Love Joins the Clans Read online

  She was quite certain that what Torbot had told her relatives was already common knowledge amongst the Clansmen and the McCowan who was married to the sister of one of her ghillies would have received the information and told his own Chieftain about it.

  They reached Strathblane Castle and, although it was nearly half after nine, Clova and Jamie went into the breakfast room where there was only the General and his wife still seated at the table.

  Euan was just leaving the room as they entered it.

  “Where have you been?” he asked furiously as Clova appeared.

  “I have been riding with Cousin Jamie.”

  “I would have ridden with you if you had asked me.”

  “I was very happy to have Cousin Jamie’s company,” Clova replied, “and it has been delightful to have the chance of being on horseback again.”

  She knew that Euan was angry and she moved quickly to the head of the table and sat down.

  “Good morning, Cousin Robert,” she said to the General.

  “Good morning, Cousin Mary.”

  “I want to talk to you, Clova,” Lady McBlane replied, “but I don’t wish you to think that we are pushing or imposing upon you in any way.”

  “I would never think that,” Clova smiled.

  “In which case, my dear,” Lady McBlane went on, “I am going to suggest that my husband and I should stay with you here at The Castle as chaperones until you find perhaps another relative you would rather have as a guest.”

  Clova gave a delighted cry.

  “I would love you to!” she exclaimed. “How very kind of you to think of it.”

  “Most of our other relations are leaving today,” the General informed her, “and I do not like to think of you here alone, my dear.”

  “It is very kind of you,” Clova replied and was then aware that Euan had come back to the table.

  “I have already said that I shall be here,” he said aggressively, “and my Factor’s wife, who is an extremely nice woman, is prepared to move into The Castle, if you are in need of a chaperone. She is young enough for you to find her a very charming companion.”

  He had it all worked out, Clova thought, and felt as if he was enclosing her in a prison that she would be unable escape from.

  “It is very good of you to think of it, Cousin Euan,” she said lightly, “but, of course, I would far rather have the General and Cousin Mary with me, as they have suggested. After all they knew both Papa and my grandfather well and therefore nobody could advise me and help me better than they can.”

  She saw the expression of anger in Euan’s face and he gave an exclamation that was almost an oath as he walked out of the breakfast room and slammed the door behind him.

  “Insolent young puppy!”

  The General spoke below his breath, but Clova heard him.

  Impulsively she put her hand on his.

  “Please stay with me, Cousin Robert,” she pleaded.

  There was a little tremor of fear in her voice which neither the General nor his wife missed.

  “You are not to worry yourself,” Lady McBlane advised. “We thought it out very carefully before we suggested it and we would like you to look on Robert as if he was your Guardian and the father which, poor child, you have not had for so many years.”

  She gave a little sigh as she added,

  “I think if you had known him when he grew older you would have loved Alister as we all did and, when he became Chieftain, he was much more understanding and compassionate than he had ever been as a younger man.”

  “I wish I had known him – then,” Clova sighed. “But I feel sure that you will make up for what I missed and also – protect me.”

  There was no need to explain from whom, for she saw the glance the General exchanged with his wife and knew that they both disliked Euan and perhaps like herself were a little afraid of him.

  During the morning and immediately after luncheon most of the guests from other parts of the estate left, driving away in their carriages, which had made quite a display in the stable yard.

  They all expressed themselves delighted with their new Chieftain and were obviously anxious to be invited again to The Castle as soon as possible.

  Only when after luncheon a number of them left at the same time was Clova aware that Euan was assuming the position of host and saying ‘goodbye’ to them in very much the same way as she was.

  There was nothing she could do to stop him, but she realised that he was doing it deliberately to impress himself on her and to make everybody else assume that it was only a question of time before they would enjoy his hospitality as her husband as well as hers.

  ‘I hate him!’ she thought.

  As she waved to the last of the departing guests, Euan was standing beside her on the doorstep too close and in too familiar an attitude.

  “I certainly think they enjoyed themselves,” he said in a possessive tone. “We must invite them again.”

  Clova felt her temper rising.

  “This is my Castle,” she asserted, “and I shall decide whom I ask and when.”

  He laughed and it was an unpleasant sound.

  “I think you will find that the McBlanes do what they wish when they wish and it is very difficult for anybody to circumvent them. That, my dear little Cousin Clova, also applies to me.”

  “Then you are going to be disappointed,” Clova retorted and walked away from him up the steps.

  “Will you come driving with me?” Euan asked as he followed her. “I would like to take you to a part of our land that you have not yet seen and which you should certainly have visited before bestowing your favours on the Laird of Cowan!”

  So he already knew where she had been, Clova thought, and the way he spoke told her how much it had infuriated him.

  In a voice that she hoped was impersonal she then said,

  “I intend to visit all our neighbours one by one and to make sure that the feuds between our Clans are settled and I also intend, Cousin Euan, to tell our own people that any aggressive action against other Clansmen will be severely punished.”

  “And how will you punish them?” Euan enquired.

  Clova did not answer and he went on,

  “I must inform you that the dungeons in this Castle have been used for some time as cellars or store rooms and are no longer suitable for prisoners. But I have one at Mallic Castle that I could lend you and which would be a very effective deterrent to any intending criminal.”

  Clova knew that he was mocking her authority and after a moment she replied,

  “What I have said is not a light threat, Cousin Euan. I intend to call a meeting of the Elders to help me consider what we should do with any offenders who ignore my instructions and especially those who incite them to crimes that are not only provocative but cruel and heartless.”

  Euan threw back his head and laughed.

  “Very dramatic, my pretty cousin, and, of course, entirely commendable. The only thing is, as you well know, you have to catch your fish before you can eat it.”

  They had reached the top of the staircase and he walked away from her, his kilt swinging as if defiantly as he did so.

  ‘I hate him!’ Clova thought again.

  Equally she knew that he was not in the least intimidated by her and was doubtless already cogitating in his own mind some cruel and unpleasant plan and it would be very difficult to find the person responsible.

  She was so perturbed by Euan’s obvious intentions that she sent a servant to the village to ask Torbot McBlane to come to see her.

  He did not arrive until after tea when Clova was beginning to think that her message could not have reached him.

  As soon as he appeared, she took him quickly into the library because the General and his wife were in the Chieftain’s Room.

  Although there was no sign of Euan, she was well aware that he was still staying in The Castle and might appear at any moment.

  “I am sorry I could not come before, my Lady,” Torb
ot McBlane apologised, “but I did not receive your message until I returned home less than an hour ago.”

  “It is very kind of you to come,” Clova smiled.

  They sat down in two comfortable armchairs and she explained to him that she had visited Castle Cowan with her cousin Jamie earlier that morning.

  Then she told him that she intended to visit other Clans bordering on their estate as soon as she learned who they were and if their Chieftain was in residence.

  She then told him what the Laird of Cowan had told her to the effect that a young man wearing the McBlane tartan had been seen attempting to steal two new born lambs from a ewe that had just given birth.

  She knew from the expression on Torbot McBlane’s face that he was well aware of who had been the instigator of such a theft.

  “I want you and the other Elders to decide what punishment should be given to any McBlane Clansmen who commit such an offence again,” she suggested, “and to make sure that they realise that they will be watched and that I shall ask everybody who learns of such disgraceful behaviour to tell me or you what they know.”

  There was silence before Torbot McBlane said slowly,

  “I think many of them would be afraid to give the information to you.”

  “What you are saying,” Clova responded sharply, “is that my Cousin Euan has such a hold over the people that they dare not offend him.”

  Torbot McBlane nodded.

  “That is true for, whenever in the past he has quarrelled with any Clansmen or they have offended him in some way, they have always suffered and their families have suffered with them.”

  “I cannot believe it!” Clova exclaimed. “Surely you and the other Elders can prevent that from happening?”

  “If a man is shot at when he is alone on the moors or a woman comes home to find that the windows of her cottage are broken or its thatched roof has caught fire, it is difficult to point the finger at any one person.”

  “But it has to be stopped, it must be!”

  “We have tried in the past,” Torbot McBlane replied, “and with your help, my Lady, we will try harder, but you must take care of yourself.”

  “Are you suggesting my life is in danger?”

  She knew that he thought so before he spoke and then he said,

  “It might be. A farmer who caught one of the gang and beat him for harassing his sheep also arranged to take him before the Magistrates, but before the case could be heard he was found drowned in the loch near where he lived. He was far out on the water when his boat sprang a leak and he could not swim.”

  Clova drew in her breath.

  “There are ways,” Torbot McBlane went on, “of drilling a hole in a fishing boat and filling it with sugar, which slowly dissolves when it becomes wet. Then when it has done so, the boat fills with water and sinks.”

  “That is wicked – diabolical!” Clova exclaimed.

  “Now you must not upset yourself, my Lady. We, the Elders, will fight on your behalf to put an end to this mischief once and for all.”

  “It is an outrage we cannot allow.”

  “I agree,” Torbot McBlane replied.

  But she knew that he felt as helpless as she did.

  Euan was clever, very clever, and the land was so sparsely populated that a crime could take place without anyone hearing the cries of a victim or seeing what had happened.

  As she went up to dress for dinner, Clova found that Jeanne was aware that she had visited Castle Cowan.

  “I could hardly believe you would do anythin’ so unusual, my Lady,” she said. “Ever since I were born, I’ve been told to have naught to do with them McCowans. It’s been ever so hard at times, seein’ that many of them are fine upstandin’ young laddies and there be a shortage here on the Strath of younger men.”

  “Why is that?” Clova enquired.

  “Some of them join Highland Regiments, others find it difficult to find work so they move to Edinburgh or Glasgow and then send money home to their parents.”

  “So the girls want to know the McCowans?” Clova remarked. “Well, I hope that will be possible in the future.”

  “Not if Mr. Euan has anythin’ to do with it,” Jeanne replied and then put her hand over her mouth rapidly.

  “I should not be sayin’ that, my Lady,” she then said in a frightened voice. “Please forget it.”

  She glanced over her shoulder as she spoke as if, even when they were in the privacy of Clova’s own bedroom, there might be somebody to overhear and repeat what she had said about Euan McBlane, who seemed to have assumed such authority over them.

  ‘This has to stop,’ Clova told herself.

  At the same time, as she went into dinner, she felt apprehensive and uncertain of herself.

  Euan, resplendent in his evening clothes with a lace jabot at his throat and wearing the magnificent sporran of a Chieftain that he was not entitled to, set himself out to be charming.

  There were only four of them in the large dining room, waited on by three kilted servants and Euan made them laugh with his stories of the McBlane family.

  As both the food and wine were excellent, Clova saw that the General and his wife were enjoying themselves.

  Then at the end of the dinner the piper came in to play the tunes that they all knew as he walked round and round the table and when he eventually stopped at Clova’s side, she offered him a small gold cup which had been set down in front of her filled with whisky.

  He toasted her in Gaelic and she said ‘thank you’ in the same language.

  Then, as he walked out, she saw the expression on Euan’s face and knew that it was one of hatred and envy, because she was the Chieftain and not he.

  ‘He hates me as much as I hate him,’ she told herself and felt a shiver run through her body as if a ghost had walked over her grave.

  Chapter Six

  After dinner the General and his wife talked for a little while to Clova while Euan disappeared and she wondered vaguely what he was doing.

  He came back just as Lady Mary had risen to her feet to say,

  “I think I must take Robert to bed. It has been quite a tiring day talking to so many of our relatives and I know he wants to start off early tomorrow morning to try and catch a salmon.”

  “That is a good idea,” Clova enthused. “I hope, Cousin Robert, you will let me come with you.”

  “Of course,” the General replied, “but, even if you knew how to fish as a child, you may have forgotten it after all these years.”

  “I remember fishing when I was small with a trout rod and I am sure if you show me what to do I will soon pick it up again.”

  Lady Mary collected her embroidery and said,

  “One person who will not come with you, Robert, is me, because if there is anything I find really boring it is to watch other people fishing.”

  The General laughed.

  “That is not the right attitude for a Scottish lass and you must not set Clova a bad example.”

  “I think Clova is going to be a good example to us all,” Lady Mary replied.

  She kissed her as she spoke and said,

  “Good night, my child. We are very proud of you and no one could have done better than you did yesterday. ”

  Clova smiled and then, knowing that it would be a mistake to be alone with Euan, she followed them out through the door.

  As she passed, he said,

  “I suppose, Cousin Clova, you would not like to come and look at the moonlight with me? It is one of the sights we always show our visitors.”

  “I will think about it tomorrow night,” Clova answered. “At the moment I am feeling rather stiff after my ride.”

  She thought that he intended to say something rude or sarcastic about her riding over to Castle Cowan and she therefore hurried quickly after the General and his wife, keeping close to them until she reached her bedroom.

  Jeanne was not there, presumably because Clova had come up earlier than she had expected.

  Instead o
f ringing the bell for her, Clova went to the window to pull back the curtains and look out.

  As Euan had said, the moonlight over the Strath was amazingly beautiful.

  In the daytime there were lights on the moors that were different from anything that Clova had ever seen before.

  Now the Strath was silver under a sky filled with stars and it was a breathtaking sight.

  The beauty of it filled her with an irrepressible rapture and she stood gazing out for a long time, wishing that she could share all that she was feeling with somebody else.

  She could not pretend even to herself that it was not Tarquil McCowan who she wanted to share it with.

  She wondered if he too was looking out of his window and thinking of her and she felt her thoughts fly towards him on wings and she was sure that he understood.

  At the same time she had the feeling despairingly that he would never declare to her his inner emotions.

  He would have too much pride to expose himself to the imputation of being a fortune-hunter.

  It was then that she faced the truth that, although it seemed incredible, she loved a man who she had seen only twice in her life.

  This was love as she had always wanted to find it, but now there were obstacles in the way that were far more difficult than anything that her mother may have encountered.

  She half-suspected, although she did not like to express it to herself, that the feeling Lottie had had for the many men who had come and gone in her life had been very light and superficial even if she had been upset when they left her.

  In fact, after Lionel Arkwright had gone back to England, she had wept bitter tears.

  But to Lottie life was like champagne and as long as she could laugh and there were people to admire her and pay her compliments, she found a happiness that was very different from what Clova wanted.

  She knew that it was not only love that she required from a man, but that he should be somebody she could talk to, on whom she could rely and who would protect and guide her through the dangers and uncertainties of life.

  She was sure too that the vibrations she had felt mingling with hers from the moment she had first met Tarquil were an expression of true love that came from her heart and his.