Free Love in the Highlands by Barbara Cartland Page B

well."
    Before she could answer, he had shut the door behind him.
    Lavina was left alone. She was aware that the yacht had also come to a standstill, presumably in some quiet bay where it would rest until tomorrow morning.
    "Goodnight," she said to an empty room.
    Then as there was only the sound of the waves lapping against the sides, she walked quietly, without seeing anyone, or being seen, towards her own cabin.
    Jill was waiting for her. She helped her off with her lovely clothes and into her elegant silk nightdress, then began to brush her long dark hair.
    "Did you have an enjoyable evening, Your Ladyship?" she asked.
    "Yes thank you, Jill. It was certainly a very – a very unexpected evening."
    Before Jill could ask what she meant by that Lavina said hurriedly, "You can go to bed now. I'll manage the rest for myself."
    She sat alone, slowly drawing the brush down her hair, thinking what a strange discovery she had made that night.
    "If anyone had told me he was like this, I would not have believed them," she said to herself.
    "I thought he was just rude and brusque, but there is another side to him, a side that I can reach, and which seems to be reaching out to me."
    She got into bed and lay gazing into the darkness, listening to the soft murmuring of the sea. Then she fell asleep, only to dream, as she had dreamed before, that the music was whispering in her heart, and as her mother always said, in her soul.
*
    The next day they docked in Aberdeen. From there they went to the railway station and began the train journey to Ballater.
    Remote as the location was, it was well supplied with railways on account of its nearness to Balmoral, the Scottish country estate that Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had acquired twenty years before.
    During the Prince's lifetime they had spent a part of each summer there. After his death Victoria had continued the visits alone.
    At Ballater Station they piled into carriages to head for the McEwuan estate. Lavina was thrilled to see how beautiful the Scottish countryside was.
    The green of the grass, the touches of heather were something new and thrilling.
    She felt she was entering a new world which, thankfully, was not as frightening nor as difficult as the world in the south had become.
    "What is the house like?" the Marquis asked.
    "It's called McEwuan Castle," the Earl replied, "and it is somewhat like a castle, but not as grand as the Towers."
    "That's a relief," the Marquis said at once. "I still lose my way in that huge place. I hope your cousin has a cool head, or he will be overwhelmed at our descending on him without warning."
    "But we do have an invitation from him to drop in at any time," the Earl pointed out. "I received it only three days ago."
    "But Papa," Lavina laughed, "when people say that, they never mean it literally."
    "Then he shouldn't have said it," the Earl replied. "We are visiting them as an act of courtesy, to mark your betrothal."
    "Then they are to believe that we are really engaged?" the Marquis asked.
    "Would that not be best?" the Earl asked.
    "Certainly. The fewer people who know the truth the better."
    At last McEwuan Castle came into view. It was not a great castle, but it had towers and turrets, and presented a very romantic appearance.
    "There is my cousin!" the Earl exclaimed suddenly.
    A large, well-built man came out of the front door and stood regarding them as they approached. His face wore a big grin, and he waved to them, not seeming in the least put out by their sudden appearance.
    "Ian!" the Earl called out.
    Sir Ian McEwuan hurried forward so that he reached the carriage as it stopped. Without waiting for the coachman he pulled open the door, grabbed his cousin by the hand and almost yanked him out to a crushing embrace.
    "So you decided to accept my invitation, after all! This is wonderful! Come on out everybody! They're here after all this time!"
    The last words were directed inside the house, and at once a young man came running out.