74. Love Lifts The Curse Read online

  “My name is Faulkner and I am a doctor. I can assure you that you have caused a great commotion in The Castle!”

  He smiled as he spoke, but Jacoba said,

  “I-I am sorry – but Mr. Hamish McMurdock – t-told me to come here.”

  She gave a sudden cry.

  “He must – have been lying, – he said that the Earl was an – old man – nearly deaf and blind who – needed a – companion.”

  Doctor Faulkner finished bandaging her ankle and set her foot down gently on the bed.

  “I am afraid that Hamish, whom I have known for many years, was playing a trick on his uncle!”

  “You mean – that man who – told me to – go away – really is the Earl?”

  The doctor nodded.

  “Then – I must – go away at once! But I am afraid – I have no money.”

  The doctor frowned.

  “Do you mean that young Hamish sent you here without giving you the price of your return ticket?”

  “He – gave me – a ticket from Kings Cross to – Inverglen – and five pounds for – expenses on the journey – I had to pay – five pounds to Mr. McDonald for a – carriage from – the station.”

  The doctor’s lips twisted.

  “So old McDonald was up to his tricks again!” he remarked.

  “What am – I to do – please – what am I to do?” Jacoba pleaded piteously.

  “There is nothing you can do for the moment but rest your leg,” the doctor replied. “I will tell his Lordship so and he will just have to put up with you!”

  “He – was angry – very angry that I have – come here,” Jacoba said with an anxious note in her voice.

  “I know he is sorry that his dogs have injured you,” the doctor remarked, “and they, as well as Hamish, have ensured that you are his guest, whether he likes it or not!”

  “I-I would – much rather – leave!”

  “As your medical adviser that is something I cannot allow,” Doctor Faulkner replied. “There is every likelihood, I am afraid to say, that this wound will swell and be unpleasantly painful for several days.”

  “Then – what can I – do?”

  Despite herself she gave a little sob as she added,

  “I-I am very hungry – but perhaps – as he is so angry – his Lordship will give me nothing to eat.”

  “Surely you brought some food with you for the journey?” the doctor asked.

  “I had some for yesterday – but it was practically all finished when I left Edinburgh at six o’clock this morning.”

  The doctor looked at her, Jacoba thought, as if he could hardly credit that she should have been so foolhardy.

  “Leave everything to me,” he said at last, “and all you must do now is to get into bed. There is no lady’s maid here to help you undress, but, as I am a doctor, you will have to trust me to help you.”

  As he spoke, he very gently helped her to sit up.

  He took off her jacket and undid her blouse at the back.

  Then he said,

  “I am going to find a nightgown in one of your trunks which I will have brought up here. In the meantime, try to take off everything you can without moving your left leg. Do you understand?”

  “I-I will try,” Jacoba agreed weakly.

  The doctor went from the room.

  Jacoba pulled off her blouse and managed by undoing her skirt at the waist to slip it down nearly to her knees without moving her foot, which was throbbing with every movement that she made.

  She realised when she pushed down her skirt that the doctor had cut her stocking off at the knee.

  He had not undone her suspenders.

  ‘He is so kind,’ she thought, ‘but at the same time I am afraid that the Earl will be very very angry!’

  She told herself that she must leave here as soon as possible.

  But, by the time she had removed most of her clothing and had covered herself with them, her head was reeling.

  Her eyes were closed and she was drifting away into unconsciousness when the doctor returned.

  Two footmen came behind him carrying her trunks and they put them down where he told them to.

  As they left the room, he came to the bedside.

  “I have ordered you some food,” he told her, “but first I want to make you comfortable.”

  “I have – taken off – all I can – without – moving my – foot,” she murmured.

  “So I see,” he replied, “and you have done it very sensibly. Tell me which of your trunks contains your nightgowns.”

  “The one that – has a strap – around it,” Jacoba answered him faintly.

  The doctor opened it, found a nightgown and came back to the bed.

  He put it over Jacoba’s head and lifted her arms into it and then, as she slipped it down, he very gently removed her other clothes.

  He did it so skilfully and modestly that she did not feel embarrassed.

  He moved the bedclothes from under her and packed the pillows up behind her so that she could sit.

  “They are going to bring you some food,” he said, “and you are to eat everything and then go to sleep.”

  “S-Supposing the Earl says I am – not to stay?”

  “His Lordship cannot say that to me,” the doctor said firmly, “and you have promised to obey me.”

  “I-I am sorry – to have – caused so much trouble – but I cannot – understand why he is – so angry.”

  Before the doctor could reply, there was a knock at the door.

  The doctor opened it and a footman came in carrying a tray.

  The doctor then arranged a table beside the bed and placed the tray on it.

  “Cook says he’s sorry there’s nay more,” the footman said, “but he did as you said and cooked everything that could be done quickly.”

  “Thank cook and say I will see him later tonight regarding any other meals,” the doctor replied.

  The footman left the room.

  The doctor realised that Jacoba was lying back against the pillows looking very pale and as if she might faint again.

  He sat down on the bed.

  “I am going to feed you,” he said, “and I expect you to gobble down everything I put into your mouth!”

  Jacoba tried to smile, but it was too much effort.

  The doctor gave her spoonful after spoonful of the soup and she could feel the warmth of it seeping down into her body.

  The soup was followed by a large mushroom omelette, but, when she had eaten about half of it, she said,

  “I-I cannot eat – any more!”

  “That is because you have gone hungry for too long. But I want you to drink the herb tea I have ordered for you. It will send you to sleep and stop you from feeling any pain in your leg.”

  Because it was easier to do what he wanted without objecting, Jacoba drank the tea.

  She realised that it had been sweetened with honey.

  It was delicious and, when the cup was empty, the doctor said,

  “Now you will sleep well and I shall come and see you in the morning. But remember to put your foot to the floor as little as possible and you are not to think of leaving, until I tell you that you may!”

  “I will do as you say and I do feel better – very much better, doctor. Thank you – thank you! Everybody has been so kind to me today – except for – his L-Lordship!”

  She hesitated over the last words and the doctor said,

  “You are punishing him by staying in The Castle when he had sworn that never again would any woman cross his threshold!”

  Jacoba’s eyes opened wide in astonishment before she asked,

  “Why did he say – that?”

  “It is a long story in which, of course, a woman is involved,” the doctor replied. “As you must be aware, they are at the bottom of all the troubles that occur to man!”

  Jacoba gave a little laugh.

  “That is not true! Mama always said that women – are the flowers in a man’s life –
or they should be!”

  “Your mother was quite right,” he agreed, “but some women are very unkind and unfortunately his Lordship has suffered from two very unpleasant specimens.”

  “So that is – why he was – angry with – me!”

  “He was angry not only because you are a woman,” the doctor said, “but also because his nephew Hamish has behaved extremely badly and you, I fear, are the one who is suffering for it.”

  “Then I must go away – as quickly as I can!” Jacoba said in a serious voice.

  “Not until your leg has healed,” the doctor said.

  He rose to his feet as he went on,

  “After all you are quite comfortable here. Try to enjoy yourself in one of the most beautiful castles I have ever seen with a certainly the very finest views!”

  “It is just what I thought a Scottish castle would look like!” Jacoba said as if she was speaking to herself.

  “That is what I have always thought,” the doctor replied.

  He picked up the tray as he added,

  “May I tell you that I am delighted to have for a change a really beautiful patient who looks like a flower!”

  Jacoba blushed at the compliment.

  Then, as she smiled at him, he walked towards the door.

  “Goodnight, Jacoba,” he said, “and be a good girl until I call on you tomorrow.”

  He left the room and Jacoba wondered in surprise how he knew her name.

  Then she realised that he must have seen it on the labels stuck to her trunk when he unpacked it.

  ‘He is such a nice man!’ she said to herself. ‘But I hope I can go away without seeing the Earl again!’

  She shivered as she thought of how angry he had been.

  She could still hear him shouting at her, and she thought now he was hating her because she was actually inside his castle.

  ‘Please – God – let me get – away – safely!’ she prayed.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “Surely that woman can leave now?” the Earl asked as Doctor Faulkner came into his study.

  “I was going to speak to you about that, my Lord,” the doctor said quietly.

  “She has been here for three days,” the Earl said accusingly, “and the sooner she goes the better I will be pleased!”

  “I am well aware of that,” the doctor said, seating himself down in front of the fire, “but she has no money and nowhere to go.”

  “That does not concern me!” the Earl retorted sharply. “Hamish sent her here and Hamish can take her away again.”

  “It will take some time to write to Hamish and tell him to do so.”

  The Earl was frowning and there was a pause before he asserted,

  “I want her out of The Castle, you are well aware of that! If she was such a fool as to come here without being authorised to do so, then she must take the consequences!”

  The doctor settled himself a little more comfortably in the armchair.

  Then he said,

  “I have known you, my Lord, since you were a bairn. I have seen you change from a charming, pleasant young man into a hard and sometimes very disagreeable one, but I have never known you cruel either to a human being or to an animal.”

  The Earl stared at him as if he was startled.

  Then he demanded,

  “Are you really saying that to me?”

  “I am saying it because there is nobody else, as you well know, who dares to do so,” the doctor said. “I was very fond of your mother and I believe that it would make her extremely unhappy to see the way you are behaving.”

  The Earl moved a little uncomfortably in his chair.

  He did not reply although Doctor Faulkner was well aware that he was longing to tell him to mind his own business.

  The doctor had, however, a very special place not only in the life of The Castle and those who lived in it. He was also loved by everybody in the Clan and they would walk miles to consult him.

  There was not a woman on the whole estate who did not want him to deliver her children when they were born.

  He knew that was what the Earl was thinking and his eyes were twinkling as he said,

  “Now come along, my Lord! You know as well as I do that you will have to pay this child’s fare back to London, or rather to the village where she lived with her father and mother before they died, and her home had to be sold to pay her father’s debts.”

  “This has nothing to do with me!” the Earl countered angrily. “You are trying to make me feel sorry for the girl.”

  “It was, after all, your dog that bit her,” the doctor reminded him, “and I daresay in a Court of Law she would be awarded damages for what she has suffered.”

  The Earl looked at the doctor in astonishment.

  “You are not suggesting that she would go to law?”

  “She is too young even to think of such a thing and she is not only innocent but also entirely ignorant of a world that contains terrifying people like yourself!”

  The Earl laughed as if he could not help it.

  “Damn you, Faulkner!” he said. “You are trying to get round me and make me sorry for the tiresome woman.”

  “Well, I am very sorry for her,” the doctor said, “and if I could find her a position where she would be unmolested by men and be with somebody who would be kind to her, I would most certainly do so.”

  “If you feel like that, it should not be difficult,” the Earl said sharply. “But there is no position here for a woman and, as far as I am concerned, there never will be!”

  The doctor rose to his feet.

  “That is what I expected you to say, my Lord, and in two or three days’ time I want you to pay Jacoba’s fare back to London, although, seeing how lovely she is, it is wrong for her to travel alone.”

  The Earl did not reply, but rose and stood staring down into the fire.

  The doctor walked towards the door and, just as he reached it, the Earl asked,

  “Why is the woman called Jacoba? That is a Scottish name!”

  “Of course it is,” Doctor Faulkner replied. “I have not questioned it, but it is something you might do yourself.”

  He felt sure that the Earl would now throw an angry retort at him.

  So he went through the door quickly and, as he walked down the stairs, he was smiling to himself

  He was thinking it was amusing that the Earl, who had sworn never to have a woman inside The Castle again, had been forced by Fate to accept one.

  But Doctor Faulkner had no intention of hurrying Jacoba away until he was absolutely sure that she was really well.

  It was not only that her ankle was still slightly swollen, he knew that the shock of what had happened had taken its toll.

  She was still rather limp and lifeless.

  ‘The rest will do her good,’ he told himself as he reached the front door.

  *

  Jacoba was in fact glad to be able to get back into bed after she had washed and walked around the room for a while.

  What she really enjoyed was being able to look out of the window at the glorious view she had of the sea.

  As The Castle stood in a valley the land projected on either side of it.

  She could see for herself the Northern Lights she had read about and which her mother had told her were more beautiful in Scotland than anywhere else in the world.

  ‘It would be impossible for anything to be more entrancing!’ Jacoba told herself.

  She could not help being vividly conscious that the Earl was under the same roof, extensive though it was, and hating her because she was a woman.

  Nor she could understand how furious he had been at the trick his nephew had played on him.

  She still shivered when she remembered the anger in his voice and the fury with which he had pointed at her and which had made his dogs attack her.

  At the same time, however terrifying it had been, she was in Scotland.

  ‘When I go South, perhaps I shall never come back again,’ she r
uminated. ‘I must remember how beautiful it is and how this castle could not be more impressive.’

  The first morning after her injury she had been woken by a strange sound that at first she could not identify.

  Then she realised that it was the pipes.

  She remembered reading somewhere that the Chieftains in Scotland were always woken by their pipers.

  They marched round the outside of the house playing the tunes that the Clan went to war with.

  Each morning after the first she awoke at the sound of the pipes and she thought that it was a delightful way to start a new day.

  As soon as she could manage it, she had heaved herself out of bed to look out of the window.

  She could see the piper in his kilt and plaid and bonnet marching below her as he blew on his pipes.

  It would be something very special to remember when she left Scotland.

  Although he frightened her, she thought that it would be exciting to see the Earl in the full regalia of a Clan Chieftain.

  The days would have passed slowly were it not for the fact that Doctor Faulkner arranged for her to have books to read. He had sent a footman up with a dozen, with a message that there were plenty more in the library when she wished to change them.

  The doctor had chosen, deliberately she thought, books that were about Scotland.

  She had lain in bed and read of the legends that went back hundreds of years.

  About the ghosts, the curses and the battles between the Clans.

  It was all fascinating and whenever the footmen brought her up her meals, she would ask them to change more of the books she had already read for others.

  They were too frightened to ask the Earl what they should bring her and she therefore received a miscellaneous collection, most of which nevertheless she found enthralling.

  Doctor Faulkner was good enough to call on her twice a day.

  An elderly Scotsman, who she learned had been at The Castle for years and was the butler, came regularly to ask her if there was anything she required.

  He was a kindly man and she learnt that he had a family of his own, but because of the strict rule of no women in The Castle, they lived in a cottage a little way from The Castle walls.

  “It must be a nuisance for you having to go backwards and forwards whether it is raining or snowing,” Jacoba said sympathetically.