The Loveless Marriage Read online

  There were steps leading down from it onto one of the lawns.

  Moving towards the shadows of the trees, Fyna walked on, certain that sooner or later she would find the river that the Earl had spoken about.

  She had not gone very far when she heard the sound of water.

  Then a few minutes later she saw what she had not expected, a large cascade.

  The water obviously came from the moors that were at the back of The Castle.

  Flowing down from there, it reached the garden.

  The fall was about forty feet and then the water streamed away over sharp rocks towards the sea.

  It was just so beautiful in the moonlight and so unexpected that Fyna stood looking at it entranced.

  The water roared down from the top of the cascade and noisily swept past the rocks as if it was in a hurry to reach the sea.

  Because there had been a great deal of rain in the middle of July, the cascade was very violent.

  It suddenly struck Fyna that anyone falling in front of it would be swept into the sea at once.

  It came into her mind that this could be a chance of escape.

  What could be a better way of dying than in the water that she had always loved?

  Then, as she thought of it, a quiet voice beside her came,

  “If you did that, both our Clans would believe that I had murdered you.”

  Fyna started.

  Because of the noise of the cascade, she had been unaware of the Earl’s approach.

  Yet he was standing there, looking down at her in the moonlight.

  “How do – you know – that was what I was – thinking?” she stammered.

  He smiled.

  “Do I as a Scot have to give you the obvious answer to that question?”

  “You – mean that – you are fey?”

  “It is what I have always believed,” he said.

  She turned her face away from him –

  “I am – frightened.”

  “I know that,” the Earl answered. “I was aware of it when you joined me in the Kirk and, when I put the ring on your finger, I was even more certain of it at dinner.”

  “I cannot – help it,” Fyna murmured.

  “What you are telling me,” he said, “is that you wanted to marry someone you loved. That you believed love would come to you and you would be swept away by the wonder and glory of it.”

  Now she turned round to stare at him.

  “How can – you know – that?” she asked.

  “It is what I have always hoped myself would happen,” he explained.

  “So you – had no wish to – marry me.”

  “None,” he replied. “But, when I saw you, I realised that you were very different from what I had expected.”

  There was a little pause until Fyna said,

  “I – too was – surprised. I did not think – you would look like a – Viking.”

  “I have heard that so often” the Earl said, “that I have come to believe it. But you look like a spirit of the woods or a spirit of the river.”

  Now Fyna stared at him.

  “How could – you say – that?”

  “I say that,” the Earl replied, “because I know it is the truth and what you are thinking yourself. Am I right?”

  “Of course – you are – but it seems very strange that you – should know what – no one else has – ever known, except perhaps Papa.”

  The Earl thought for a moment and then he said,

  “This is where I think we should start our journey together as man and wife.”

  He saw Fyna flash him a puzzled glance and explained,

  “Let’s now allow our intuition, which comes from being fey, to help us get to know each other. Then perhaps we will be able to begin our married life as we both want it to be.”

  “You – mean,” Fyna said in a voice he could hardly hear, “that you – will not make – love to me.”

  “Not until you want me to,” the Earl answered. “In fact, not until we love each other in the way we have both been seeking and believed we might one day find.”

  Fyna clasped her hands together.

  “If we – could do that, I would not be at all – frightened and it might – be very very wonderful.”

  “I think that is what we shall both hope and pray will happen,” the Earl said.

  Fyna looked at him and then she sighed,

  “Thank you – thank – you for being – so understanding.”

  “It is something I will try to be,” he said, “but you will have to help me.”

  “I only – hope that – you will let me,” Fyna replied.

  She looked up at the cascade as she spoke and the Earl said,

  “I think if you listen you will find my cascade will speak to you as it used to talk to me when I was a small boy.”

  “What did it say to you?” Fyna asked.

  “It told me of the adventures that were waiting for me in the world outside. And as I got older it told me I had to prepare myself for them and, if I did, I would not be disappointed.”

  “And were – you?” Fyna enquired.

  “No, I have enjoyed every moment of what has happened to me since I left Scotland and went, as you might say, exploring.”

  She knew that he was thinking of how he had fought with Wellington’s Army in Spain and then at Toulouse and Waterloo.

  She could almost feel the excitement that his thoughts evoked in him.

  “Now I have come back,” the Earl went on. “Like you, I was afraid that the adventure and excitement was all over and everything would be dull and prosaic. But I was wrong.”

  He was looking at her as he spoke and she stated,

  “I will – pray, as you – have suggested, that – our marriage will be – eventually what you hope it – will be.”

  “Something very strong inside me tells me that it will be,” the Earl replied. “But we must not rush our fences. We must wait until Fate or the Gods give us all that we are seeking.”

  He turned round as he spoke and added,

  “Now I am going to take you back. I don’t want you to get a cold. We will spend a quiet day tomorrow before we leave on Monday for Edinburgh.”

  Fyna moved beside him.

  They walked back through the garden.

  As they did so, she could not believe that what had just happened was real and that she was not dreaming.

  Chapter Six

  On Monday morning when she awoke, Fyna saw that there was a yacht outside in the bay.

  When she hurried into the breakfast room, the Earl said,

  “We are travelling in a very old yacht that belonged to my father. I am afraid it will be rather slow and not particularly comfortable. I have been wondering now if I should have a new one built for me.”

  “If you did that,” Fyna replied, “we could visit Orkney and the Shetland Isles.”

  The Earl looked surprised.

  “Is that what you would enjoy?”

  “I know that Kirkwall has a very interesting history,” she answered, “and I have heard that there are many migrant birds on the Islands which one does not see on the mainland.”

  He smiled across the table at her.

  “Then most certainly we shall need a new yacht.”

  She laughed before she replied.

  “I only hope you will not reproach me for having extravagant ideas.”

  When they set off in the yacht, it seemed to the Earl that they were always laughing.

  He had found on his many travels that most women were a bore at sea because they were always seasick.

  They also had little to talk about except for love.

  Fyna explored the whole yacht and then appeared to enjoy the sea when it was rough.

  In point of fact she could not be persuaded to leave the deck.

  When they talked together at meals, the Earl found that she was genuinely interested in hearing about the Napoleonic War that he had fought so gallantly in.

>   She asked him endless questions about his travels.

  In London the women who he had affaires de coeur with were not at all interested in Bonaparte now that he was no longer a menace.

  In fact they rarely talked about anything except for themselves.

  This, of course, included him.

  It was a conversation which always ended in exactly the same way.

  With Fyna he found himself searching his brain to tell her stories of the places that he had visited.

  She wanted an exact description of Paris and all that he had seen there.

  When they finished talking about that City, the Earl remarked,

  “I thought I would have to take you to Paris to buy you your trousseau. But you are so exceedingly smart, I now realise that it is unnecessary.”

  “For that you have to thank a French woman,” Fyna replied.

  The Earl looked surprised.

  She then explained how Yvonne had made her dresses with the help of a large number of other women from the Clan.

  “You always manage to astonish me,” the Earl commented.

  He meant it as a compliment.

  The more he talked to Fyna, the more he found she never said the obvious, but invariably something he did not expect.

  They arrived in Edinburgh late on Tuesday night.

  They learnt that The Royal George had been sighted East North-East of Holy Island, four leagues from Emanuel Head.

  When they left the yacht, the Earl had a carriage waiting which took them to Dalkeith Castle.

  They were welcomed by the secretary of the Duke of Buccleuch.

  “I hope, my Lord,” he said to the Earl, “you will not be disappointed in the rooms you and her Ladyship have been allotted. When I thought you were alone, I had put you on the first floor near to His Majesty.”

  He paused as if he wanted the Earl to appreciate the idea and then continued,

  “But, as your Ladyship requires a dressing room, you will now be on the second floor in rooms that have recently been refurbished for guests.”

  “I am sure we shall be very comfortable,” the Earl smiled.

  The conversation made him remember that he still had to tell the King of his marriage.

  *

  The next morning the King was expected to arrive and they went to the Firth with some other guests who had come from The Palace.

  It was then arranged that the party from Dalkeith Palace should be on one of the ships that were waiting for His Majesty’s arrival.

  At one o’clock a signal would tell them of the King’s approach.

  As soon as the Royal Standard was sighted above the sails of the King’s yacht, every armed vessel in the Firth fired a thundering welcome.

  The crowds on the shore were enormous and increasing every moment.

  Then, just before two o’clock, there was heavy and persistent rain.

  It drenched the crowds, carriages, foot soldiers and those in small boats all eager to go as near to the Royal yacht as possible.

  The rain continued so heavily that the King was advised against landing that day.

  The disappointment cast a gloom over all those waiting to see him.

  A number of people, like Sir Walter Scott, had gone aboard The Royal George.

  He had been worried sick by this unfortunate disruption of the programme.

  He was cheered up only when he was told that the King had said,

  “Sir Walter Scott! The one man in Scotland I most wish to see. Let him come up.”

  When they met, Scott made a speech and presented a gift from the ladies of Scotland.

  He knelt on one knee and kissed the Royal hand and the King promised to wear the gift, which was a badge.

  Then he called for cherry brandy to drink Sir Walter’s health with.

  He saw a number of other people during the afternoon, but the Earl, however, decided it would be a mistake to push his way in when so many others were waiting their turn.

  He also noticed that going aboard the Royal yacht soaked everyone who attempted it.

  There was no point, he thought, in Fyna getting so wet and the great crowd on the shore were gloomily dispersing.

  “I think,” he said to Fyna, “we should be wise to go back to Dalkeith Palace and wait until the morning.”

  “It is certainly a very heavy downpour,” she agreed. “I feel very sorry for the people who have waited so long and who are so eager to see him.”

  The Earl knew that she was really perturbed for their sake and thought it was very kind of her.

  He helped her into the carriage that was waiting for them and then they drove back to Dalkeith Palace.

  They had dinner with other guests who were staying in the house and then they retired to their bedrooms.

  The rooms were very comfortable, but smaller than those on the first floor.

  The windows looked out over the gardens at the back of Dalkeith Palace and there was a connecting door between the two rooms should either of them wish to use it.

  The Earl, however, said ‘goodnight’ to Fyna in the passage and went to his own room.

  He was thinking as he did so that she had looked really beautiful at dinner.

  Moreover she had held her own in conversation with the other guests and there were among them several very distinguished Statesmen and their wives.

  The Earl thought with satisfaction that Fyna had not seemed the least shy and she had talked with them most intelligently.

  She even managed to make them all laugh in the same way that he and she had laughed together when they were in the yacht.

  The following day the rain had stopped and there was now a blue sky.

  The Earl had heard that the King was going directly to the City and he knew that he must see that his Clansmen were not ignored.

  The order of march had been published in the newspapers that morning.

  The Earl was right in suspecting that the Marshals would have problems in preventing undignified disputes between the Clans.

  The most distinguished Chieftains were widely cheered.

  They certainly looked, like the Earl, very impressive, each with a spray of eagle feathers in his bonnet.

  The mounted gentlemen who were to ride in front of the Royal carriage were flanked by a troop of greys.

  The Usher of the White Rod preceded the Lord Lyon King of Arms, who was followed by the Lord High Constable.

  These and a number of other noble Officers were accompanied by attendants and heralds wearing tabards of scarlet and gold.

  The King’s carriage, which was open, was drawn by six well-bred bays.

  He sat alone, facing the Duke of Dorset and the Marquis of Winchester with their backs to the horses.

  The Esquires attending the Earl of Erroll, who was Lord High Constable, wore Spanish cloaks of a deep purple edged with gold.

  The Knight Marischal had a silver frock coat laced with gold, a white waistcoat and fine breeches with brown boots.

  In fact the whole procession was just so brilliant with scarlet and gold uniforms that Fyna thought that nothing could be more impressive.

  Every window of every building was packed with spectators and others were clustered on the roofs, clinging to chimneys and climbing up flimsy scaffolding.

  With the bands, the pipers and the cheering, the noise was deafening.

  It was even noisier when the King himself passed by.

  It was later that evening before the Earl was able to speak to the King.

  His Majesty was tired but elated by the tremendous welcome he had received.

  It had exceeded his welcome in Ireland and indeed anywhere else he had been.

  When the Earl then went into the drawing room at Dalkeith Palace, the King held out his hand.

  “Where have you been, my Highlander?” he asked. “I missed you.”

  “I was cheering Your Majesty like the rest of your faithful subjects,” the Earl replied.

  “Come and tell me exactly what you tho
ught of the procession,” the King suggested.

  “I have something important to tell Your Majesty,” the Earl replied.

  Because he spoke in a low voice, the King was immediately interested.

  When he heard that the Earl was married, his surprise was obvious.

  When he learnt the reason for such haste, he said,

  “Of course you were right. I have often heard of these feuds between the Clans, which can be very violent. But I thought that was now all in the past.”

  “That is what I am hoping, Sire, will happen,” the Earl said.

  “And your wife, where is your wife?” the King asked.

  The Earl then presented Fyna and knew by the expression in the King’s eyes that he was delighted.

  He loved pretty women and the Earl knew him well enough to know that he admired Fyna and his good wishes for their future happiness were entirely sincere.

  It was thought that the King should not be required to do too much on the first day.

  He was therefore allowed to dine comparatively quietly at Dalkeith Palace and not attend some official function.

  So there were only about thirty people for dinner, which took place in a most impressive dining hall.

  As the King was in an exceptionally good humour, he laughed and joked with everyone.

  After dinner he talked for some time with Fyna and the Earl deliberately moved away so as not to interfere.

  He knew, because the Monarch was smiling and Fyna seemed to be at her ease, that the conversation was exactly what he had wished for her.

  He also appreciated, as obviously the King did, how well Fyna was dressed.

  Tonight she had put on the gown of deep green that was all embroidered with silver and diamanté.

  It made her seem even more ethereal than she had before and she far outshone the other women in the party.

  What pleased the Earl more than anything else was that she was not shy and she did not appear to be overawed by the King’s presence.

  The Earl thought in despair, when he had first agreed to marry the Laird’s daughter, that he would never be able to take an uncouth Scots woman to Buckingham Palace.

  He could imagine all too clearly that she would be lost among the chattering throng who always surrounded the King.

  The ladies would laugh at her appearance behind their hands.