A Heart of Stone Read online

  Vanora thought that he was a pleasant little man, but she was quite certain that he would not know a great deal about books.

  She sat at the desk and looked round her wondering where she should begin.

  Finally she decided she would start on what looked the oldest and would therefore be the most valuable books.

  She noticed that occasionally on the shelves there were books such as one could buy at the seaside or in a village shop.

  They were not the type of literature that one would expect to find in such an impressive and unique library.

  She started to work and soon found several books which she knew were of significance.

  Then she found one that seemed older than the rest and, because it was in Gaelic, she had difficulty in reading the name on the very faded cover.

  She stared at the book as if she could hardly believe what she was seeing and then, as her find was so exciting, she felt impulsively that she must tell the Earl.

  Holding the book tightly in her hands she ran down the corridor on the ground floor directly to the front door.

  Donald was there and she said to him,

  “Is his Lordship at present in The Castle? I must speak to him about this book.”

  “His Lordship should be back at any minute,” he replied. “Is something wrong, Miss Bruce?”

  “There is nothing wrong, but very very right.”

  As she spoke she heard the sound of horse’s hooves outside and, as one of the footmen hurried to open the front door, she saw the Earl dismounting.

  He patted his horse on the back before handing it to a groom and then walked up the steps to the front door.

  “I am not late, Donald?” he said to the butler.

  “No, my Lord, you still have five minutes to spare,” Donald replied, “and Miss Bruce wishes to see you.”

  The Earl was taking off his hat and riding gloves and he was then aware that Vanora was standing at the other end of the hall.

  “Good morning, Miss Bruce,” he said. “I am at your disposal if you don’t make me late for luncheon, as I am feeling exceedingly hungry.”

  “I will only keep you a moment or so,” Vanora replied, “but I had to show you the book I have just found.”

  The Earl looked surprised. He did not think that a book could be of any particular importance.

  He started to walk up the stairs as Vanora said,

  “I found it pushed at the very back of a shelf behind some other books, so it may have been there unnoticed for a very long time.”

  “And you think it is of significance,” the Earl said, glancing at the book she carried it in her arms.

  It was quite a large one and she was holding it with two hands as if it was very precious.

  Because Vanora wanted to surprise him, she did not reply.

  They entered the drawing room and the Earl walked towards the window as if he thought he must look at the book in the strongest possible light.

  Then, because he could see how excited Vanora was, he asked,

  “Now what is all this about and why are you so pleased at what you have discovered?”

  Vanora held out the book towards him and, as he took it in his hands, she told him,

  “It is a copy of ‘Foirm na Nurrnuidheadh,’ and it is the first book ever printed in Gaelic in Scotland in 1567.”

  “Is that true?” the Earl exclaimed. “I had no idea that any book was printed so early or that I owned a copy.”

  “It was written by Bishop John Carswell,” Vanora replied, “and I remember Lord Blairmond saying that he had seen a copy of it in the British Museum and wished that he possessed one himself.”

  The Earl turned the pages of the book slowly.

  “It is certainly a triumph that we should have one,” he said. “I shall make enquiries amongst the other Clans to see if we can make them envious.”

  “I thought you would be pleased, my Lord, and I think you are very lucky because it seems complete and has not lost any of its pages.”

  “It is certainly your first triumph, Miss Bruce,” he said. “We must tell my aunt about it and it will certainly be a new topic of conversation for us over luncheon.”

  Vanora looked at him and, as he was perceptive, he asked her,

  “What is worrying you?”

  “Nothing,” Vanora replied. “I was just wondering if I was expected to have luncheon with you. I always ate luncheon with my previous employer, but I understand that a librarian, like a Governess, takes her meals where she is working.”

  The Earl laughed.

  “That may be correct in England, but I am sure in Scotland we are much more friendly. Tyler does not come in for luncheon because he has a cottage in the grounds and a wife waiting for him. But it would be very inhospitable, Miss Bruce, if I expected you to eat alone in the library.”

  “Then I am very grateful to accept your Lordship’s invitation to come to the dining room,” Vanora smiled.

  “And that is where we must go now or my aunt will tick me off as she usually does for being late!”

  They walked from the drawing room to the dining room and it was even more impressive that Vanora had expected.

  It was a very large room and the long polished table was laid for three places at the far end of it.

  As the Earl and Vanora entered, Lady Sophie came in through another door.

  “I heard you were back, Neil,” she began, “and I must congratulate you on being so punctual.”

  “I was just telling Miss Bruce that you would tick me off if I was late,” the Earl said, “and I can assure you that I made my horse gallop faster than he has ever done to be here on time.”

  “The trouble with your horses,” Lady Sophie said, “is that they did not have enough exercise when your father was so ill.”

  She paused for a moment to say,

  “Good morning, Miss Bruce, I do hope you are not too exhausted by what you have found waiting for you in the library.”

  “It is what Miss Bruce has just found,” the Earl exclaimed, “that we are going to tell you all about, Aunt Sophie, and I am sure that you will be very surprised.”

  Lady Sophie was both surprised and very delighted when Vanora told her what she had found.

  “I expected you to say that you had found a First Folio of Shakespeare,” she said. “I have always been told that there is one here, but I have never seen it.”

  “Is there really a First Folio of Shakespeare in the library?” Vanora asked towards the end of luncheon,

  “I remember being shown it by one of my Tutors several years ago,” the Earl answered. “But, of course, it might easily have disappeared since then.”

  Vanora gave a little cry of horror.

  “Oh, I would hope not! Surely you should have something to protect what is in your library. If there are items in it like this book and a First Folio of Shakespeare, you might attract thieves who could then spirit them away without your even being aware that they had gone.”

  “I have often thought of that,” the Earl said. “But my father believed that, as we have so many menservants in The Castle, they would keep the burglars away and there is always someone in the grounds who would be suspicious if they saw strangers.”

  Vanora thought that it was all rather casual, but it was not her business to proffer advice.

  She enjoyed the excellent luncheon and, as some of the things she said made the Earl laugh, she hoped that he had not been too disappointed in having her as a guest.

  However, she hurried back to the library.

  She entered the ancient book in Gaelic in her new catalogue and then she began to search for the First Folio they had been talking about over luncheon.

  She remembered hearing that it was entitled, ‘Mr. William Shakespeare, Comedies, Histories and Tragedies’, but not the actual year it had been published in.

  She turned over a great number of books which she thought would be of interest to any collector, but there was no sign of the First Folio.r />
  However she did find a seventeenth century Gaelic document called ‘Fernaig Ms.’ It had been compiled by Duncan Macrae of Inverinate in 1688 and contained lines of verse that were mostly political or religious in content.

  She had a feeling that it would not interest the Earl greatly, although she was sure that it was very valuable.

  She went on searching until Donald came to tell her that tea was now ready in the drawing room and that Lady Sophie was expecting her.

  By this time Vanora’s hands were dusty from the books and, when she went to wash, she saw how untidy her hair was.

  She also thought that tomorrow she would borrow an apron from the housekeeper to cover her clothes.

  The Earl did not come in to tea and so being alone with Lady Sophie made it inevitable that she was asked a great many personal questions.

  Because these inevitably concerned herself, Vanora felt uncomfortable and she was afraid of making a mistake.

  “I have known a great many Bruces,” Lady Sophie said in her soft voice. “I wonder which particular branch you belong to.”

  “I think all the Bruces,” Vanora managed to say, “are so proud of being descended from Robert, King of Scotland, that they have never concerned themselves with anything else.”

  Lady Sophie laughed.

  “That is true and, of course, they are a very large Clan. So where is your family home situated?”

  Vanora had to think quickly, realising that this was dangerous ground.

  “When my father and mother were alive,” she said, “we had a house on the West Coast. But since their death I have moved about a great deal and have been in London lately, as you already know, with Lord Blairmond.”

  “It must have been most interesting working for him,” Lady Sophie said.

  Vanora agreed and, by talking about her uncle, she managed to prevent being asked any more uncomfortable questions as to where the members of her family lived.

  She walked slowly back to the library.

  As she did so, she was thinking that Lady Sophie was so charming and the Earl so kind that it was wrong for her to be accepting their hospitality.

  If Ewen wanted the Stone so badly, he should have stolen it back himself and it struck her that was what she might have to ask him to do.

  The Stone might be attached to a wall or enclosed in a case that she could not move anyway and so far she had not seen any sign of anything that looked anything like the Stone.

  There were ancient documents framed on the walls and a great number of historical relics like suits of armour and shields surrounded by claymores.

  There was, however, nothing to be seen that looked as if it could contain the Stone.

  ‘There is no hurry,’ Vanora told herself when she was in the library. ‘If I am seen in parts of The Castle which have nothing to do with books, it might make the servants suspicious.’

  When the evening came, again she was wondering if she should dine with the Earl.

  Donald answered this for her by coming into the library with some candles.

  “Now don’t go strainin’ your eyes, Miss Bruce,” he said. “I’ve brought you some candles. But it’ll soon be time for you to be dressin’ for dinner. His Lordship eats at eight o’clock and her Ladyship’s waitin’ in the drawing room at exactly five minutes to the hour.”

  She therefore tidied up her desk and went to her bedroom.

  She had brought with her several pretty evening gowns she had worn in London. Two were more elaborate which she had worn to a ball or a Reception.

  There were also some simpler but more attractive ones she had bought for dining alone with her uncle.

  Actually he had so many people wanting to see him that seldom a week went by when there were not a number of visitors and he preferred to see them at dinnertime as then they did not interrupt his work on his book.

  Tonight Vanora chose a gown of very pale green that resembled the leaves in spring.

  It made her look, the Earl thought, like a nymph who might have risen from the sea.

  Once again he found the touch of red in her hair alluring and it was very different from that of any other Scots woman he had ever seen.

  Many of them were red-headed, but it was not a particularly pretty red.

  He thought, as he had before, that Miss Bruce must have been a success in London, whatever she might say.

  “I am sure,” he said at dinner, “that you are going to be very bored up here in the Highlands without all the admirers you must have had in London.”

  “I can assure you,” Vanora replied, “I was working very hard on Lord Blairmond’s book and the people who came to the house admired him, not me.”

  “I don’t believe a word of it,” the Earl said, “but I am so delighted that you are finding the library absorbing. Otherwise I have the feeling that you might vanish into the fountain or into the sea where I am convinced you belong!”

  Vanora laughed before she answered,

  “That is something I certainly missed in London.”

  “Was your home in Scotland near the sea?” the Earl asked.

  She realised that she had made a mistake and was back trying to avoid saying too much about herself.

  When dinner was over, they went into the drawing room.

  The Earl offered Lady Sophie and Vanora a liqueur and then poured himself out a brandy.

  He was exceedingly elegant in his evening clothes and Vanora thought that no Scotsman could have looked more impressive.

  He sat down in a chair next to Vanora and said,

  “Now I want you to tell me why, at your age, which I am certain is very young, you are wasting your time on musty books and old men?”

  Vanora laughed because she could not help it.

  “You may think it a waste of time, my Lord,” she parried, “but I think it is very good for my brain.”

  “Your brain will last very much longer than your looks,” the Earl said, “so I think that you should be making the most of them if you have not already done so!”

  She knew from the expression in his eyes that he was just as curious about her as Lady Sophie was.

  She knew that she should be very careful and that she must not say anything to make them suspicious that she was not who she pretended to be.

  Aloud she said,

  “I find it very boring to talk about myself when I want to learn a deal more about this beautiful and exciting castle and, of course, if the Gods are kind, to find you some more special and valuable books, my Lord.”

  “I think that is asking too much, but then you have certainly got off to a good start. I am only wondering, as you have already suggested, if we are keeping our treasures as safely as they deserve.”

  “You have so many treasures,” Vanora said looking at the pictures. “When I first entered the library, I was so excited at seeing the Holbein over the mantelpiece and, of course, you have many fine and exceptional pictures here.”

  She looked round as she spoke, most of the pictures were portraits and they were all, she was sure, by famous artists.

  The Earl smiled.

  “I know,” he remarked, “that you are admiring the picture of my grandmother by Sir Joshua Reynolds.”

  “It is very beautiful, my Lord, but he always made his women look so lovely that I have often wondered if he flattered them or if they were really like that.”

  “If he was alive, I am sure that he would want to paint you,” the Earl replied, “and I am just wondering who there is today who could do you justice.”

  Vanora laughed.

  “That is something that is very unlikely to happen and would cost a great deal of money. It’s a waste of time talking about it.”

  She paused for a moment and then went on,

  “What I would like to do, if you will permit me, my Lord, is to walk all over The Castle seeing your treasures in every room and being, I may say, envious because you have so much.”

  The Earl made a gesture with his hands.<
br />
  “They are all at your disposal. I am only hoping that, when you admire what I possess, you will also have an appreciative eye for the owner.”

  Vanora smiled.

  “You know quite well that I am longing to say that you must have Viking blood in your veins, but I am too polite to do so.”

  “I am sure you are right, there are many stories told of the Vikings who came to this part of Scotland. There is actually a legend that a Viking King stayed in The Castle and fell in love with the Chieftain’s daughter of the time.”

  “And what did the Chieftain have to say about it?”

  “That is not related,” the Earl answered. “But, of course, I and my forebears may well be the answer to what happened when he stayed here!”

  “It’s a very romantic story and I would like to think it is true,” Vanora said.

  She then hesitated before she asked,

  “Has every member of your family looked like you, my Lord?”

  “I have always been told that a number of them have. You will see as you tour The Castle that there is a delightful portrait of my grandfather who I have a close resemblance to.”

  “Perhaps there is a book about him, my Lord.”

  “There have been a few books about the Clan as a whole,” the Earl replied, “but the history of the family has never been written.”

  Vanora clasped her hands together,

  “Then that is something you must do, my Lord”

  The Earl was silent for a moment and then he said,

  “I will think about it. But if I do, I will have to ask you to help me.”

  “I expect you will find plenty of people willing to do that and, for the moment, as you are well aware, I shall be too busy working in the library.”

  She rose as she finished speaking and said,

  “If you will forgive me, my Lord, I think I should go to bed. I am a little tired after all the excitement of the day and there is a great deal to do tomorrow.”

  “But of course,” the Earl replied. “You are very sensible.”

  As he stood up, Vanora looked at Lady Sophie.

  She had fallen asleep in her chair and presumably had not heard the conversation that had just taken place.

  Perhaps, Vanora thought, that was a good thing, as Her Ladyship might easily have considered that she was being too familiar on such a brief acquaintance.