Authors: Jean S. MacLeod
Coralie’s eyes glittered.
‘I suppose I want to go to Glassary,’ she admitted, ‘but I’m frantically busy. It’s all happening for me now, Kate! I had a tremendous success in New York with my designs and now I’ll be working here in Edinburgh for the Festival doing the scenery for a new play.’
‘But that’s not till August,’ Katherine pointed out as she glanced towards the door.
‘August isn’t so far away,’ Coralie declared. ‘We’re making contact now and I have to be on the spot for a while. It won’t bring in a fortune, but it’s an amazing feather in my cap for future reference.’
‘Do you mean to go to Glassary?’ Katherine asked.
‘Why not? I want to see my child.’
Coralie was still looking about her, assessing the quality of her ex-husband’s success.
‘Is that quite fair?’ Katherine asked slowly. ‘Fergus has never refused you when you wanted to see Sandy, but he has custody under the law. Oh, I know how difficult all this must be for you,’ she rushed on, ‘wanting Sandy so much, but can you truthfully say he’ll be better with you than at Glassary, where he belongs?’
‘You’re speaking on Charles’s behalf, aren’t you?’ Coralie smiled. ‘You know he will make Sandy his heir because he won’t marry. Not after Deirdre. Ah! I see you know about her,’ she added when Katherine looked away to hide the hurt in her eyes. ‘She was Charles’s one and only love, you know. “First love, deepest love,” and all that sort of thing, never to be forgotten by a man like Charles.’
‘I know he must have been very much in love with her,’ Katherine said quietly, ‘but we’re talking about Sandy.’
Coralie assessed her for a moment.
‘You really do fancy Charles, don’t you?’ she said. ‘Poor Kate! You haven’t a ghost of a chance. “Ghost” could be the operative word,’ she added cruelly. ‘Charles seems to be haunted, by the past.’
‘I don’t want to discuss Charles!’ Katherine protested. ‘It’s not my affair.’
‘It is if you think he might notice you in future,’ Coralie pointed out. ‘The facts are not all that dramatic, really. Deirdre was one of those people who could pull the wool over anyone’s eyes, and she did it with Charles because he trusted her implicitly. They became engaged and started to furnish a flat here, in Edinburgh. Perhaps I should say Deirdre started to furnish it, because everything was just as she wanted it—the best she could buy—while all the time there was someone else in the background. He was working abroad and she never thought he’d come back because they had parted in anger, but he did return and she married him within a week. It was as simple as that, and it’s happening all the time nowadays, but can you imagine what it would do to Charles? He wanted nothing more to do with marriage after that, so he settled a lot of money on my son.’
‘You told me that was why Fergus wanted Sandy back,’ Katherine reminded her, ‘but I know that isn’t true. It was you who was interested in the money.’
Coralie shrugged.
‘I had a right to some of it,’ she declared. ‘Now it doesn’t matter so much. I can earn more than enough to keep myself and I won’t be dependent on Charles’s bounty from now on.’ The harsh satisfaction in her voice made her seem even harder than Katherine imagined. ‘He never really accepted me at Glassary, but I was his brother’s wife and Sandy’s mother and I was the necessary evil as far as the estate was concerned. We didn’t get on together and probably he was glad when Fergus and I parted company.’
‘But, Coralie, that’s all over now,’ Katherine protested. ‘You left because you wanted a career.’
‘And I can’t have my cake and eat it! Is that what you’re trying to say, Kate?’
‘I’ve no right to preach to you, but my main concern is for Sandy,’ Katherine said. ‘He’s so happy at the Stable House and very soon Fergus will be able to have him there for good. He’s no longer a complete invalid, and now he has both an incentive to succeed and the means to do it.’
‘And Emma, you forgot to say!’
‘I don’t know about Emma,’ Katherine was forced to admit, ‘but if they did marry I know she’d be good for Sandy.’
‘Poor Emma!’ Coralie said pityingly. ‘She was always hopelessly in love with Fergus even before I came on the scene, I believe.’
‘Well, you’re not “on the scene” any more,’ Katherine said sharply. ‘Give them a chance, since you
do
mean to go on with your career.’
Coralie prowled into the next cubicle.
‘I had no idea Fergus was this much of a genius,’ she mused. ‘It must be very satisfying for him.’ She turned to look at Katherine. ‘How did you become so heavily involved?’
‘My car broke down on my way to the Trossachs,’ Katherine explained almost reluctantly. ‘That was my original destination, if you remember, before I agreed to help you. When your sister wasn’t at Beck Cottage I could only take Sandy with me since I couldn’t get in touch with you in London, to put you in the picture. Oddly enough, I broke down near Glassary—or at least near the Falklands’ hotel.’ She knew that she was deliberately glossing over Charles’s part in her adventure because it wasn’t going to make any difference now. ‘We stayed at the hotel that night and went on to Glassary the following morning. At least Sandy was safe there.’
‘Did Charles invite you to stay?’ Coralie asked curiously. ‘Or was it Fergus?’
‘There wasn’t much choice. My car broke down and Charles had it towed to the nearest garage, but it took over a week to get the necessary part to mend it.’
‘So you were quite some time at Glassary?’ Coralie mused. ‘What did you do with yourself, apart from falling in love with Charles?’
Katherine bit her lip.
‘There was quite a lot to do even before the exhibition came along,’ she said. ‘I had the use of an old bicycle, and Sandy rode his pony about the glen and learned to fish in the loch. The days seemed to fly past before we were aware of them going because there was so much to do.’
‘And whose idea was the exhibition?’ Coralie wanted to know.
‘Emma’s, I think. She saw that it would be a wonderful chance for Fergus to regain his former confidence if it succeeded.’
‘Is he still confined to a wheelchair?’ Coralie asked idly. ‘That was the part I hated most, seeing him just sitting there with time slipping through his fingers and both our lives going to waste.’
‘Surely he must have been painting his pictures even then?’ Katherine protested. ‘That wasn’t exactly wasting time.’
‘Oh, yes, his pictures!’ Coralie shrugged. ‘They cut me out, too. He had always painted, but after the accident, when he got back the use of his hands, they were an obsession with him. He would sit all day with an easel in front of him just staring at the scenery and I was supposed to sit with him and carry half the load. Of course, there was Sandy,’ she added reminiscently, ‘but Mrs. Stevas took over even when he was a baby and I was expected to wheel my husband around instead of the pram.’ Katherine drew in a deep breath.
‘I’m sure it must have been—frustrating,’ she said, ‘but everyone would be trying to help. It could have worked out in the end.’
Coralie looked round at her.
‘For you, perhaps,’ she said, ‘but not for me. I wanted my own life and I wanted my career. I think I realised how much I needed my freedom even before Sandy was born,’ she added harshly. ‘I felt trapped in a cocoon of ugliness all the time and I knew I would never have another child even though this wasn’t the heir everyone wanted. Fergus accepted that, so I don’t think he was too surprised when everything ended between us. Once he got the electric wheelchair he was more or less able to get about on his own and I was free to go.’
‘Oh, don’t make it sound so matter-of-fact!’ Katherine protested inwardly, knowing how deeply Fergus had been hurt. Marriages aren’t ended so easily.
‘What’s he like now?’ Coralie demanded.
‘He gets about without the chair whenever he can,’ Katherine explained, ‘although he still has to use a stick. It’s been a kind of miracle that he’s able to walk again.’
‘It wasn’t expected,’ Coralie mused. ‘There was very little hope in the beginning. Maybe Emma Falkland made the difference,’ she laughed. ‘She certainly worked hard at it. Are they going to marry?’
‘I don’t know.’
Katherine’s breath caught in her throat when she thought of what Coralie’s return might mean to Emma if she planned to go back to Glassary for good in spite of all she had said about her career, and hidden at the back of her mind was the thought that Fergus might still be half in love with his former wife.
At that moment her thought was to get Coralie out of the gallery before Emma and Fergus came in with Sandy.
‘Where are you staying?’ Coralie asked. ‘I’m looking for somewhere to lay my head for a day or two.’
‘At the flat.’
‘Charles’s flat?’ Coralie was obviously taken aback. ‘You couldn’t surprise me more,’ she admitted. ‘Did he offer or did you ask?’
‘You could hardly expect me to ask!’ A customer came in and Katherine was able to turn away, hoping that Coralie would go. ‘You’ll have to excuse me.’
‘Business first!’ Coralie agreed lightly, but she did not go, lingering among the exhibits of Emma’s sculptures till Emma herself came to the door.
Katherine saw her first and Emma had obviously recognised Coralie. All the healthy colour had drained out of her cheeks as she stood, ashen-faced, just inside the door looking as if she couldn’t move.
‘Excuse me!’ Katherine left her customer to inspect the pictures. ‘I know you’d like to look around.’
Emma was still standing beside the door, but she pulled herself together as Katherine approached, trying to smile.
‘I left Sandy and his father at the Zoo,’ she said through parched lips. ‘I thought you might need help.’
Katherine tried to place herself between her and the cubicle where Coralie was still examining her sculpture.
‘We’ll have some tea,’ she said, ‘in the office.’
Emma shook her head.
‘It’s no use, Kate,’ she said. ‘I had a feeling this would happen, sooner or later. The only thing I’m glad about is that Fergus didn’t come back with me to be—surprised like this.’
She walked towards the cubicle and Coralie looked up and smiled.
‘A day of meetings!’ she remarked glibly. ‘I was more than surprised to see Katherine here, of course, but I did expect to see you and—possibly—Fergus.’
‘Is that why you came to Edinburgh?’ Emma asked.
‘Not really.’ Coralie was looking at her intently, recognising her distress. ‘But I did see your advertisement in the papers as soon as I arrived and curiosity did the rest! I had to come and see for myself exactly what was going on.’
Emma turned to look about her at all the signs of her success—hers and Fergus’s.
‘We used to talk about having an exhibition at Glassary, if you remember,’ she said. ‘It hasn’t just materialised out of the blue.’
‘But it did seem impossible at one time,’ Coralie pointed out. ‘Now I hear that Fergus is on his feet again.’
‘Yes. He’ll never be able to walk as well as he did, but he’s a whole man again in many ways. This success has meant a lot to him. Please don’t try to rob him of his newly-found peace of mind.’
Emma’s sombre violet eyes were fixed relentlessly on the blue ones which had mocked her when she had first come in and her lips had regained their habitual firmness.
‘You’re asking me to step aside,’ Coralie said incredulously. ‘Don’t you think that’s a little dangerous?’
‘I’m not asking you to do anything for me,’ Emma said quietly. ‘It’s Fergus and Sandy I’m thinking about. If you don’t mean to go back to Glassary permanently you’ll upset them both. Sandy has settled in now; he’s happy and so is Fergus. Give them a chance.’
‘You’re speaking for yourself, too,’ Coralie smiled. ‘Arguing your own cause because you’ve always been in love with Fergus.’
Emma didn’t contradict her. Instead she went on into the office, ostensibly to make the tea.
‘Poor Emma!’ Coralie said with mock pity. ‘She was always hopelessly infatuated with my ex-husband and I dare say me turning up like this has been a great shock to her. She probably had everything worked out to her own satisfaction—the exhibition, Fergus’s returning pride and, no doubt, Sandy into the bargain.’
‘At least there’s nothing sham about her affection for Sandy,’ said Katherine. ‘I hope you’re not going to take him away from Glassary again.’
Surprisingly Coralie looked indecisive.
‘I’m not sure what I’m going to do,’ she admitted, unsure for the first time in her life. ‘I want Sandy—who wouldn’t?—but I can’t give him a secure home at present. Not while I’m still clawing my way to the top. I’m determined to get there, so that’s about it,’ she added. ‘Fergus has to agree to let me see Sandy from time to time. That’s in law, but I suppose I could demand more.’ The blue eyes searched Katherine’s. ‘What are you going to do after the exhibition is over? Are you going back to Glassary?’ Katherine shook her head.
‘I’ll be looking for a job,’ she said.
‘In Edinburgh? We could meet occasionally while I’m here, in that case,’ Coralie suggested.
‘No, Coralie!’ Katherine was adamant. ‘Our last meeting caused me a lot of pain. You lied to me; you said Fergus was trying to kidnap Sandy and I believed you when it wasn’t true. It was you who wanted him then, as perhaps you do now, for an extremely selfish reason, but Charles will never forgive me for my part in that deception.’
‘So it
is
Charles!’ Coralie said with quick perception. ‘Well, well, well!’
When she had gone Katherine made her way back to the office past the happily absorbed customers who were still examining Fergus’s paintings. Emma was standing beside the desk staring down unseeingly at the clutter of bills and orders which still littered it.
‘I shouldn’t have said my piece,’ she acknowledged. ‘I told her literally to stay away from Glassary when I had absolutely no right.’
‘You were taken by surprise.’
‘I don’t think so.’ Emma collected some bills. ‘I had a feeling Coralie would turn up if only to prove she had still some sort of hold on Fergus. She’s quite sure he could never really get over her.’
‘And has he?’
‘I thought so.’ Emma could not meet her eyes. ‘I thought this success we’ve had together had made a difference, but the one thing I couldn’t bear is to see him suffering all over again, Because, you see, I don’t think Coralie really wants him for keeps.’
‘She doesn’t know what she wants!’ Katherine rapped out angrily. ‘She was ready to ditch Sandy and everything else for her career and I don’t think she’s really changed. I think she’s intrigued by a situation that’s got beyond her and she doesn’t know what to do.’
‘It’s what I have to do that worries me,’ said Emma, looking through the glass partition which separated the office from the gallery proper. ‘I’d willingly give up all this to make Fergus happy.’
‘And undo everything you’ve already achieved!’
‘If I thought he was still in love with her, that he could carry on with her help, I’d—make myself scarce,’ Emma said.
‘I can’t see Coralie going back to Glassary for good, if that’s what you mean,’ said Katherine. ‘She’d wilt there in a couple of months pining for what she believed she’d lost.’
‘I wish I could be sure.’ Emma was watching the door for Fergus’s return. ‘I’m glad they didn’t meet before he knew she was in Edinburgh,’ she said. ‘It can be such a shock coming on someone you least expect when you’re suddenly so sure of the future. I’ll tell Fergus, of course, when we’re alone,’ she added. ‘He has a right to know that Coralie is here, but we don’t have to upset Sandy needlessly.’ She pushed the half-resolved problem away from her. ‘What are we going to do about the flat?’ she asked. ‘Can you tidy up on your own if I go back to the hotel with Sandy and Fergus? Charles said not to rush; you were welcome to stay there as long as you liked till you fixed up another job.’
Katherine turned her back.
‘I can’t go on accepting his hospitality for ever,’ she said unevenly. ‘It was different when I was working here for Fergus, but after this weekend there won’t be any reason to stay on.’
‘No,’ said Emma, ‘if you feel obliged, but I don’t think you should. Charles has always been determined to do the best he can for Fergus, and you were more than helpful in that respect.’
She hesitated, as if she was about to impart a further confidence, and then she seemed to think better of the impulse as Sandy came bounding in at the main door followed by his father.
‘I’ve been to the Zoo an’ I’ve seen a elephant an’ a camel an’ a tiger an’ a big brown bear an’ a jag’ar an’ a lot of goats an’ birds an’ ducks, like at Glassary!’ he announced excitedly. ‘An’ there was snakes an’ parrots an’ things.’