by Joanna Neil
When they went back into the Great Hall the assembled crowd was mellow, replete from all the good food and warm from the fire that burned in the magnificent fireplace. Villagers were chatting, one to the other, while Molly and Cameron were playing with other youngsters in between helping themselves to cookies from the table.
A local businessman came to take Ross to one side, and Izzy noticed that Lorna was across the other side of the room, talking to Greg and Finn. Alice was in her wheelchair, but she saw Izzy standing by the door and came towards her.
‘We’re getting short on mulled wine,’ Alice said. ‘Do you want to come into the kitchen with me to make some more? I can manage most things, but I’m not so good at lifting things down from shelves.’
‘Of course. Just tell me what you need and we’ll make it together.’
No one had ventured into the kitchen, preferring to stay with the hub of activity in the Great Hall and the drawing room. Alice fetched a bottle of red wine from the rack and poured it into a pan on the hob, and then turned on the heat.
‘I’ll add some honey and sliced orange,’ Alice said, going over to the fridge. ‘We’ll need some cinnamon sticks and ginger, too. They’re on the shelf up there, if you could reach them down for me.’
Izzy obliged, adding them to the mix. ‘That looks lovely,’ she said. ‘What a beautiful rich colour.’
Alice dipped a spoon into the liquid and tasted it. ‘I think we need some cloves, and maybe a quarter cup of brandy. That should do it.’
Izzy looked around the kitchen for cloves while Alice added the brandy. ‘We’ll let that simmer for a few minutes,’ Alice said. She glanced at Izzy. ‘It’s so good to be back here at last.’ She was lost for a moment in a silent reverie. ‘Robert was planning on coming back, you know.’
Izzy nodded. ‘Ross said as much. I was a bit surprised at that, because I know Robert had some issues about being here. I wasn’t sure how deep the rivalry went between them.’
Alice smiled. ‘I know they were always fighting, but I think that was just the exuberance of youth…two young men growing up and battling for supremacy. It ended when they realised that they were equals. The one thing they had in common was their love of this place. They both had ideas about how it should be run, but their father would never let them do anything. He always thought he knew best.’
‘Like my father,’ Izzy said with a wry smile.
‘Exactly like Pops.’ A wistful expression flitted across Alice’s face. ‘I can’t believe I used to call him that—it was such an endearing name. I thought the world of him. I still do.’ She gazed up at Izzy. ‘Only I fell in love with Robert. I knew all about the friction between the two families—how could I not?—but Robert and Ross were so kind to me after my parents died, and Robert…To me he was such a wonderful man—slightly flawed, but full of energy and rebelliousness. I couldn’t help myself. I didn’t want to hurt Pops, but I knew he would stop me from being with Robert and that’s why I left.’
‘Did you have any regrets…?’ Izzy frowned. ‘I mean, I know you must have, because I know you wouldn’t have wanted to hurt my mother or my father, but what about Ross? Weren’t you and he a couple at one time? Did you worry about what he would feel?’
Alice sent her an oblique glance. ‘I know that’s what everybody said, and I encouraged them to think that way. I thought maybe Pops would think it was the lesser of two evils if I was going around with Ross and not with Robert…But Ross was never in love with me. He pretended to be, to tease Robert, and he’d take me out and about on the estate, or buy me lunch in some out-of-the-way place so I could talk about my troubles, but we both knew that you were the only one he ever wanted.’
Izzy’s brows shot up. ‘That can’t be true. Surely I would have known.’ She was stunned by that revelation.
Alice shook her head. ‘He used to try to talk to you whenever he met up with you by accident in the village, but you always kept the meetings short. He said you seemed to like him, but you would never look twice at him because your family was so set against the Buchanans, and he wouldn’t push it because he knew you could be hurt. I think that’s why he followed Robert and me to the Lake District. He knew after the furore that erupted that you would be even more determined to stay away from him. You wouldn’t risk going against the family. So when Robert told him about a job that had come up at the hospital, he applied for it.’
Izzy stared at her. ‘You’ve known this all this while? Yet you never said anything—you didn’t even hint at it.’
‘Ross asked me not to say anything.’ Alice stirred the wine. ‘I’m only talking about it now because I see the way you look at him, the way he looks at you, and I made that promise when the situation was different. You have to make the decision. Ross will never make it for you. All I can say is that I followed my heart, and though I don’t regret what I did it has been hard to take the consequences of being cut off from the people I love. I went into it blindly, not knowing what might happen but hoping Pops would come round eventually. You, at least, will know what to expect.’
Izzy laid a hand on Alice’s shoulder. ‘Thank you for telling me all this. I’m sorry for the way you’ve had to suffer all these years, and I’m glad that Ross has brought you back here to us.’
Alice acknowledged that with a smile. ‘We should pour the wine into a serving dish,’ she said after a while. ‘Or perhaps it would be better in one of those heat-resistant serving jugs.’ She indicated a cupboard, and Izzy went to have a look.
‘Okay, we’ll take this back into the Great Hall, shall we?’ Izzy suggested.
Her head was whirling with all that Alice had told her. Suddenly she had a completely different perspective on things. What was she to do? Could she follow her heart, let Ross know that she loved him and risk the wrath of her father, or should she put family above everything?
What was it that Ross had said about her father? ‘How long was it that Alice was married to my brother? He didn’t change in all that time.’
CHAPTER TEN
‘ARE you sure the roads are clear enough for you to drive over there? We’re expecting more snow, and that wind’s getting up again.’ Izzy’s mother was worried.
‘I’ll be fine. I’ll drive carefully, I promise.’ Izzy gave her a hug. ‘I’ll be back in time to help you with the Christmas dinner.’
She was gathering up Christmas presents from the kitchen table when her father came into the room. ‘You’re not actually going up there?’ He was frowning heavily. ‘It’s Christmas morning. What on earth are you thinking of?’
‘I’m thinking of Alice and the children,’ Izzy said. ‘I have some presents for them, and I want to wish them well.’
‘But it’s Buchanan’s place. How can you be going up there?’ His scowl deepened as he looked at the parcels in her arms. ‘I suppose you have a present for him as well, don’t you?’
‘I don’t have a problem with Ross Buchanan,’ Izzy said calmly. ‘Just the opposite, in fact. Nor do I have a problem with Alice. I want to see them. I’ll only be gone for an hour.’
‘So you’d go against everything I believe in? All my principles?’
‘That’s just it. They’re your principles, not mine. I’m sorry if that upsets you, but I think you’re living in the past. It’s time to move on and start a new way of life.’
‘Why should I do that? Why should I abandon everything that I believe in?’
‘Because it hurts the people that you love and the people who love you.’ Izzy gazed at her father, trying to appeal to his better nature. ‘It was your attitude that made Alice leave without saying anything. She didn’t want to go against you, but you left her no choice. She ran away so that you wouldn’t stop her. I’m not going to do that. I will always tell you what’s in my mind and what I want to do. You might not always like it, but how you deal with it is up to you.’
He returned her gaze steadily, unflinching, but she thought she saw his shoulders relax a fraction, and that ga
ve her a pause for thought. Was that what had been bothering him most of all? Had he thought she would simply walk out of his life in the same way Alice had done?
She said slowly, ‘I think you should stop concentrating on the bad side of the Buchanans and think about all the good Ross has done. He is not his father or his grandfather. He has a set of principles that are every bit as strong as yours. Those are what make him the man he is—the man who goes out day in and day out to save the lives of people who are injured, the man who looks after his brother’s wife and children. If nothing else, you should respect him for that.’
She left the house then and drove to Ross’s home, the beautiful castle that had withstood the test of time on its craggy promontory overlooking the loch.
‘Happy Christmas.’ Ross greeted her with a smile. ‘I wasn’t sure whether you would make it after all, but it is so good to see you. Did you have any problem coming here?’
Izzy shook her head. ‘It’s good to see you, too. How are things going with you and Alice and the children? Have you had a good morning so far?’
‘We’re having a great time.’ He studied her briefly as he showed her into the Great Hall. ‘I’m sure there’s a lot you’re not telling me, but we’ll set that aside, shall we? Come and see everybody. They’re still opening their presents in the drawing room.’
Izzy followed him, stopping to greet Alice and the children and hand out presents. They in turn gave her gifts that brought a smile to her face. ‘An angora wool scarf and lovely perfume…exactly what I wanted.’
Alice exclaimed with delight over her gift of a cashmere sweater, and the children showed her their new toys and asked for help in undoing all the ties that held them in place in the boxes.
Izzy gave Ross a brightly wrapped parcel, and he looked startled. ‘You bought me a present? I wasn’t expecting that at all.’
She smiled. ‘I wasn’t sure what would be the best thing to get for you,’ she murmured. ‘But then I hit on an idea and this seemed like just the thing. I hope you like it.’
He carefully opened his present, gazing down at it in wonder. It was a bottle of wine, but the glass was specially tinted and etched with a picture of the castle against a background of mountains, and the whole was highlighted with touches of gold, to make it look as though the sun was shining down over everything.
‘It’s actually your own wine that’s in the bottle,’ she said. ‘I had to do a bit of conniving with Maggie and the man who does the bottling to make it just right.’
He was still staring at the bottle. He placed it down on the top of a cupboard, putting it out of harm’s reach and in pride of place at the centre. ‘That is such a great gift,’ he said. ‘Thank you for that.’ His smile warmed her through and through. ‘I wonder if we could reproduce them and make special presentation bottles for the winery.’ He wound his arms around her and kissed her full on the mouth, uncaring that Alice and the children were watching their every move.
He broke off the kiss after a minute or two and turned to face the others. Molly and Cameron, after looking at them wide-eyed for a second, lost interest and went on examining their toys. Alice had a wide grin on her face.
‘I’m going to take Izzy to the library,’ he said. ‘I have a present waiting for her in there.’
‘We’ll be fine,’ Alice said. ‘You go ahead. Just remember I’ve planned dinner for a couple of hours’ time.’
‘I have to be back home way before then.’ Izzy laughed.
Ross had taken hold of her hand, though, and was leading her towards the library at a brisk pace.
‘I have two presents for you,’ he said. ‘The first is something that I thought you would enjoy…something to make you feel cosseted at the end of a hard day. Lorna said you didn’t have one—not quite like this, anyway.’
He had bought her a silk robe, beautifully hand-embroidered and exquisite in its entirety. She gasped. ‘It’s lovely,’ she murmured. ‘I wasn’t expecting anything—especially not this.’
‘Hmm…I have to admit I’ve had a few problems over this robe—I kept thinking of how you would look when you were wearing it. I just can’t keep up with the cold showers.’
Her cheeks flushed hotly pink, but he had already turned away, and now drew out a small box from the bureau. ‘This is the present that I really wanted to give you,’ he said softly. ‘The trouble is, I’m not at all sure that you will accept it.’
The breath seemed to have left her body all at once. He opened up the box and inside, nestling on a velvet cushion, was the most perfect diamond ring she had ever seen.
Tears sprang to her eyes. ‘Is that what I think it is?’ she asked, her voice husky.
He nodded. ‘It’s an engagement ring. I think you must know that I love you—that I have always loved you, Izzy. What I want more than anything is for you to say that you will be my wife. Will you marry me?’
Tears began to trickle down her face. ‘I want to say yes,’ she whispered. ‘I really want to say yes. Because I love you, too. I’ve known it for some time. But I don’t think we can ever be happy if my father is alienated from us. There would always be that anguish at the back of my mind. I want to be with you, Ross, but I can’t.’
‘Are you sure about that? We could ask him to give us his blessing, but if he won’t we could marry anyway. At least you would have tried to win him round.’
She shook her head. ‘I want to marry in the church in the village, with my family all around me and my father walking me down the aisle. I don’t want to have to hide or to flinch or to beg forgiveness for my actions. I want my family to be happy for me. I just don’t see how that is ever going to happen.’
He drew in a deep breath and closed up the box. He put it away once more in a drawer in the bureau, and then closed up the door. ‘It will stay there,’ he said, ‘until the day you change your mind.’
Izzy’s emotions threatened to overwhelm her. Had she really just turned down the man she loved? It was unbearable even to think about it.
She started the drive home just a short time later. If Alice guessed that something was wrong she said nothing, and Ross put on a bluff exterior as though all was right with the world. It was only his eyes that gave him away. There was a bleakness there when he thought no one was looking, and it cut Izzy to the quick.
Christmas dinner with her family was generally a happy time. Today her grandparents were there to share the meal with them, along with uncles and aunts and cousins, and then the neighbours, who came round to share a drink afterwards and watch the Queen’s speech on the television.
If her father was more quiet than usual no one except Izzy and her mother seemed to notice, and the neighbours forgot themselves enough to mention that Ross had invited everyone over for the Hogmanay celebrations in less than a week’s time.
‘It was on the day when the power lines were down,’ one of the neighbours said. ‘He said we were all invited. He’s planning on making it a tradition to hold a party up at the castle. I think it should be good. It was generous of him to have us all over there when we were cold and hungry, don’t you think?’
Izzy’s mother glanced at her husband. ‘I thought it was a nice thing to do. He sent us an invitation for the party through the post. We weren’t there that day, you see.’
‘Ah…yes, that’s true.’ The neighbour looked uncomfortable for a moment, and then sought for a way to change the subject. ‘I thought the Queen’s speech was very good this year, didn’t you? She was showing us how people triumph over the bad times, and how people can be uplifted even when they have been suffering.’
They all started to talk about the TV schedules and disaster was averted—for the time being at any rate. Izzy helped to clear away the crockery from the dinner table, and lost herself in thoughts of what might have been if only circumstances had been different. Her body might well be here, in her parents’ kitchen, but her soul was away across the miles by the loch, with the Laird of Glenmuir.
She didn�
��t see Ross again in the week that followed, though she heard about a helicopter rescue when he airlifted an injured man to hospital following an accident on the main road to Inverness. His patient had suffered cardiac contusions, and by all accounts it had been touch and go for a while, but Ross had managed to get him there safely, and according to the newspaper reports he was now recovering from his ordeal.
The weather became more and more treacherous as New Year’s Eve dawned, with the wind rising and blowing the snowflakes this way and that, so that Izzy had to keep her head down to avoid it blowing into her eyes whenever she went to put out seeds and raisins on the bird table in her parents’ garden.
‘They say there are trees coming down in the highest areas,’ her mother said. ‘According to the news report they’re worried about hazards on the roads and on the railways. There was something on the television just a little while ago about a branch coming down on the line that passes by the village. I didn’t hear that they’ve put a halt to any of the trains, though. Isn’t Lorna supposed to be coming back today?’
Izzy was suddenly on alert. ‘Did they say the branch had actually come down on the line? Surely they must have stopped the trains if that’s the case?’
‘I didn’t hear all of it,’ her mother said. ‘Steven from next door came to ask if your father could give him a hand with the logs for his fire. He was having trouble stacking them in the shed.’
Izzy turned on the television set and tuned to a news programme. ‘There’s nothing,’ she said in frustration. ‘Lorna was supposed to be coming back around about this time. She has to work tomorrow, and there’s only the one train running because of the holidays. I think I’ll try and reach her on her mobile to see what’s happening. I need to know that she’s safe.’
There was no answer from Lorna’s mobile, and Izzy paced the room in frustration. Maybe she had switched it off, or perhaps she was in a poor signal area. Either way, Izzy was left feeling helpless. She sent a text message, asking Lorna to get in touch.