afternoon was gone.
‘I’m not,’ Angus said warily, putting a hand on his oxygen cylinder as if assuring himself it was still available.
‘I rang that bloody doctor last week and he said you were going into a home yesterday and you were dying.’
‘I said if no one cared enough to come, then he’d die.’
Kirsty hadn’t noticed Jake’s arrival but he was suddenly right behind him. He must have driven though the gates after Kenneth’s arrival, and she had been so caught up that she hadn’t heard. Now Kenneth rose, his colour flooding back. ‘You,’ he said, and his fury seemed to be escalating by the moment, redirecting itself to Jake. ‘You lied.’
‘Kenneth, take care,’ Jake said warningly. ‘There’s no need for you to think people here are against you. Would you like to meet my twins?’
He was trying to defuse the situation, Kirsty realised. She looked at the fury on Kenneth’s face and thought this had to be some sort of mental illness. Surely such anger couldn’t be justified?
But Kenneth was whirling again to stare at Susie. ‘She’s pregnant,’ he whispered. ‘Pregnant.’
‘Susie’s pregnant with Rory’s baby, yes,’ Jake said evenly. ‘We all think that’s great.’
‘And she’ll inherit…’ He choked, and Kirsty realised he’d gone past logic. ‘She’ll inherit from Rory…’
‘Rory’s dead, Ken,’ Jake said evenly. ‘Susie won’t inherit anything from anyone.’
‘The b-’
‘Get out of my garden.’ It was Angus. He was as pale as the night they’d arrived but he had himself under control. He held on to his oxygen cylinder as if he needed its support, but when he spoke his voice was completely steady. ‘If you insult Rory’s wife, you’re not welcome in my home.’
‘It’s not your home. You should be dead.’
‘Jake,’ Angus said tiredly, and Jake gave an almost imperceptible nod.
‘Ken, let’s go,’ he said softly. He took Kenneth’s arm and when Ken tried-violently-to wrench away, his hold tightened. ‘You’re not welcome here, mate,’ he said softly. ‘You know you can’t speak to people like this and stay welcome.’ He propelled him around, facing away from the others in the garden. ‘Come with me,’ he said softly. ‘Something tells me you’ve been skipping medication. I can help you if you’ll come with me. Come back and talk to your uncle when you’re feeling calmer.’
‘Don’t touch me.’ He wrenched with even more fury and because he was hauling backward, toward the gate, Jake let him go. Then suddenly he smashed forward again. But Jake must have been expecting it. As Ken blundered past he caught his arm, twisted, held. He had him locked against him, his arms up behind his back.
‘Ken, we’re going to the hospital, mate,’ he said softly.
‘I don’t need-’
‘You need help.’ Despite the violence, shocking in such a peaceful setting, Jake was speaking as if nothing untoward had happened. ‘You know you’re supposed to be on medication. You told me last time, carbamazepine.’
‘She’s pregnant. It’s
‘Kirsty, could you help me take Ken to the hospital?’ Jake asked. He smiled across at his little girls, standing open-mouthed and frightened. ‘Guys, Mr Douglas is ill. His head’s hurting and it’s making him say things he doesn’t mean. Dr Kirsty and I will take him away and make him feel better. Margie and Mr Boyce and Susie and Angus will stay and look after you. Is that OK?’
They stared a bit more but they almost visibly relaxed in the face of their father’s normal tone.
‘OK,’ Penelope whispered-or was it Alice?
‘That’s great.’ Ken seemed to have slumped against Jake, suddenly passive. He glanced across at Kirsty. ‘You want to drive or sit in the back with our passenger?’
‘I think I’ll drive,’ she said faintly. ‘If it’s OK with you.’
The drive back to the hospital was made in grim silence. Ken didn’t appear to object, which made Kirsty wonder how often these sort of outbursts had happened in the past. He seemed almost resigned.
At the hospital Jake administered a small dose of chlorpromazine and organised a hospital bed, and then he sat with Ken as he drifted into sleep. Kirsty could have disappeared then, but she didn’t. She needed to know about this man’s anger, she decided. The way he’d reacted to Susie had been terrifying.
So she made herself a coffee at the nurses’ station and waited for Jake to reappear. He finally emerged, looking grim. When he saw her, he seemed to make an effort to make his face relax.
‘I thought you’d have gone home.’
‘I’m driving your car,’ she reminded him. ‘That would have left you stuck.’
‘There are hospital cars, or one of the locals would have driven me back.’
‘I wanted to know about Ken. He hates Susie. Why?’
‘Ken hates the world,’ Jake said bluntly. He started making himself a coffee, talking to her as if he was thinking aloud. ‘Ken was born with a personality disorder that makes him think the world’s against him. Angus tells me that having him here as a child was a nightmare-he was so jealous of Rory that he made life unbearable. Angus saw little of him over the last few years, but lately he’s been badgering me about Angus’s health. I figure he thinks Angus is going to die soon and he’ll inherit. Today’s behaviour confirmed that. But his behaviour is way out of normal bounds. He’s seriously ill.’
‘What can you do about it?’
‘I’m not sure,’ he told her. ‘His behaviour today was so bizarre that in the old days I’d have had him committed.’
‘Not so easy today, huh?’
‘I’d imagine it’d be just the same in the States as it is here,’ he told her. ‘Evidence of gross psychiatric disturbance and the sworn statements of two psychiatrists that he forms a risk. What I should have done was let him slug someone today. Then I could have got him arrested. But the nearest person was me and I’m not all that into being slugged for the greater good.’
‘I don’t blame you.’ She hesitated. ‘What now?’
‘I can hold him here overnight,’ he told her. ‘I’ve probably gone further than wise in giving him a dose of chlorpromazine that’ll knock him out. He could probably sue as he didn’t agree to it. But I’m hoping that a solid sleep will leave him calmer. I’ll make an urgent call to the state psychiatric database people and see if I can find someone who knows him. Then I’ll try and get him on some sort of calming medication. But he doesn’t have to agree to it, and maybe once he’s had a sleep and is back to being logical he won’t want it.’
‘Is he functioning?’
‘You mean does he make a habit of verging on violence for no reason? No. Angus has talked about him to me. He’s suffered from uncontrollable rage from childhood but he’s somehow kept it under limits enough for him to function. He’s a qualified accountant, working in Sydney. He’s had two brief failed marriages, so he must seem normal most of the time.’
‘But not today,’ she said-and shivered.
‘No.’ Jake looked at her like he was looking straight through her, seeing the problems on the other side. ‘Maybe he saw the ramifications of Susie’s baby more clearly than either Angus or Susie have seen it yet. They’re so delighted to find each other that they haven’t seen what’s obvious.’
‘Which is?’
‘Angus is an exceedingly wealthy man,’ Jake said gently. ‘Although he downplays it, he has a title many people would give their eye teeth for. He also has entailed property back in Scotland. Loganaich is a major seat and Angus has a rent roll that would make your head spin. Angus told me once that he’d never wanted it, but it’s entailed in such a way he couldn’t avoid inheriting. He said Rory felt the same. Angus was devastated when Rory died, because the next in line-’
‘Is Kenneth,’ she breathed. ‘Oh, no.’
‘Maybe not Kenneth any more,’ he said sombrely. ‘Maybe Susie’s baby.’
Kirsty’s breath sucked in as the repercussions sank home. ‘So today…’
‘For the last few months-since Rory’s death-Kenneth must have believed that he’ll be the next Earl of Loganaich, with all the wealth and privilege that entails. Today he saw Susie’s pregnancy and he realised his calculations were wrong. I watched his face. He looked angry when he saw that Angus was using oxygen-that
