Free Rose McQuinn 7 - Deadly Legacy by Alanna Knight Page A

door, 'But he doesna' ken. Never telled him.'
    Her words gave me all the proof I needed. The letter to Jack had never been written.

CHAPTER TEN
    As I regained the drive leading up to the Tarnbrae golf course, I stepped aside for a carriage emerging empty from the entrance of the clubhouse. Having delivered his fare, the driver leant down and asked, 'Can I take you anywhere, miss?'
    I said 'Lochandor' and climbed aboard, thankful for this fortunate encounter and no longer having to contemplate the long walk ahead.
    As this driver was more of the taciturn variety I was used to, I had ample time to go over that interview with the Pringlesses and how I was to tell Jack, who would be furious as well as anxious and distraught.
    Poor Jack. I hated to think of his agony when all of this was added to his already well-established feelings of guilt.
    I could do no more than hope Meg would go to a childless couple longing for a child. Jack had been extremely fortunate that after her birth her own aunt had been in a similar situation.
    To take a practical view, all things considered, the prospects offered as Joe Pringless related them suggested a happier future than with her real father to whom she was a constant reminder of a time he was most eager to forget. But the child was my main concern and, however reluctant, I had to consider the alternative which would be obvious to everyone except myself and Jack.
    She could come and live at Solomon's Tower. But I would be a poor substitute for Aunt Pam, my life devoted to a career as a private investigator. And, alas, one whose every inclination defied motherhood. Marriage to Danny McQuinn had been marked by a series of miscarriages. After ten years we had given up hope. Ironically after Danny disappeared I had discovered that I was pregnant. This time I had successfully given birth to a healthy and utterly adored baby.
    Maternal feelings aroused for the first time overwhelmed me, wrenched brutally from my heart when our baby son Daniel died in Arizona. His death tore me apart and I had, even to this day, never fully recovered from his loss, although that part of my life was over for ever. I had lost my beloved husband and my beloved baby and I never wished for another.
    Happy to accept Jack Macmerry as a lover when I came to Edinburgh, I had been horrified to find myself pregnant with his child a few years ago. Marriage was arranged, but I was involved in a murder case that almost cost me my life as well as a miscarriage.
    I had wept, but not a lot, resigned to the fact that Faro women had never been lucky in childbirth - my own mother had died with the son Pappa longed for. It was like a curse upon us, something to do with our Orkney origins and a selkie ancestress, or so legend told it. As for me, selfishly perhaps, I was happy with my present existence and a prospering career.
    Jack had made a promise that he would take care of me, and accepted that we resume our life together, but he never again tried to persuade me into marriage. The situation suited us both - or so I pretended to believe. I retained my independence, happy to stay that way without the bonds of matrimony.
     
    As we approached the gates leading to the convalescent home, it was with mixed feelings, remembering my last visit, that I headed in the direction of the lodge, framing the words that might influence Mr Lawers and change his mind with the news of his relative's death.
    In the middle distance some ladies were taking a little gentle exercise on a well-cultivated lawn. But my reconciliatory efforts were not needed. There was no Mr Lawers and no lodge - just a burnt-out ruin, the roof lying open to the sky.
    I stood back in amazement. All this in a few days. Ironically I thought of my last visit; instead of burning the unwanted package, Mr Lawers' house had itself been consumed by fire.
    But what of its owner? And I made my way up to the convalescent home to discover what had happened.
    It was the same woman I had met