The Chieftain Without a Heart by Barbara Cartland

Author:Barbara Cartland
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781782131458
Publisher: Barbara Cartland EBooks ltd
Published: 2012-10-28T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIVE

Clola stood staring at the door that Mrs. Forse had closed behind her and, as she turned to look towards the great bed, she was suddenly afraid.

Afraid of the hatred that the housekeeper had spat at her, afraid of the hatred she had felt emanating from the Duke during the Marriage Ceremony.

It seemed to be closing in on her and she was aware that in what had always been the enemy’s camp she was alone, far from her own family and everything that was familiar.

She had a longing to be with those who bore her name, who were celebrating outside what she felt would be a ‘mockery of a marriage’.

Without really thinking and carried by an impulse that was stronger than thought, she opened the door of her bedroom and crossed the wide corridor trying to find another room that would look out on the front of The Castle to where the Kilcraigs were encamped.

She opened the first door she came to and, though it was unlit by candles, the light from the windows told her she was seeing the glow from the fires that had been lit below The Castle.

Shutting the door quietly behind her, she crossed the room feeling that the golden light drew her and that she must run to it for safety.

When she reached the window, she could see as she expected dozens of small fires round which the Clansmen were sitting and several big ones where she knew they would be roasting meat.

Now the comforting sound of the pipes was in her ears and she stood wishing desperately that she could be amongst those she knew rather than incarcerated in a place where there was nothing but hatred.

She felt panic-stricken at what lay ahead of her.

It had been strange enough to come home after three years from the life she had lived in Edinburgh with her grandmother,

Because she was so acutely sensitive, it had been hard at first to adjust herself and not let her father and her brothers know there was any need for adjustment.

But this step into the unknown aroused a fear that was almost one of terror.

How could she live with a man who hated her? With servants like Mrs. Forse crying out for the vengeance of the dead? And, Clola knew, believing every word they said.

It would have been difficult she had thought, to live at her father’s castle without the intelligent people, the music and the books that had all been so much a part of her life in Edinburgh.

But at least she belonged, at least she was part of a family, while here –

She felt herself trembling and her heart, which had beaten so frantically when Mrs. Forse had raged at her, was still thumping in her breast, sounding almost like the beat of doom.

“I cannot – bear it! I must go – away! I must hide somewhere!” Clola cried frantically.

Then in the darkness of the room behind her, she was aware of a ‘presence’.

She knew it was not human and yet it was very real.

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