Highland Fire by Elizabeth Thornton

Author:Elizabeth Thornton
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: 0
Published: 2015-01-08T22:00:00+00:00

The following morning, Rand introduced Caitlin to all the members of his staff. For a girl in the habit of taking care of her own meager needs, the experience would have been daunting had she not had a nodding acquaintance with most of those assembled in the great hall. In Deeside, families who could place a son or daughter in domestic service with the local gentry were considered fortunate indeed. There was little else to keep young people in the Highlands. Caitlin strove to overcome the awkwardness of her position. Young men and women with whom she had once freely mingled were now as stiff and formal as though they were being presented to the queen of England. A few inquiries respecting the members of their various families soon broke the ice.

Two of the staff were unknown to her, Rand’s personal valet, Hobbes, a little man who put her in mind of a dancing master, and the French chef who looked exactly as Caitlin imagined a French chef should. Gallic and temperamental, he was named Ladubec. Behind his back, the other servants called him “La-dee-dah” among other things. Knowing this, Caitlin could not prevent her lips from twitching. Her smile faded rapidly when Rand introduced her to the unsmiling man who stood next to the chef.

“My factor, Mr. Serle,” said Rand.

John Serle was in his mid-thirties, of medium complexion, and he carried his spare frame with a military air. He lived in a cottage on the estate, and rarely showed his face in Ballater or its environs. He was a true lowlander, in Caitlin’s estimation, dour-faced, with his nose always to the grindstone, the sort who chafed because the Sabbath was ordained by the laws of both God and man as a day of rest. Though she had never done more than exchange the odd word with Rand’s factor, she knew that she disliked him intensely.

Mr. Serle was only slightly less stiff than Caitlin. As the introductions were made, his lean face thinned to a razor sharpness, and Caitlin’s gray eyes lightened to a chilling transparency. Hostility seemed to vibrate between them. The encounter lasted no more than a moment or two, for Rand’s firm clasp on his wife’s elbow nudged her along to the next person in line.

Later, over breakfast, Rand did not mince matters, though he was careful to keep his tone light and pleasantly modulated. “Serle is my agent,” he told her, “and a very able one at that. I was lucky to get him. He’s had extensive experience in East Lothian as well as Norfolk. I know you hold him in dislike because of the changes that have been made here, on Strathcairn. I hardly need tell you that Serle was only acting on my instructions, so if you have anything to say—anything new to say, that is—I suggest you say it to me. One thing more, it would be highly undesirable if the man’s authority were called into question by my other employees, and that’s what would happen if my wife were to openly display her contempt for him.

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