“Scotland or at the manse?”
She grinned. “Both I guess.”
“I was born in this country but spent my childhood mostly in Africa, England and India, traversing the world with my missionary parents. As for being at the manse, I’ve been here about four or five years now. I mustn’t be doing a good job, however,” he teased, “for they keep old Earnan Macailean here as well. He’s been vicar since Sir James was the master of the estate.”
“I never knew Sir Robert’s father. We weren’t allowed to leave the confines of the cottage when I was a child.”
“We?”
“My mother and I. It was just the two of us.”
“Until you were eight and were sent to school,” he finished with a chuckle.
“Yes.” She smiled, pleased that he remembered what she had told him.
They walked a moment in silence. As they did so, Katherine deliberated whether she should relate to David the strange events that had been happening since arriving at the manor. Having nothing to lose and everything to gain, she said, “Since you’ve been here for a while, I assume that you know everyone on and around the estate and in the villages nearby?”
“Yes, I suppose I do. Why?”
“Do you know of a rather large, brawny man? He would be a head or so taller than Alexander and with dark features.”
David thoughtfully shook his head. “No, I can’t say that I know a man of that description. Perhaps I can inquire to Earnan for you. He knows everyone from one to a hundred. Is this man important to you?”
She struggled to put the right words in order for an answer. She wanted to tell him of her scare at the cottage and of her rescuer, but suddenly she couldn’t say anything. A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she slid her arm from his. “I guess I should be getting back to the manor,” she said abruptly.
“The manse is just down there,” he pointed. “It’s a short distance from the fork where we met. If you need anything, please send for me. I’ve enjoyed our walk and our talk.”
“I, too, thank you,” she turned and walked away.
As David watched her leave, he couldn’t explain the uneasiness that suddenly filled his thoughts.
Chapter Seven
Katherine and May-Jewel started their investigation at the west side of the great hall, in what Alex called the formal parlor. Neglect was everywhere. The air in the closed room was permeated with the musty odor of a few pieces of antiquated furniture. They didn’t linger there long. Huge double doors opened from that room into a gallery lined with more portraits of the Craig men interspersed with racks of ancient weapons and rusted chain mail.
“We should have started on the other side of the house,” Katherine remarked, shivering in her thin linen blouse. “Or waited a couple hours until the afternoon sun could lend a more cheerful atmosphere to these dreary rooms.”
May-Jewel looked about in silence trying not to be pulled into the gloomy ambience of her surroundings. “The first thing I’m going to do is redecorate this mausoleum. That is, if Alex will let us have the money.”
“May-Jewel!” Katherine rebuked. “Do you realize what you just said? Alexander Fleming is overseer of this estate only until we ourselves start handling it. He isn’t a part owner, and he has only one-third say in the Craig Shipping Lines, so he’ll never be in absolute control of anything. It’s our money and our manor. We’re in trouble if you start thinking that he has any power.” She took a deep breath. “Good Lord, you didn’t become so enamored of him last night that you signed anything, did you?”
“No! Of course not! I’m not that stupid. I know the worth of what we have, and I’m not about to give it away. Don’t worry about that.” She turned away from Katherine to hide the blush that arose when she thought about how close she may have come to doing exactly that.
“I’ve always been told what to do and how to think by any male including my employer,” Katherine said, “but you definitely are the subjugated one. That must be a perspective instilled in you by your mother.” She was immediately sorry she had said that. Of course May-Jewel was subjugated, considering her mother’s line of work, her submissiveness toward men. It would’ve been only natural for that mindset to have been passed onto May-Jewel. Katherine saw the pout that revealed her sister’s injured feelings.
“I suppose that we do have to depend on Alexander a certain amount.” Katherine acquiesced, trying to erase the insult. “If for no other reason than to show us the books and explain the finances of the estate. Don’t you agree?”
“I don’t know,” May-Jewel answered. “He said something about it last night. But when I didn’t reply, he changed the subject as if it wasn’t important.”
“Oh, it’s important to him, all right. It’s obvious, to me at least, that he wants this estate, and as long as we don’t declare our independence of him, he’ll keep his hand in its affairs. I resent his self-proclaimed guardianship over us and what is ours. The longer that we let him run things, the harder it’ll be for us to take control. So far all he’s done is treat me with contempt and you like you’re a potential conquest. Perhaps that’s our fault. We’re so used to giving men the lead, and we haven’t approached him about the business yet. We should insist that he deal with us, not as women, but as the owners of this manor that he’s so freely living in.”
May-Jewel nodded in agreement. Talk of business and property bored her. She was willing to let someone else handle the estate. Anyone else. Her thoughts shifted to Alex. Should she tell
