The Fairbairn Girls by Una-Mary Parker

Author:Una-Mary Parker [Parker, Una-Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: (¯`'•.¸//(*_*)\\¸.•'´¯)
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Published: 2013-01-28T13:00:00+00:00

Ten

Lochlee Castle, 1898

Beattie lounged back in her chair with her hands clasped behind her head, gazing up at the ornate ceiling in the library. ‘The irony of it staggers me,’ she said, half laughing. ‘I always thought I’d be next to get married but no; it’s not me who’s sailing up the aisle next week. It sadly isn’t you either, Laura. It isn’t even Georgie! It’s the youngest of the five of us, Diana. And she’s only nineteen, for goodness sake.’

Laura smiled and nodded. ‘I know. What a good marriage she’s making.’

Beattie grinned. ‘This time next week she’ll be the wife of the very rich Lord Kelso of Cranley Court.’

‘He’s so nice, too,’ Laura enthused, genuinely happy for her sister. ‘Good looking, intelligent and madly in love with Di. He’s everything she ever wanted.’

‘I’m happy for her but I must admit I’m also green with envy. When are the rest of us going to meet a man who has everything? That’s what worries me.’

Laura didn’t answer. She’d been introduced to a lot of very nice young men at various parties and she’d enjoyed flirting with them as they danced with her and conversed over a glass of fruit cup, but none of them had made her catch her breath and none of them had touched her heart. To her Rory had been a man in a lifetime and there was unlikely to be another.

‘Is her wedding dress gorgeous?’ Beattie asked, breaking into Laura’s thoughts. She was dying to know what it was like but Laura and Diana were keeping it a secret from everyone until the very last moment.

‘I’ve done my best and Diana is going to look like a princess. It’s a pity we don’t have a tiara in the family any more but I think what we’ve planned will work just as well.’

Beattie stretched her arms above her head. ‘Oh, well! At least I’m the matron of honour and I love the dress you’ve made me. What would we have done if you hadn’t been able to make all our clothes? Mrs Armitage would have charged an absolute fortune and Mama says we must be careful with money in future. She’s terrified of us being really poor now.’

They sat in silence for a minute, thinking deeply about their change in fortune and their standing in Argyllshire. The death duties due on the Lochlee estate had forced them to sell almost all their land. Grouse moors and woodland where they’d shot pheasant and partridge had been sold, as had the river where they’d caught salmon and tickled for trout. All sold along with the home farm and cottages. The magnificent stags that roamed the mountains like proud kings no longer belonged to them either. Nothing was left except a beautiful view that stretched for miles and to which they no longer had a claim.

That autumn the leaves of the Rowan tree which still stood near the castle had turned a stronger shade of crimson than in previous years.

‘With the blood of my family,’ Lady Rothbury claimed bitterly.

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