The Eyes of Love Page 8

‘I suppose all mothers are matchmakers,’ Vara told herself with candour.

  She started to look in the wardrobe for the gowns to take with her and her mother found her a small leather case.

  Then she asked,

  “Have you see Mrs. Bryden, darling?”

  “Not yet,” Vara replied. “I feel rather guilty about it, but she keeps to her rooms in her own Tower. Of course I must go and see her today or tomorrow.”

  “You have to thank her for chaperoning you,” Lady McDorn said. “And that reminds me, I have a book you can take her as a present. It is all about birds that I know Mrs. Bryden is very interested in.”

  She hurried from the room.

  When she had gone, Vara went to a drawer and took out a small revolver.

  When she was fourteen, her father had taught her to shoot.

  At the time her mother had expostulated, saying,

  “I think it is a mistake for a woman to learn how to shoot.”

  “Women must be able to protect themselves,” the General replied, “and, as I have no son, Vara, if nothing else, must help me keep down the vermin.”

  Remembering the conversation now, Vara thought that if the rats came to her room she would certainly shoot them.

  She might even have to do the same in the Earl’s room.

  It was a small revolver and quite light.

  Her father had made her practise on a target until she could hit the bullseye every time.

  She knew, however, that it would upset her mother if she knew that she had it with her.

  Quickly she slipped it under the gowns in the case.

  Even as she did so, her mother came back with the book in her hand.

  “Please give this to Mrs. Bryden,” she said, “and don’t forget to thank her profusely for chaperoning you, even though you do not see her.”

  She smiled as she added,

  “I am sure, if we were in the South they would think that all this was a very strange way to behave, but we have no alternative here in the Highlands.”

  Now back at The Castle, because her case had not been unpacked, Vara took the book for Mrs. Bryden out of it and also the revolver.

  She put the revolver into a drawer in here bedside table.

  Then thinking that this was a good opportunity, she walked the length of The Castle to its Northern Tower.

  She knocked on the door.

  There seemed to be a long silence before the door was opened just a little.

  A voice then asked,

  “Who is there?”

  “It is Vara McDorn and I have a message for you from my mother.”

  Mrs. Bryden opened the door.

  She looked at Vara somewhat suspiciously and then she invited her,

  “Will you come in?”

  Because she was curious, Vara did not refuse. She followed Mrs. Bryden into what she saw was a very attractive and unusual room.

  It was, of course, circular and it had three windows looking out over the garden.

  Outside was a small verandah with several bird tables and on them were a number of different birds picking at the food that had been laid out for them.

  “My mother told me that you are a keen ornithologist,” Vara explained, “and that is why she has sent you this book.”

  She handed the book to Mrs. Bryden who looked at it and said,

  “That’s very kind of Lady McDorn and I’m sure it will be very interesting.”

  “I can see you like birds,” Vara said, “and there are several species on the bird tables I do not recognise.”

  Because she showed an interest, Mrs. Bryden told her what they were.

  She pointed out specially some unusual species that she claimed came from the Northern Isles.

  Vara thanked her for chaperoning her while she had been staying at The Castle and Mrs. Bryden said,

  “My husband tells me that his Lordship’s showing more interest in things than he did before and we’re very grateful to you.”

  “He has a friend with him now,” Vara said, “and I am hoping very much that he will meet the Elders before the end of the week.”

  “That is what my husband is hoping for too,” Mrs. Bryden answered.

  Vara thought that it would be a mistake for her to stay too long, so she said,

  “I had better go back and see if I am wanted for anything. Thank you once again, Mrs. Bryden, for your kindness.”

  “I’m afraid I’ve done very little,” Mrs. Bryden said, “but I don’t go into the main part of The Castle unless I can help it.”

  “I am not surprised when you have such a beautiful home here,” Vara smiled.

  “By the way,” she added, as if on a sudden impulse, “is Mother MacKay still alive?”

  “She is indeed,” Mrs. Bryden replied. “I took her a wee young cormorant with a broken wing two weeks ago. She healed him in her usual miraculous way.”

  “I remember visiting her when I was very young,” Vara related.

  Mrs. Bryden did not reply and she said no more.

  On her way back to the Chieftain’s Room, Vara was thinking that tomorrow would be very crucial.

  She did not mention what was in her mind until after dinner because Lord Belgrave had dined with them.

  He had obviously set himself out to entertain the Earl and keep him interested.

  They talked of India, which to Vara sounded fascinating as well as intriguing.

  Lord Belgrave teased the Earl about his success with the ladies in Simla and in case Vara did not understand he explained to her,

  “I must tell you, Miss McDorn, that in the hot weather the wives go up to the cool of the mountains in Simla while their poor husbands have to sweat it out in the plains. As there is usually a shortage of men at Viceregal House, the aides-de-camp have the most entrancing women hanging on their every word and flirting with them quite outrageously!”

  “I have read about Simla,” Vara said, “and I would really love to go to India.”

  “Perhaps one day you will have the opportunity,” Lord Belgrave said, “and, as Bruce will tell you, there is nothing more breathtaking than the snow-capped Himalayas especially with the sun shining on them.”

  The Earl said nothing and Vara was thinking that perhaps too much talk of India made him more depressed than ever about his eyes.

  She therefore changed the subject.

  When they were leaving the Chieftain’s Room, Lord Belgrave informed them,

  “I am leaving very early in the morning for the Orkney Islands and I must therefore say ‘goodnight’ and ‘goodbye’ now.”

  He then held out his hand to Vara saying,

  “It has been delightful to meet you. Please give my best wishes to your father and tell him how much he is missed in the Regiment now that he has retired.”

  “He will be glad to think that he is still remembered,” Vara replied.

  Lord Belgrave then said ‘goodnight’ to the Earl and thanked him for a delicious dinner.

  Vara walked with him to the top of the staircase and then went back into the Chieftain’s Room.

  “I found him a very delightful gentleman,” she commented.

  The Earl was standing in front of the fireplace.

  “He is a great friend of the Viceroy,” he replied, “but I am glad he is not staying long.”

  “I am glad too,” Vara agreed, “because I have something most important for you to do tomorrow. Lord Belgrave said how brave you were in India. I am just wondering if you are brave enough to undertake what may be a somewhat hazardous journey.”

  “What do you mean?” the Earl enquired. “What are you asking me to do now?”

  “I want you to visit someone who I feel might help you,” she replied. “But the only way to get there is on horseback.”

  There was a pause.

  And then the Earl asked her,

  “You are asking me to ride when I am blind?”

  “I will lead the way quite slowly and I promise to make sure you will be i
n no danger unless you fall off. All your horse has to do is to follow mine and if there is any difficulty, I will take him on a leading rein.”

  The Earl was silent for a few moments.

  Then he asked,

  “Where are we going?”

  “Almost to the top of the moor above The Castle,” she replied.

  “Why? What for?”

  “That is something I will tell you tomorrow. I very much want it to be a surprise.”

  “I suppose if I refuse you will say I am a coward!” the Earl complained.

  “I will not say that,” Vara replied, “but I shall be hurt to think that you don’t trust me.”

  The Earl made a gesture with his hand.

  “Oh, very well. If you think what you want me to do is important, then I will do it. But God knows what you are letting me in for!”

  Vara did not say how pleased she was, but he must have known because he added,

  “All right, you have got your own way and, like all women, you want to be in charge instead of leaving it to the men.”

  “Now you are assuming what I do not feel,” Vara said. “All I am saying is that what I am asking you to do is very essential for you.”

  “And I have agreed,” the Earl pointed out.

  “In which case, my Lord, I will now say ‘goodnight’ to you in case you do change your mind.”

  Vara walked towards the door and, as she reached it, she turned,

  “I promise you that, however unpleasant it may be, my Lord, it will be worthwhile.”

  When she left, she saw that Donald was outside and waiting to guide the Earl up to his bedroom.

  *

  In the morning Vara rose early and went round to the stables.

  As she had been told, there were some very fine horses in the stalls and she explained to the Head Groom that she wanted the calmest horse for the Earl to ride.

  She told him that she must have a horse that would not excite the horse that he would be riding.

  The Head Groom understood exactly what she wanted and then promised that the horses would be at the side door at exactly two o’clock.

  Vara had decided not to go in the morning as she knew that Mother MacKay’s amazing talent for healing often took time to work.

  Ever since Betsy MacKay had been a child, she had been aware of her healing powers, which were sometimes described as ‘witchcraft’.

  In almost every Clan there was a ‘White Witch’ who was revered and consulted on every possible occasion.

  Mother MacKay had been the Healer for the McDorns ever since Vara could remember.

  She had been a strange girl who had seen ghosts and made predictions, which invariably came true and because of this she had acquired a reputation that was known to everybody locally.

  Her family farmed high up on the moors in a very isolated place.

  If an animal was injured in any way or a bird had broken its wing or a cow refused to give milk, they were taken up to Betsy MacKay for her advice and cures.

  One winter a small boy lost his parents at sea and there was no one to care for him.

  Betsy MacKay, who was then in her late thirties, had said that she would look after him and he had joined her family in rearing and caring for their flock of sheep.

  When he was grown up, he built a small house for Betsy and himself and it was there that she saw her ‘patients’ as she liked to call them.

  Vara could remember when she had hurt her finger as a child by having it caught in a door.

  Her mother had taken her to see Betsy MacKay.

  ‘Mother MacKay’, as she was always called later, had healed her finger by holding it in her hands and praying.

  When Vara went off to England, where they would laugh at such things, she had almost forgotten about Mother MacKay.

  Now when Lord Belgrave told her that the Earl’s blindness was due entirely to a Fakir's curse, she knew that this was the answer to her prayers.

  If anyone could heal the Earl it was surely not the doctors or the oculists. It was Mother MacKay with her miraculous powers, which she believed came from God.

  Therefore they were used only to do good and not evil.

  The main difficulty, Vara knew, was that the Earl, who was very English in his ways, might ‘pooh-pooh’ the whole idea.

  He might call it ‘superstitious rubbish’ and refuse point-blank to see Mother MacKay.

  She knew therefore that she had to be mysterious about it and take him there before he realised exactly what was happening.

  She was certain that it would be the last type of therapy he would be expecting.

  He would have no idea where they were going or what was happening to him until she had taken him to the top of the moors.

  Fortunately, when morning came, there were a great number of new papers to be read to the Earl.

  Mr. Bryden had already been in touch with a firm of contractors who were to repair The Castle, the Harbour and a dozen cottages on the estate.

  Prices had to be approved, priorities arranged, and no one could give the final word for work to commence except for the Earl.

  It was therefore luncheontime when Vara knew she had to tell him that the horses would be waiting for them as soon as they had finished.

  She had been careful to tell no one where they were going as she was afraid they might mention it casually to the Earl.

  He might then refuse to go on what he would think of as ‘a wild goose chase’.

  Vara knew that he would not want anyone to see him if it could be possibly avoided.

  When Donald said came in to report that the horses were at the door, she guided the Earl carefully down a side staircase.

  He realised that the staircase was smaller and steeper than the main staircase and asked,

  “Why are we going this way?”

  “It is a quicker way to the moors and to where I am taking you,” Vara replied. “We avoid the drive, the cottages and the main road.”

  The Earl did not reply.

  She thought, however, that he was relieved to know that he would not be seen with his bandaged eyes.

  He was wearing a bonnet with a blackcock feather at one side of it caught by the silver insignia of the McDorns.

  It greatly became him, Vara reflected.

  She knew that once he could discard his bandage he would be extremely handsome.

  ‘He is a most impressive man,’ she told herself.

  Only as they were climbing at walking pace up a twisting sheep track did she realise that if the Earl’s eyes were indeed cured by Mother MacKay, as she hoped and expected, then her services would no longer be needed at The Castle.

  The thought had not struck her before.

  She was riding ahead, the Earl behind her with his horse quietly following hers.

  Suddenly she knew in her heart that she did not want to leave him.

  At first she had prayed for him and tried to help him simply because she recognised that it was her duty to the Clan.

  But she had found to some surprise that she loved being with him and talking to him.

  In fact it was the most exciting thing that had ever happened to her in her life.

  She wanted to go on talking to him, listening to him and advising him, as she had been doing these last few days.

  Then she remembered how Hamish had said that the beauties of London had all fawned over him and Lord Belgrave had hinted at what a success he had been with all the ladies in Simla.

  The mere thought of it was like a dagger twisted in her heart.

  Vara knew then she had done the most foolish thing she had ever done in her whole life.

  She had fallen in love with a man who was not the least interested in her as a woman.

  Only as a Reader and as someone who was useful in telling him what he ought to know about his own Clan.

  ‘How can I be so idiotic?’ she asked herself.

  When the end of the week came and, if Mother MacKay had been successful with he
r healing, her job would come to an abrupt end.

  She would then no longer have any excuse for staying on at The Castle.

  Then the Devil tempted her!

  If she turned round now and went back, the Earl would remain as blind as he is now.

  Then she knew that would not only be a cruel action on her part but also an evil one.

  The Fakir had cursed the Earl when he had only done his duty in protecting the Viceroy.

  If good was to triumph over evil, she could not be instrumental in attempting to prevent it from happening.

  Ashamed of her thoughts she prayed instead that Mother MacKay would be successful.

  Somewhere high in the blue sky above them, she thought, there was someone listening to her.

  *

  The sheep track twisted and then turned up towards the moors.

  They were high up above the river, which now looked like a silver ribbon below them.

  Everything was very quiet and very beautiful.

  Vara thought that, when the Earl could finally see his estate, he would know how lucky he was.

  There was nowhere in the world quite as beautiful and enchanting as Scotland.

  Vara wanted to hear him comparing it to the Himalayas and claim that, because he was a Scot, there was no comparison.

  He did not speak, but she had the idea that, because he was on a horse, he was enjoying himself.

  She realised from the way he sat on his horse that he was an expert rider and her father would have commended him.

  There was then quite a long way to travel over an almost flat moor before they climbed up again.

  Vara rode on, not talking, because she thought that the Earl was now taking in the scent of the heather.

  He could hear the buzzing of the bees and the croak of the grouse as they rose ahead of them.

  Occasionally there was an eagle flying overhead and it would swoop down gracefully on its prey.

  Otherwise, there was just the whisper of the wind and the clatter of horses’ hoofs.

  Finally she could see ahead of them the slope of a hill and beneath it there was the small wooden house where Mother MacKay lived.

  The small farm that had belonged to her family was half a mile away.

  The little wooden house that her adopted son had built for her had now mellowed with time and a few fir trees had grown up round it.

  There was a small garden in front of it still bright with flowers.