The House of Lyall (10 page)

She tried, by addressing most of her remarks to him, to let Andrew see that she was still friends with him, and she wasn't the only one who was relieved to see him brighten as the afternoon wore on. The weather had faired by the time he was leaving in the evening, so she walked a little way with him, ‘to blow the cobwebs off me'.

As soon as they were outside, Andrew sighed, ‘I shouldn't have said what I did when I last saw you, and I'm truly sorry, Marianne. I was angry at you for leaving without me, and when I learned who had seen you home, I was afraid you would prefer him to me, might even see him again. But that does not excuse me for …'

‘Andrew,' Marianne said softly, ‘you've nothing to be sorry for.' She hesitated, then added, ‘I'd better tell you, though … he has asked me to marry him.'

He grabbed her arms and pulled her roughly to a halt. ‘I thought you only dined with him once?'

‘I thought that would be all, but it was more than that and he proposed last Thursday and gave me ten days to think about it. I've thought and thought … well, I'm going to accept.'

‘But you can't, Marianne! You don't know anything about him!'

‘I know enough.'

‘Oh God, Marianne! You can't do this! You know I love you, and you can't love him!'

Her heart was cramping at the anguish in his eyes, but she said stoutly, ‘Who said anything about love? I told you a long time ago I didn't care about love. He wants me to … give him the son he's got to have to continue the Bruce-Lyall line.'

‘Good God! Do you realize what you are saying, Marianne? He must know dozens of suitable girls; he doesn't need you. Not like I do.'

‘Andrew, my mind's made up. I've always said I wanted a rich man, but even if he's not rich, I'll still marry him for the title.'

He flung her from him. ‘I'd better not argue any more. I thought I could have persuaded you to … but when I asked Stephen, he said the Bruce-Lyalls were one of the wealthiest families in Scotland.'

‘There you are!' she snapped, rubbing her arms where his nails had dug in. ‘It seems I picked well, after all.'

Chests heaving with the anger they felt, they glared at each other for several moments before Marianne said, with a catch in her throat, ‘Andrew, I know you don't think much of me now, but I still want you for a friend. You're the only one I could turn to if –'

‘You're beginning to have doubts?'

‘No, I don't have any doubts, but even the best marriages go wrong sometimes, and I'd like to know I had someone …'

‘Oh, Marianne!' The words were wrung from him. ‘I let you down on that evening at Stephen's, but I'll never let you down again. I'll always be there for you. I'll run at your bidding, and I'll do anything you want, whatever it is. I'll never stop loving you.'

She was surprised by the tears which sprang to her eyes. ‘I wish it could be different, Andrew dear. I wish I could love you like you deserve to be loved.'

He put his hand up to dry her cheek. ‘Tell me something, Marianne. Do you love Bruce-Lyall?'

‘No, I don't love him, but I do like him and he can make my dreams come true. Can't you feel happy for me about that?'

He held her face between his hands now. ‘I do, Marianne, though I would feel happier if I had been the one to make your dreams come true.' His lips touched hers lightly. ‘It does help a little to know that you do not love him either, but it is still going …' A slight tremble in his voice made him clear his throat determinedly. ‘Do not forget, if you ever need me you have only to let me know.'

‘Thank you, Andrew. I won't forget, but why don't you find another girl? You must know some.'

‘None of them can compare with you,' he sighed.

‘That's just because you don't want to compare them. I'd better go back now, or else your aunts will be thinking I'm lost.'

Because Marianne had taken almost half an hour to come back from seeing Andrew to the end of the street, two of his aunts had presumed they had made up their quarrel, and so were not averse to the girl meeting Hamish again.

‘It will do her good to mix with people like that,' Miss Emily said, feeling free to state her opinion because she knew that Miss Esther felt the same.

‘It should do us good, too,' the youngest sister pointed out. ‘He must have young married friends who might need a layette for a coming infant, or want to buy something for a toddler.'

Perspicacious Miss Edith said nothing. She knew that something had happened between their nephew and the girl, something drastic, which had not been resolved. She also wished she knew how to stop Marianne from seeing more of young Bruce-Lyall; a liaison between them could be dangerous. Marianne's head could easily be turned by the thought of having a title and acting the gracious lady … and where would that leave poor Andrew?

On Saturday, Marianne was rather pleased that Hamish had asked Ma Cameron if they could have dinner served in his room, away from the possible eavesdropping of her other customers, but he waited until their meal was over before he broached the important subject. ‘Have you made your decision yet?'

‘Didn't you say there were further details to discuss?' she hedged.

He looked at her over the rim of his brandy glass. ‘I think we could safely leave the other details until you give me your answer. I have already told you my reason for marrying you, so you should be under no misapprehension.'

She felt a twinge of what she hoped was ‘
mis
'-apprehension. There was something here that she couldn't fathom, something he was keeping from her, but surely nothing bad? There was no love between them, she was content to have it that way, and there couldn't be anything else unless … ‘Are you preparing me for a divorce after I give you the son you want?'

‘Oh no, my dear, nothing like that. Our marriage will last until the day one of us dies … as long as you are happy with it.'

It wasn't a truly satisfactory answer, suggesting as it did that she might not be happy, but the lure of becoming a member of one of the wealthiest families in Scotland was too great. ‘I have decided, Hamish. I'll marry you whenever you want.'

He poured himself another brandy and gestured to her to lift her glass. ‘We will drink to that and then we can get down to business.'

She took a small sip, shuddering as the spirits set her throat on fire, and watched in amazement when he tossed his down in one go like a dose of cough linctus, and poured another.

The brandy seemed to help him to present his case. ‘First, I had better tell you that my mother was not at all happy about this, but my father made her see that it is best … all round, and so you will be summoned to Glendarril very shortly.'

‘To see if I pass muster?' Marianne was outraged at being ordered, not invited, to meet his parents.

‘There is no suggestion of passing muster,' Hamish smiled. ‘I have made my choice and they will stand by that. As is only natural, my mother wants to meet you and you will be expected to live with us so that she can prepare you for –' he broke off, his tone softening. ‘I can tell by your terrified expression that I am not explaining things very well.'

‘It
is
a bit terrifying,' she admitted. ‘You know I don't exactly shine when I meet snobs …' Her hand flew to her mouth. ‘Oh, I don't mean your parents or their friends are snobs. How could I, when I haven't even met any of them yet?'

Hamish did not appear in the least put out. ‘They
are
snobs, my dear Marianne,' he grinned, ‘my mother the worst of all. But you will soon learn how to talk to them, and to the servants. That is why Mother wants you to move in with us as soon as you can. It will take her time to arrange the wedding to her liking, with goodness knows how many guests – five hundred, I shouldn't be surprised.'

‘So many? And what about my wedding dress? Miss Esther will want to make it …'

‘Mother will whip you up to London or Edinburgh for an exclusive, if I know her. There will be no need for you nor Andrew's aunts to worry about anything. It will all be taken care of – invitations, your whole trousseau, the bridesmaids' dresses, the floral arrangements, the wedding breakfast, the hiring of the musicians.' He stopped, laughing at her bemused face. ‘Yes, I know every step, every inch of the way to the altar. A young friend of the family was married last year, and Mother wouldn't let the bride's mother – her closest friend – do a single thing. She took over the wedding completely, and I must say, she did a wonderful job.'

‘I never dreamed it would be anything like that,' Marianne sighed, ‘but it's maybe good that your mother will be choosing my wedding gown. You know how some people criticize my taste in clothes.'

‘Shall I tell you something?' Hamish murmured, slurring the words ever so slightly. ‘It was hearing you stand up to Sybil at Hogmanay that started me thinking …'

‘Oh,' she gasped. ‘You saw that business as well, did you?'

‘That's when I began to consider you as a wife, and when I told Father how you fended off Sybil and her cronies, he agreed that you would be ideal for our purpose, but I knew nothing about you – your name nor where you lived. So I could hardly believe my luck when I saw you at Albyn Place. Now, I had better take you home.'

Hamish got to his feet and came round to pull Marianne's chair back for her, and when she was standing in front of him, he muttered, ‘I suppose I should have kissed you earlier, when you accepted me?'

‘It doesn't matter,' she said, although she
was
quite disappointed that he hadn't, then or now.

‘You will be receiving a letter from my mother in a few days, I suppose, to tell you when she expects to see you.'

‘You'll have to meet the Rennies before I leave them. Will you come in with me tonight?'

‘I have had a little too much to drink tonight, I am afraid. I do not want them to get a wrong impression, because I do not normally indulge, but … well, I had to boost my courage. I do, however, want very much to meet them. Shall I come tomorrow?'

‘I'll let them know, though I'm sure it'll be all right.'

He left her at the end of her street, and Marianne went in to tell the sisters of her good fortune. They should be pleased for her … unless they couldn't forgive her for not marrying Andrew.

When the summons arrived, Marianne was awestruck. The coat of arms itself at centre top was very impressive, and the gold deckled edging, but it was the embossed heading at the right-hand side which took her breath away. Castle Lyall, Glendarril! Hamish hadn't said he lived in a castle and Miss Edith hadn't mentioned it. But everything was going to be all right. In the ten days since he had met them, Hamish had charmed his way into three elderly female hearts, Miss
Edith's being the last to succumb. Even Andrew, sure that he would hate the man as soon as he was introduced to him, had admitted to her that Hamish was a decent fellow.

Marianne was relieved that there was no sign of rivalry between them. In fact, they got on so well that she hoped Hamish wouldn't object to her inviting Andrew to the castle occasionally after the wedding. She couldn't bring their friendship to an end and leave him as if he meant nothing to her. It wasn't true. She had
always
felt something for him … though it wasn't love.

Chapter Six

On the southbound train, Marianne felt quite down-hearted. She had hoped to be sent off with good wishes ringing in her ears, but at the station Miss Esther and Miss Emily had barely touched the tips of her fingers with theirs before they turned away, and when Miss Edith stepped forward her opening words were anything but encouraging. ‘I trust you have considered all aspects of the union you are determined to make? You will be far removed from your friends –'

‘When I came to Aberdeen,' Marianne butted in cautiously, ‘I was all alone and I didn't know a soul. I wouldn't have known what to do if it hadn't been for that priest.'

‘Ah yes, Father Bernard. When his mother was alive, she was a great friend of ours, and we all missed him when he took up his missionary post in East Africa. But you are unlikely to meet anyone like him in a long glen with little habitation, according to what I have read.'

‘I'll have proper relations, though.' Realizing that she might have offended Miss Edith, Marianne hurried on, ‘I've thought of you and your sisters as my aunts as much as Andrew's, but when I marry Hamish, I'll have a mother and a father – just in-laws, I know, but still relations – as well as a husband. I won't forget you, though. I'll come and visit you as often as I can.'

Miss Edith – stern, inflexible, disapproving Miss Edith – swallowed her emotion before she said, her voice quavering ever so slightly, ‘I will pray for your happiness, Marianne.'

‘I know
you
will, but I wish Miss Esther and Miss Emily could see past the ends of their noses.'

‘It is their love for Andrew that they can not see past, but I am sure that in the fullness of time they will forgive you for breaking his heart.' The noise of steam pressure building up made Miss Edith step back, satisfied by Marianne's stricken face that the last barb at least should make her think again.

The girl held out her hand in appeal – to be understood, to assure these dear ladies of her love for them – and cried out, ‘I'll write to let you know the arrangements for the wedding.'

The guard's whistle shrilling, the two younger sisters turned back to see her being borne away, and three hands kept waving until they were out of Marianne's sight. Only then did she sit down. There was so much to think about, so much had happened in so short a time, that she still couldn't take everything in.

First, there had been the strange proposal and Andrew's reaction when he'd been told, then her acceptance – with no sign of elation from Hamish – and how the Rennies had taken her decision. Perhaps she had gone the wrong way about telling them, but she'd had no time to plan it, and finding an easy way was impossible. She had announced it the minute she'd walked into the house … thrown it at them defiantly.