The House of the Laird (4 page)

His smile was curious, enigmatic. His eyes dwelt on her thoughtfully, making no attempt to conceal the fact that he was deliberately studying her, and they were the cool, detached grey eyes she remembered, under the almost feminine eyelashes. But how
exceedingly masculine he seemed this morning, and by comparison with herself how one-hundred-percent fit. And it was obvious that his tailor knew how to make the most of his lithe, graceful proportions. His shoulders were broad, but not too broad; his hips were narrow, and she imagined he would look at his best in a kilt,
a
nd at his very best
in Highland evening dress. But even in tweeds, faultlessly made as they were, there was something about him which set him apart from any other man she had ever met before. He wore a silk shirt and a flowing tie that was the badge of a well-known public school, and Karen became distressfully aware of her shabby dressing-gown that was not even particularly durable any longer, as she felt that his eyes flickered over it.

“
Well,
”
he asked,
“
how are you?
”
and the kindness in his voice was, she thought, carefully introduced into it. There was just the right amount of kindness, and no mor
e
. If her appearance affected him with any concern it was barely noticeable in his expression as he stood gazing down at her.

Karen made a little, rather helpless movement with one of her hands. She did not answer his question, but said huskily:

“
Why didn
’
t you stop at Nannie McBain
’
s that night you brought me here? You didn
’
t, did you?
”

“
Didn
’
t I?
”
For an instant he looked genuinely amused, and he took a seat on the arm of a chair and continued to study her.
“
Perhaps I thought it would be a waste of time, and it was important to get
y
ou into a warm bed with as little delay as possible.
”

“
But you couldn
’
t have known Nannie was away from home—you
’
d been abroad and you
’
d only just returned! You brought me straight here.
”

“
Which was plainly a very sensible thing to do,
because your Nannie
’
s house was empty, and still is, and I was quite sure Mrs. Burns could take charge of you just as adequately as Mrs. McBain.
”

“
But that isn
’
t the point.
”
Her voice was even more husky, but she was determined to get this matter off her chest and dealt with without allowing herself to be side-tracked.
“
Don
’
t you see that you
’
ve put me under an obligation? I mean, Nannie might have been there, and she might have got my telegram, and—and—
”

“
But she wasn
’
t, and she didn
’
t, and you are here!
”
he replied with a soft, smooth note in his voice.
“
Aren
’
t you comfortable? Is there anything you feel that you lack? Because you have only to tell Mrs. Burns.
”

“
Of course not,
”
she exclaimed, a little
i
mpatiently. And then as she saw him remove his cigarette case from his pocket and then tuck it hastily back again she said more naturally:
“
It
’
s quite all right for you to smoke, for I
’
m hardly coughing at all now. In fact. I
’
m so much better that I feel I
ought
n
’t
to allow myself to be waited on as I am being. I feel a bit of a fraud.
”

“
Do you?
”
Iain Mackenzie murmured, but this time both his voice and his look were gentle. It was a gentleness that brought a faint flush to her cheeks.

“
And I
’
m being a nuisance, too. I
’
m giving you a lot of trouble,
”
she went on.

CHAPTER FOUR

He did not advantage of her permission to smoke, but stood up and wandered to the window and stood looking out at the view, which was obviously
one of
his favorites.

“
In a few weeks from now,
”‘
he told her,
“
there will be nothing but a sea of young green foliage and green shoots everywhere to be seen from this window. But the mountains are pretty much the same all the year round. Smiling one minute, and frowning the next. This morning, because it
’
s your first time up, they
’
re smiling at you.
”

“
But Mrs. Burns says there
’
s plenty of time for snow yet,
”
she told him, rather sombrely.
“
In fact, she
’
s expecting it. She
’
s expecting Craigie to be cut off by snow.
”

He turned with a kind of half smile.

“
Oh, Mrs. Burns!
She loves to be a little
dramatic. But does the thought of being imprisoned in Craigie by snow fill you with any sort of alarm?
”

“
No.
”
She shook her head to emphasize the negative, but she met his eyes squarely at the same time.
“
However, I mustn
’
t think of remaining here for much longer, must I? I
’
ve already inflicted myself on you for a week, and that was something you never expected when you met me for the first tim
e
outside King
’
s Cross station.
”

“
Maybe not,
”
he agreed, dropping down on to the cushioned window-ledge and thrusting his hands into his pockets.
“
But talking of King
’
s Cross station—how often have you visited Craigie before? And when was the last time you were here?

“
Oh, not for several years.
”
Her eyes smiled a wistfully, a little reminiscently, as she recalled that last occasion.
“
But I
’ve
always loved it, and thou
gh
t it the most enchanting spot in the world.
But the odd thing is,
”
gazing at him in perplexity,
“
that
I don’t
remember
ever seeing or hearing of Craigie House before. If Nannie mentioned it—and she must have done—it left no impression on my mind. Perhaps that
’
s because you were not living here at the time. I
’
m quite sure I would have remembered you if I
’
d seen you, even if I was only small
”
—looking faintly abashed because his eyes became amused
—“
or I
’d
have been puzzled by a lik
e
ness—
”

“
I don
’
t really think that
’
s very likely,
”
he answered, the amusement in his voice as well.
“
One has to allow for the fact that when you were last here there were still a good many years between us, and we do alter as we grow older, you know. And, in any case
, m
y family were not very addicted to Craigie in the first flush of my own youth, and we only came here for holidays
a
s a rule.
”

She looked about her at the large room, with its garlanded ceiling, its wide white fireplace, and other graceful features.

“
It
’
s beautiful,
”
she said, still more wistfully.
“
I can
’
t imagine anyone not wanting to live here.
”

“
I alw
a
ys think that when I come back to it after an absence,
”
he admitted.
“
Especially after a prolonged absence.
”

There was silence for a few moments, and then he leaned a little towards her, his hands removed from his pockets and clasped between his knees.

“
I haven
’
t bothered you before this because I thought you
’
d rather be left alone with Mrs. Burns until you felt stronger. But I do want to have a little talk with you about—yourself!
”

He sensed rather than observed her instant reaction to this—something inside her tensing itself, becoming taut and anxious, perhaps a little on the defensive.

“
Y-yes?
”
she stammered.

Mackenzie
’
s smile at her was intended to do away with that tension and enable her to relax.

“
You do realize that you were heading straight for pneumonia again that night when you arrived at Inverlochie?
”

She nodded, and swallowed something in her throat.

“
The doctor seemed to think I should have had a second dose of it.
”

“
And old Moffat knows what he
’
s talking about. He
’
s a good doctor. One of the best. And he thinks you
’
ve got to be handled very carefully.
”

“
But that
’
s absurd
”
—she felt herself flushing painfully—
“
quite absurd. I
’
m not really in the least delicate, only I happened to neglect a chill, and that sort of thing happens to lots of people. It
’
s the time
of year when one develops chills, and I can
’
t wrap myself up in cotton wool.
”

“
But until you
’
re a little bit stronger, at least
,
someone will have to wrap you up in cotton wool, or a repeat performance of what happened to you at Inverlochie is almost certain to follow—according to old Moffat!
”

The blush burned like fire in her cheeks.

“
You mean,
I
—
I’ll
make myself a nuisance
to
other people?
”

“
Well,
”
with an odd smile,
“
you can
’
t very well make a practice of fainting in the arms of unknown males, can you? For one thing, they may not always be provided with a car, or a convenient house to which they can take you, and the consequences could be disastrous for you. I think if it
’
s humanly possible we must avoid any possibility of the Inverlochie incident repeating itself in your case.
”

“
But I—I have to earn my own living.
”
Her voice was wavering now, and the distress in her eyes was unmistakable.
“
When Nannie comes back, I know she
’
ll have me for a week or two
, and
then I can go back to London and get another job, if my old firm won
’
t have me back. But I have
got
to work to keep
myself!
”

Iain Mackenzie stared at her in a hard and embarrassing fashion for what seemed to her
a
painfully long period of time.

“
Have you?
”
he said slowly, at last.
“
Well, we
’ll
see!
”
He got up and started to pace about the room, and then came back to her.
“
I
’
ve been in touch with your Nannie McBain, and I might as well tell you now that there isn
’
t the remotest hope that she
’
ll be back at her cottage under a month, at least. She
’
s nursing a relative whom she apparently can
’
t leave, and although she
’
s distressed about you there
’
s nothing very much she can do to help.
”

“
Oh!
”
Karen exclaimed faintly.

“
So I
’
m afraid you
’
ll have to make up your mind to stay here. It
’
s the only thing you can do.

“
But that
’
s impossible!
”
She sat up very straight in her chair, and once again she gripped the arms of it.
“
Oh, don
’
t you see,
”
she appealed to him,
“
I can
’
t possibly go on forcing myself on you like this?
For one thing it isn’t very fair and—”

“You don’t find it very comfortable?”

“Of course it’s comfortable—it’s wonderfully comfortable! But it isn’t even as it—as if you were—I mean, you’re not even—not even—”

“Married?”

The confusion in her face answered him.

“
That
’
s quite true,
”
he agreed, starting his leisurely pacing up and down again,
“
and this is a strictly bachelor household. But I got over that difficulty at the beginning by telling Mrs. Burns—who no doubt passed it on to all her underlings!—that you and I were thinking about marrying
o
ne another, and that
’
s why I brought you north! I didn
’
t even let her know that we met for the first time in the process of catching a north-bound train, and if you
’
ve unwisely informed her otherwise then it can
’
t be helped, but there
’
s all the more reason why we should stick to my early tale and pretend, for the time being, at least, that we
’
re engaged. It won
’
t do you any harm to put up a little pretence, and if you don
’
t I shall have to think up some excuse for leaving home again fairly soon, and that won
’
t benefit you at all because you
’
ll probably think up some plan for running away also, and back you
’
ll be in further trouble. So what do you say?
”

Karen was unable to say anything for a few moments, and she was not quite certain whether a return of light-headedness was causing her to imagine things, or whether he was indeed in earnest. In the end the absolute coolness of his look as
it bored into her convinced her that that was just what he was—coolly and calmly in earnest!

“
But—but
—”

“
Do you realize that I
’
ve been away from home for over a year, wandering, as my old aunt puts it
,
‘
about the globe
’
and it
’
s a little upsetting to my plans to have to think about finding other accommodation just now? So what do you say?
”

“
I don
’
t know what to say,
”
she confessed
w
eakly.
“
I
’
ve never heard anything so—so
—”

“
Don
’
t say it,
”
he urged her.
“
It
’
s not in the least fantastic really—it
’
s merely expedient. A remedy for a difficult situation which we
’
ve got to face up to.
I
n a few weeks you
’
ll probably be so fit that you
’
ll be able to say goodbye to me with equanimity, but at present you
’
re so very f
a
r from fit that it doesn
’
t seem to me you have any choice in the matter.
”

“
I could go into hospital,
”
she whispered.
“
The doctor could get me into hospital.
”