The Eyes of Love Page 10

  It was not completely dark in the room.

  Although the curtains were drawn, the moonlight percolated through at their sides.

  And one curtain, where she had been looking out at the sea, was not completely closed.

  Holding the revolver in her hand she tried to see if there was any movement on the floor.

  All the rooms in this part of The Castle were panelled.

  She had always been told that behind the panelling there were secret chambers in which the women and children had been hidden at times of Clan warfare and Viking looting.

  She could no longer hear any sound.

  She had imagined the rats creeping along behind the panelling and perhaps finding a hole through which to emerge into her bedroom.

  She felt herself shiver at the thought of it and her fingers tightened on the revolver.

  ‘I must have dreamt it,’ she next reassured herself.

  She bent over to put the revolver back into the drawer.

  Suddenly there came a clanging of the bell outside her door.

  For a second she wondered what it was.

  Then she recalled that she had given orders that the bell-pull in the Earl’s room should alert her and so give Mr. Bryden and Donald some rest.

  She knew at once what had happened.

  The rats had disturbed the Earl’s sleep as well as her own.

  He was ringing, as he thought, for Donald to come in and cope with them.

  She jumped out of bed, ran across the room and opened the door.

  She was wearing only her nightgown and had not stopped to put anything over it.

  She was concerned only with killing the invading rats.

  Outside the Earl’s room on a table there was a small oil lamp that lit the corridor at night and similar lamps were to be found all over The Castle.

  Vara had questioned the reason for this and she had been informed that the last Earl had considered the candles in their sconces to be a fire hazard.

  Because there was so much wood used for the beams, the panelling and the floors of The Castle, he had thought that lamps would be far safer.

  Outside the Earl’s bedroom door Vara stopped.

  Transferring the revolver into her left hand. she moved the oil lamp as near as possible to the door.

  She thought as she did so that she heard a slight scuffle.

  Then, as she silently opened the door, she put the revolver back into her right hand.

  At the same time she lifted the oil lamp from the table and went into the room and for a moment, as she looked towards the panelling, she could see nothing.

  There was a slight sound from the bed and, as she turned towards it, she gave a horrified gasp.

  There was a man in a kilt with his back to her lying on top of the bedclothes.

  Vara realised that the man in the kilt was holding a pillow over the Earl’s face and was obviously trying to suffocate him.

  The sound came again.

  With a swiftness that was entirely instinctive, Vara shot at the man lying on top of the Earl.

  The bullet entered his thigh and he gave a shriek of pain.

  She fired again, hitting him once again in the thigh.

  He turned over and fell with a crash to the floor.

  As he did so, she saw at once that it was Hamish.

  The pillow that he had tried to suffocate the Earl with then fell on top of him.

  Hardly taking in what was happening, Vara stood immobile.

  She held the lamp high with the smoking revolver in her right hand.

  Coughing and catching his breath, the Earl sat up in his bed.

  Vara took her eyes from Hamish, who was screaming and groaning and trying to grasp his bleeding leg.

  Now she was looking at the Earl, whose unbandaged eyes were staring straight at her.

  For a moment their eyes met and they just looked at each other.

  Then the Earl said in a voice that sounded strange and unlike his own,

  “I – can – see! I – can see you – Vara!”

  It was impossible for Vara to move.

  She could only stand looking at him and realising that she had been right.

  He was the most handsome man she had ever seen.

  “I can – see!” the Earl repeated. “And you are – exactly as I knew you would look!”

  “You can – s-see? You can – really see?” Vara asked him in a voice that seemed to come from a long distance.

  Behind her she heard someone come into the room and, as she turned her head, Donald asked,

  “What’s a-goin’ on here, my Lord?”

  He had obviously heard the explosions from the revolver and had come to investigate.

  He was in a thick dressing gown, his white hair ruffled on his head and he looked very different from how he did in the daytime in his smart kilt.

  Before the Earl could speak, Hamish cried,

  “Help me! Help me! I’ve been shot! I’m bleeding to death. Help me!”

  “And might Ah ask you what you’re a-doin’ in here at this time of night, Mr. Hamish,” Donald demanded angrily.

  “He was trying to suffocate me with a pillow,” the Earl cried. “Take him away, Donald. Lock him up and he will be handed over to the Police tomorrow morning.”

  “Verra good, my Lord.”

  Donald bent down and, taking hold of Hamish by the arm, dragged him across the floor and out of the room.

  He left a trail of blood behind him.

  As Donald closed the door behind him, they could hear Hamish screaming all the way down the passage.

  Vara, however, was concerned only for the Earl.

  She went a little nearer to the bed.

  As she did so, she realised that by the fireplace there was an open door in the panelling and this was obviously how Hamish had been able to enter the Earl’s bedroom.

  “Y-you are – not hurt?” she asked in a low voice.

  “You came just in time,” the Earl answered. “He had me pinned down and I only just managed to ring the bell before it was impossible for me to move.”

  “And – you can – see?”

  As she spoke, she laid her revolver down on the bed and put her hand in front of the oil lamp to shade it.

  “But it is – not yet – dawn!” she exclaimed.

  “The miracle you promised me has happened,” the Earl said. “I can see – I can see you quite clearly.”

  For the first time Vara remembered that she was wearing only her nightgown.

  As it was summer, it was of an almost transparent material.

  Impulsively she bent forward and, putting the oil lamp on the table, extinguished it.

  “Why have you done that?” the Earl asked. “Pull back one of the curtains. I want to see the stars.”

  Hoping it was too dark in the room for him to see her clearly, Vara did as she was told and pulled back the curtains.

  The stars were still brilliant in the sky and there was just a very faint tinge of light on the horizon.

  “It is nearly dawn,” Vara exclaimed. “You have kept your promise to Mother MacKay.”

  “The dawn of a new day and a new life!” the Earl almost shouted out in his enthusiasm.

  “I-I am so – glad – so very – very glad!” Vara whispered.

  Fearing that the Earl was looking at her, she moved back into the shadows and pushed the open panel closed as she passed it.

  “We will talk about this later,” the Earl said, “and I have a great deal to say to you, Vara.”

  Vara reached the door.

  “Try to go back to sleep,” she said. “There is so much for you to do in the morning and you must feel well and strong.”

  “I feel at the moment as if I could jump over the moon and swim across the North Sea!” the Earl answered.

  Vara gave a little laugh.

  “You will be able to do that now and, of course, we must let Mother MacKay know that her spirits have worked the miracle that we prayed for.�
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  “I think she knows that already,” the Earl suggested surprisingly.

  Vara hesitated for another moment.

  Then she knew that, although she longed to stay, she must do the right thing and go back to her own room.

  “I am thinking not only of Mother MacKay,” she said, “but also God.”

  She went along the passage.

  When she reached her own room, she knelt down beside the bed and prayed.

  Only when she felt cold did she rise from her knees.

  Then once again, ringing in her ears like the bell outside her door, was the question,

  ‘Will he send me back home tomorrow?’

  She found it impossible, however much she tried, to go to sleep.

  All she could think of was that the Earl would no longer be unhappy and no longer have to fight a lonely battle by himself.

  He would now be able to take up his position as the Chieftain of the McDorns.

  But would he hear the call of London and of all his friends whom Lord Belgrave had described so vividly?

  It was then that Vara wept.

  She had until then kept her self-control.

  She loved the Earl with all her heart and soul.

  But she knew that he would never feel the same about her.

  She told herself that to love him was as absurd as trying to touch the stars.

  The Social world that he lived in would be waiting for him.

  She suspected that he might decide to spend at least half of his life in the South and only come North for the fishing and shooting.

  His was a world that she had no part in.

  She cried like a child, the tears running down her cheeks.

  Finally she buried her face in the pillow.

  Later she told herself that she must behave with the composure and self-control that she knew her father would expect of his daughter.

  The Earl must never guess what her feelings towards him are.

  She was certain that he thought of her only as a local lassie who had been able to help him and to whom he felt grateful.

  Last night, in the excitement of being able to see again, he had told her that she looked exactly how he had expected her to look.

  But what did that mean?

  After his blindness he would have thought that any woman he saw was pretty.

  ‘I have my pride,’ Vara told herself.

  She only hoped that she would not betray herself before she was sent home.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Vara was asleep.

  She was suddenly awakened when she heard someone coming into the room and draw back the curtains.

  With an effort she opened her eyes and saw that, although the sun was now well up in the sky, it was still quite early and she had not slept for very long.

  As the maid pulled the last of the curtains, she said,

  “His Lordship told me to call you, miss. He wants to see you as soon as it’s possible.”

  Vara felt her heart give a throb of fright.

  Could something have gone wrong?

  Was the Earl suddenly blind again?

  Why should he want to see her so soon?

  She climbed out of bed and washed herself as quickly as she could.

  As the maid brought her her clothes, she said,

  “You’d never believe the goin’s on, miss. Ah’ve never hearrd anythin’ like it!”

  “Why? What has happened?” Vara asked and again was frightened that something had happened to the Earl.

  “Frae all Ah can make oot,” the maid replied, who was obviously longing to gossip, “Mr. Donald locked someone, Ah think it were Mister Hamish, in the cloakroom near to the front door. He turned the key on him and thought he’d be there this mornin’, but when he went there he found the window had bin broken in and whoever was there had gone.”

  “Gone?” Vara exclaimed.

  She knew that it could mean more trouble if Hamish had got away.

  “Mr. Donald’s in a proper stew aboot it,” the maid went on. “One of the gamekeepers was oot early and says he saw some of the lads frae the Harbour come and break the window. Did you ever hear of such impertinence?”

  “They broke the window?” Vara asked, feeling that she must now hear the whole story.

  “Aye, they did that. They took Mr. Donal’s prisoner oot and took him awa’. Ah think they’ve gone off in a boat. And Ah can tell you ’cos Ah’ve seen it mesel’, the cloakroom’s covered in blood!”

  The maid, who came from the village, was quite obviously enjoying the sensations she was causing.

  “But – where have they gone to?” Vara asked, thinking that this was more important than anything else.

  She had the feeling that Hamish was going to cause a great scandal.

  Not only would she be deeply involved for shooting Hamish, but also the Earl would be dragged into it too.

  “The gamekeeper says he asked ’em what they were a-doin’,” the maid was saying, “but he were alone and he couldna do anythin’ aboot them breakin’ the window.”

  “What did they reply?” Vara asked.

  “They told him that they were goin’ awa’ to somewhere they wouldna be found. I thinks they’ll no be comin’ back here.”

  Vara felt relief sweep over her as the maid continued,

  “And a good riddance too, if you asks me! The lads doon at the Harbour are real bad and the trouble they cause brings ever such shame to the Clan McDorn.”

  At least they had not harmed the Earl and that was all that Vara could think about at the moment.

  She fastened her belt, took a quick glance in the mirror as she pinned up her hair.

  Then she left the room without saying anything more to the maid.

  She ran along the passage, knowing that the Earl would not be waiting in his bedroom for her.

  She expected that he would be in the Chieftain’s Room but, as she reached the landing, she saw that he was standing there looking resplendent in his kilt.

  She hurried towards him looking anxiously up at his face, afraid that something had gone wrong and he could not see again.

  But he was smiling at her.

  “You have been very quick for a woman!” he teased.

  “You – wanted – me?” Vara stammered almost incoherently.

  Because he was smiling and because he looked at her with eyes that could see, she felt as if her whole being was singing with joy.

  “Yes, I do” the Earl replied. “I have something to show you.”

  He put out his hand and took hers.

  Then he turned and walked not down the stairs as she expected but along the passage.

  She was wondering where they were going.

  They were moving into a part of The Castle that she had not visited before.

  When they had gone for some way, they came to a short flight of steps, which led up to a heavy oak door.

  The Earl then went ahead, pulled back the iron bolt and opened it.

  Inside there was a stone staircase and, as Vara joined him, he said quietly,

  “Donald told me about this, but I wanted to see it for the first time with you.”

  Vara realised then that they were in the oldest part of The Castle and it was the way up to the top of one of the Towers.

  This part of The Castle had been the fortress when the McDorns had valiantly fought off the Viking invaders.

  Because they had been beaten, they had left the McDorn estate alone and gone further North and there they had pillaged and plagued a not so determined or resolute Clan.

  The steps Vara was climbing were very old and some of them were broken with age and use.

  The Earl, going first, kept hold of her hand.

  Because he was touching her, she could feel little thrills of excitement running through her.

  She was well aware of how strong he was and his vibrations seemed to reach out to her as they had always done.

  At the same time there now seemed to be something
different about their message.

  At the top of the steps there was another door.

  When the Earl opened it, Vara saw that they had now come out onto the roof of the West Tower.

  The battlements looked out over the Bay and there were remnants of a very old and rusty cannon.

  The Earl drew Vara towards the crenelated parapet.

  The sun was now well up in the sky and throwing a golden light on the sea and the lights on the purple moors on either side of the Bay were, Vara thought, much more beautiful than she had ever seen them before.

  It was a long way down to the gardens, but she could see the flowers and further on the low cliffs above the sandy beach of the Bay.

  It was all so wonderful that she felt the Earl too must be spellbound by the enchanted scene in front of him.

  Then he said quietly,

  “I brought you here to see what you have given me.”

  “It is all – yours,” Vara answered, “and I have prayed that you would one day be able to see and enjoy the sublime beauty of Scotland.”

  “You made me see it when you described it all to me,” the Earl replied, “and now, as you have said, I am really ‘Monarch of all I survey’.”

  “I am glad – so very glad,” Vara said, “and I hope now, my Lord that – you will love Scotland as I do.”

  The Earl turned his head to look at her.

  Then he asked her quietly,

  “You love Scotland and what else do you love?”

  Vara drew in her breath, feeling that it was a question that he should not have asked of her.

  And yet, with his dark eyes looking down into hers, it was somehow a very important question.

  She knew the answer only too well, but she could not say it.

  She tried to take her hand from the Earl’s, but he would not let it go.

  “Tell me!” he commanded.

  “I-I cannot – ” Vara whispered, “it might be – something that you – don’t want to – hear.”

  “I want to hear it and so, my darling, you must tell me the truth,” he demanded.

  She felt as if the sunshine had suddenly enveloped her whole body and what was more he had actually called her ‘darling’.

  Because she was so aware of the pressure of his fingers, she found it impossible not to give him her answer.

  “I-I – love – you – !” she breathed almost in a whisper.

  “As I love you!” the Earl answered and she could see love in his eyes.