“if the good Scottish air and proper food do not cure him better than anything else.”
“I can only hope you are right,” the Minister sighed. “In the meantime you must forgive me for stealing away your daughter when she has just come back home. But I do know that you will understand.”
“Nothing,” Vara chimed in, “is more important than to make the new Chieftain behave himself.”
The Minister laughed.
Then he said,
“That is not the way that I would express it myself, but I agree that it is something very important at this moment.”
Vara rose to her feet.
“I will go and pack the things I will need,” she said, “but I do not promise to stay long. I have been so looking forward to being back here with Papa and Mama.”
“Of course you have, my child,” the Minister said. “I hate to be a nuisance, but there was no one else I could turn to.”
“I will tell you one thing,” Vara said as she reached the door, “there are some fine horses in the stables at The Castle and, unless someone has taken them away, I shall find them very enjoyable when I am off duty.”
The Minister’s eyes twinkled.
“I am sure you are right, Vara, and they will need exercise. It would not take you long to ride home to see your father and mother.”
“That is exactly what I was thinking,” Vara replied, “and, if his Lordship says in English that I am not to do so, that is something I shall certainly not be able to understand!”
The Minister laughed again as she closed the door behind her and ran up the stairs two at a time.
She could not help thinking that it was an adventure to be going to The Castle as a guest rather than just as a visitor.
Even before she had left to go to England, her father and mother had ceased to visit the old Earl and, if they had done so, he would not have recognised them.
Ever since she was a small girl, she had thought that The Castle was incredibly exciting if rather frightening.
Standing firm and overlooking the Bay, it had repelled the Vikings when they invaded Scotland from the other side of the North Sea.
According to the history books the Clansmen had proved to be so ferocious that the land belonging to the McDorns had been left untouched.
Further North the Picts had taken refuge in caves and had hidden until the Viking ships had left carrying off sheep and cattle.
They had left an intriguing legacy behind them too of fair-haired children with blue eyes, whose descendants so many generations later looked remarkably like the Vikings.
The Earls of Dornoch had inspired their Clan to fight fiercely to preserve their women and their possessions.
This was the reason why the Clan had been so respected all down the centuries and they were reputed to hold their heads higher than any of their neighbours.
‘Surely the new Earl must be aware of all this fascinating history?’ Vara asked herself.
She packed quickly all that she required for a stay at The Castle of no more than a week.
Before she had left England she had bought some very pretty gowns with the money left her by her aunt.
She had not been extravagant, but at the same time she knew that her father and mother would like her to look her best.
So she did not feel that it was wrong to spend a little of the money on herself.
She felt that she had really earned it over the months when she had nursed her aunt so diligently.
However, there would be no one at The Castle, she thought wistfully, to see her in her elegant gowns that she had bought to wear at dinner parties.
She changed into a dress in a pale shade of blue with a short jacket in which to travel to The Castle and the hat that went with it had been bought in Bond Street at one of the more fashionable dress shops.
Her cousin with whom she had stayed in London for a few days before travelling home had told her that her outfits were exceedingly becoming.
“You should stay with us, Vara dear,” she said. “I know of some charming young men who would love to meet you.”
“I must go home to Papa and Mama,” Vara replied, “but, please, ask me again in a month or so because there is so much I want to see in London.”
“You shall certainly see everything,” the cousin promised. “Just tell me when you have had enough of the bonny purple heather and your bedroom here will be waiting for you.”
Vara had kissed her cousin.
On her way North she had thought that it would be very exciting to spend a few weeks in London.
She wanted to go to the theatres and the Opera and, most important of all, to a ball.
The girls at her school had talked a lot about their ‘coming out’ balls and the numerous parties that to that they had been invited to.
They all had a special ambition to be invited to Marlborough House.
Edward, Prince of Wales and his love affairs with lovely women like Lillie Langtry were whispered about at the school.
Vara, like many of her friends, could not help wondering if she would ever be beautiful enough to attract a Prince or even a Duke.
However she told herself it was certainly something that would not happen as long as she was far away in Scotland.
There the Princes and Dukes were few and far between.
Unless one was lucky enough to live in the fair City of Edinburgh when the Duke of Hamilton would entertain a Royal guest.
At the same time Vara was not like some of the other girls intent on being admired and pursued by handsome gentlemen.
She found so many other interests in the various subjects that she had studied over the years of her intense education.
Books had revealed to her a very different world from the one that she lived in.
At the moment every day was a brand new adventure with something she might learn or something to discover.
She reflected to herself as she finished her packing that, when she had just come home, looking forward to being with her father and mother, she had never imagined that anything like this would suddenly happen to her.
She went down the stairs to find her father and the Minister still with a glass of sherry in their hands.
Her mother was saying,
“Is it really correct for Vara to stay at The Castle without a chaperone?”
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