of a man,’ Eliza spat venomously. ‘If I hear the girl has recovered I shall return to make you see sense and get her away, her and her stupid mother.’
Josiah shut the door with a sigh of relief.
Janet was worried that she was causing strife between Mr Saunders and his sister and as soon as she heard the coach drive away, she climbed out of bed. She must get her strength back so that she was able to work. She did not realize how ill she had been, nor the effects her illness had had. Her feet touched the floor, but when she tried to stand, her legs buckled beneath her. Both Maggie McLauchlan and Josiah heard the tumble and hurried across the wide hall. Tears sprang to Janet’s eyes.
‘I am a burden to you all,’ she whispered hoarsely. ‘I do not want to cause strife between you and your sister, sir.’ She looked up at Josiah, her blue eyes pleading and wide with anxiety.
‘You are not the cause of any trouble, my dear. There has never been anything else but strife between my sister and myself. We are very different by nature. Now I will let Mistress McLauchlan help you back into bed. If you are feeling better tomorrow, you can sit for a little while in a chair before the fire and each day you may do a little more, but you must understand you have been near to death and we must build up your strength gradually.’
‘But I am a burden to everyone. Perhaps my mother…? Could I send word to her? Maybe she will care for me?’
Maggie’s heart ached at the sight of Janet’s anxious young face.
‘We shall not worry your mother for a while, Janet,’ Josiah said. ‘She has not been well herself and Mr Cole has no spare room. Here we have plenty of rooms and there is a way in which you can repay me if you will agree to stay. First we must let Mistress McLauchlan tuck you back into bed and we shall devise a plan to increase your movements each day.’ His housekeeper looked up at him with relief and a warm smile creased her kindly face.
‘Janet was aye an independent wee soul, even as a bairn,’ she said to him later when they were away from the sickroom. ‘I don’t know how you will keep her here when she grows stronger, but I don’t know where she will find work until the Hiring Fairs at the end of May.’
‘I have a plan,’ Josiah said reassuringly. ‘We must convince her that I have long wanted to restore order to the library and catalogue the books in there. It is partly true, ever since I first came to Crillion Keep, even before the death of Great-Uncle William. I think Janet may enjoy helping in return for a roof over her head and plenty of good food. What do you think, Mistress McLauchlan?’
‘Oh, sir, that would be a splendid idea – if you mean it? Janet loves books. It grieved her terribly when they had to leave her grandfather’s books behind the night they ran away from the schoolhouse and that horrible dominie. She clings to the wee book she brought with her as though it is a lifeline, yet she does not even possess a bible of her own.’
‘Good. Dominie McWhan had great plans to tutor her so that she could teach the younger children and the girls in his school. He did not anticipate such a short stay on God’s earth. Maybe we can help,’ Josiah said with satisfaction.
‘Ye’re a good man, sir,’ Maggie answered with feeling. ‘But she is an intelligent lassie, as well as fiercely independent. She would soon suspect if she thought you had only made up work for her,’ Maggie warned.
‘Leave it with me. As soon as she is strong enough to climb the stairs to the smallest bedroom on the first floor, we shall use this room as a day room again. I shall explain that I want to rearrange many of the books from the library. If Janet wishes to help you in her spare time and perhaps learn to cook, then I have no objections. You know I have never believed in formality.’
‘Thank you, sir.’ Maggie beamed at him. ‘I think Janet may be a good wee housewife already. Mistress Foster was a genteel woman before she married Wull Foster and I believe she taught her own daughter and Janet how to cook and wash and clean, especially when she had no energy to do the work herself. The Reverend Drummond spoke highly of her but he knew her before she married.’
‘Then we must allow Janet to find her place with us a Crillion Keep. A useful helper but not a slave to anyone, ever again.’
‘We have another problem if Janet is staying here when she is up and about. I have almost finished knitting her a large shawl to cover her nightclothes. It will do while she stays here in the small dining room, but she had nothing but her nightdress with her. She must have left her clothes behind at Braeheights in her hurry to escape.’
‘Ah, now that is a matter I had not considered, and it will soon become urgent.’
‘Peggy or I would have given her a dress and underclothes, but she is much smaller than either of us, and she’s so slender since the fever.’
‘And you have both done more than I could have asked of you already, Mrs McClauchlan. I know Peggy is good with her needle and sometimes takes in sewing. Please tell her I will pay her if she will make whatever Janet requires in the way of underclothes. Do we have any suitable material here in the house, cotton or flannel perhaps?’
‘I think we could find material from the linen cupboard, sir, and Peggy would be pleased to sew when they are for Janet.’
‘Nevertheless I shall pay her for her work. You have both done more than could be expected of you.’
‘We love the lassie. We’re thankful our prayers have been answered.’
‘You’re true Christians, Maggie McLauchlan.’ He smiled and Maggie thought how much younger he looked when he lost the furrows in his brow and his lean face relaxed. ‘As to the dresses, if you will write down Janet’s measurements I shall ask Donald to take them down to Mr Cole’s. I will write him a letter asking him to make three suitable dresses and deliver them to me himself as soon as he has them ready. I would like to see him anyway and hear how he is coping with Mrs Scott and his wife. I shall ask him to dine with us if he can be spared. He was a very troubled man when last we spoke together.’
Each day, Janet’s muscles strengthened as she persevered with the exercises which Josiah planned for her. She wondered how he knew about such things when he asked Peggy to massage her legs each day with some kind of oil. He seemed to read her thoughts.
‘You may wonder how I can advise,’ he said with a smile. ‘When I was a boy I was very ill and the fever left me with a heart defect, so my father and my stepmother thought it wise to keep me in bed. They did not realize they were making me a worse invalid. My muscles wasted away, as yours are doing now. Fortunately, our old family doctor became ill himself and his nephew took his place. He was young and I shall bless him for ever. Not only did he recommend I should begin to take exercise every day, but that I should increase my activities. My parents were fearful and disapproved of his advice but we became good friends. If I had been kept immobile much longer I should probably never have walked again. He taught me to make the most of each day,’
he grinned boyishly, ‘rather than let life pass me by thinking I was postponing death by staying in bed.’
‘I understand,’ Janet said. ‘I am dismayed to find my own legs are so weak. They look like twigs which might snap at any time. I was so strong before I – before I ran away.’ She shuddered, remembering that awful night. ‘Where is he now, your friend the doctor?’ she asked, not wanting to dwell on her own ordeal.
He was silent, his brow creased and Janet hastily apologized for asking questions.
‘M-my grandfather often told me I never stopped asking questions. I am sorry.’
‘Don’t be sorry for taking an interest in other people, Janet,’ Josiah said gently. ‘I rarely talk about my friends, but Doctor John was an exceptional man. He had once told me he would like to go to Edinburgh to work amongst the poor. He wanted to treat those who could not afford a doctor, and those whose ignorance of hygiene often caused their illnesses. There are many who cannot afford nourishing food, or keep their houses free from damp and cold, children die before they know what life is about. Have you heard of cholera? He believed it was a disease of the stomach and bowels caused by drinking foul water. He had many dreams, but not many people listened.’
‘But you did,’ Janet remarked softly.
‘Yes, I used to wish I had the physical strength to become a doctor like him so that I could help people too.’ Janet waited quietly. He began to speak again, slowly, his voice low, as though he was thinking his thoughts aloud. ‘When my great-uncle told me he intended making me his heir, he said he hoped I would put my inheritance to good use for the sake of my own health and for the needs of others. It occurred to me that Doctor John was one person I could help to achieve his dreams. I gave him money to set up a clinic in one of the poorest areas of Edinburgh and for a few years I paid him enough for his food and clothes. Gradually the clinic has become known. He did not confine his knowledge to helping only the poor. Word spread and now he has a few wealthy patrons who appreciate his skill and the sons of two of them now share his dreams and assist in the clinic. It will take many men like Doctor John, and many generations, before the world can be a better place to live.’ He sighed, ‘Now, Miss Janet, that is enough of my life. When you are strong enough, I am hoping you will help me to sort out my library. Your grandfather always said you had a great love of books as a child, and a thirst for knowledge. Did you know he hoped to make you a teacher like himself one day?’
‘He often let me help the little ones to learn their letters. We – we had to leave all his books behind. I longed to be able to read them, but there was no time at Braeheights, even if I had had them. I would have liked to teach the boys to read, but their father considered education a waste of time. He-he said they must learn to work, and so must I.’ She shuddered and colour flooded her pale cheeks as she remembered Mr Foster had made time for his own pleasures with Lily Bloddret. Josiah saw the remembered horror in her eyes and he wondered exactly what the man Foster had done to make her flee from his house on a winter’s night.
Within the week, Mr Cole arrived in person to deliver three dresses for Janet and, as Josiah had suggested, he told her that her mother had helped to make them for her.
‘You will recognize her stitching on the bodice and sleeves,’ he said. He was shocked at the sight of her pale face and thin figure. He had known her since she was a child with a merry smile and chestnut curls bouncing around her rosy cheeks. Her smoky-blue eyes, so like her father and her brother, seemed too large for her thin face now. Two of the dresses were in russet wool for everyday wear but to Janet, who had only ever worn clothes cut down from her mother’s dresses, or loaned from Mrs Foster or Molly, they were truly beautiful and she could have hugged the elderly tailor.
‘The other is for church when you are well enough to attend again,’ Mr Cole told her. Janet unwrapped the third dress and gasped in delight at the emerald-green woollen gown with a matching cloak and a muff, warmly lined with rabbit fur.
‘I have never had such beautiful clothes in my life,’ she breathed. A look of anxiety clouded her gaze. ‘Could my mother afford to send these for me?’ she asked doubtfully.’
‘You will recognize her stitching on the bodice of the green dress,’ Mr Cole said, catching Josiah’s warning shake of the head, and tactfully avoiding a direct answer to her question, for he was an elder of the kirk and he never lied.
‘Then I must strive to get well soon so that I might thank my mother in person.’
‘Mr Cole is dining with me today, Janet. Perhaps you would like to write a letter to your mother? I understand she is not well enough to leave the house or to attend the kirk.’
‘A letter would please her,’ the old tailor said with his kindly smile.
When they were alone together Mr Cole turned to Josiah. ‘It is true Mary added stitches to the cuffs of Janet’s dresses but even that took all her strength. She seems barely aware she has a daughter. Each day I wonder if she will have the strength to rise from her bed and I wonder what I shall do when that day comes.’
‘That is why I hoped you would deliver the dresses in person. I intend to keep Janet here at Crillion Keep. I know she can read and write. I can find plenty of light work for her but she has a proud and independent spirit. We must tread carefully. I have plenty of empty rooms so I intend to persuade her to bring her mother here where she can care for her, with help from Peggy Baird when she needs it. I believe Peggy and Mary were friends when they attended the dominie’s school as young girls.’
‘You would do that, Josiah? You would take Mary in too?’ Mr Cole stared at him incredulously, then with dawning relief. ‘The expense and trouble of caring for another….’
‘Is as nothing to me. I have no family and the dominie was a good friend to me.’
‘Aye, and to me, and many another,’ Mr Cole nodded. ‘But your sister? Everyone in the area has heard of her fury because you are caring for Janet here.’
‘I no longer consider Eliza a member of my family. We share no blood ties. Her mother was good to me as a child, but my father provided well for both of them. My fortune is not large but if I can spread a little happiness then it will be well spent.’
Chapter Ten
Two weeks later, the Ross coach came up the long drive once more. This time, both Eliza and her son alighted almost before the coachman could open the door and let down the step. Mrs McLauchlan and Mrs Mossy saw them through the kitchen window and it was clear from Mrs Ross’s demeanour that her arrival spelled trouble. They could never have dreamt of the far-reaching consequences her arrogance and greed would precipitate.
Maggie McLauchlan straightened her cap and smoothed down her white apron. Both were spotless as usual. She hurried to open the door but almost before she could step back Eliza swept past her, her expression haughty and her beady eyes glittering. Her son followed in her wake and from his expression, Maggie guessed he was anticipating a quarrel with as much glee as other men derived from a cockfight or bouts in the boxing rings.
‘I’ll tell Mr Saunders you’re here, ma’am,’ Maggie said.
‘I don’t know why he can’t employ a butler and a footman to attend to the door.’
‘It’s no trouble ma’am. I will tell—’
‘You needn’t bother. I shall find him in that cramped little room near your kitchens, no doubt. He always did prefer the company of servants,’ she added contemptuously.
Maggie hurried back to her own domain, knowing that for once Mrs Ross would find Mr Saunders’s favourite room empty. It had surprised them all when he had vacated it to give Janet a warmer and more convenient bedroom during her illness and the most convenient for herself, popping in and out from the main kitchen. He was always considerate.
Three days ago, Janet had moved upstairs to a bedroom of her own and the fires had been lit in the long library. Billy Nairn, the carrier’s son, was always willing to assist indoors or out when required, especially if there was a chance of seeing Lizzy Semple, the young maid. Jo
siah had instructed him to move two of the big leather chairs and a table nearer the fire at one end of the library. Maggie didn’t know what he intended to do but she knew Janet shared his interest in books and she looked happier than Maggie had seen her since she was a young girl at school.
The only cloud on her horizon at the moment was her mother’s health. Since Mr Cole’s visit, Janet realized her mother must be very ill. Maybe that was the reason she had never contacted her at Braeheights. She confided her anxiety to Maggie.
‘We must have faith, lassie, and the Lord will provide.’ It was the only comfort or advice she had felt able to offer. ‘We are all thankful you have been spared, Janet. Your health and strength are improving every day.’
It was true. Peggy had helped her wash her thick hair and it had sprung back into shining curls. Janet had regained the strength to brush it daily again. Even in the woollen working dress, she looked trim and neat with the snowy white apron she had sewn herself. Mr Saunders had surprised them all when he told her to remove her cap, declaring it was a pity to cover such lovely hair. Instead, Janet had tied her hair back with one of the ribbons Peggy had given her but that only served to emphasize her fine features. It was plain to see she would be a lovely young woman when her health was fully restored and the hollows beneath her delicate cheekbones filled out. There were still faint blue shadows beneath her eyes but they seemed to emphasize her clear gaze.
Josiah Saunders noticed all the improvements and decided the time had come to occupy Janet’s time and thoughts before she grew restless and anxious to find work.
Twice Fingal hired a horse to visit Crillion Keep and both times he had stayed overnight. He also noticed Janet’s return to health.
‘She is almost like the girl I remember from our schooldays,’ he said to Maggie, ‘but what will become of her, Mother? I wish I was earning enough money to look after her and protect her from men like Foster.’
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