A Heart of Stone

by Barbara Cartland

  In one room there were the Peers’ robes that the Earl’s grandparents had worn at the Opening of Parliament.

  In another there were a number of old fish hooks and Vanora was to learn later that making them had been a hobby of one of the Earl’s relatives.

  In addition there were many small objects that she found fascinating, like antique snuffboxes, a collection of pewter mugs and some very lovely pieces of porcelain.

  Still there was no sign of the Stone.

  She thought by this time that the Morgans must be on their way back to The Castle.

  When she looked out of a window again, she saw them disembarking from the yacht onto the pier.

  She thought that it would be a mistake for them to see her or for her to be anywhere but in the library where she belonged.

  She hurried back there.

  If it was not for the Holbein portrait propped up on the armchair, she would have thought that what happened last night had been just a dream.

  *

  The Earl had managed to keep his guests well away from The Castle for over an hour and a half.

  He was certain that Vanora would have been able to do what they had planned in that time.

  When they came into The Castle, Donald informed the Earl that the Morgans’ chaise was at the door and the luggage was in it.

  “Becket asked me to tell you, my Lord, that there’s nothing wrong now with the wheel. It should carry the gentleman safely to where he be a-goin’.”

  “That is good news,” the Earl commented.

  “I am most grateful to you,” Major Morgan said. “It’s very kind of you, Neil, to have taken so much trouble and now we must be on our way.”

  Alice Morgan ran upstairs to put on her hat. She had not worn one when they went aboard the yacht.

  She tipped the maid who had packed her luggage and the woman assured her that everything was in its place and nothing had been left behind.

  When Alice came down the stairs, she was smiling happily.

  “We have enjoyed ourselves,” she said to the Earl.

  “Then you must come again,” the Earl smiled, “and I wish you both a good journey North.”

  “We hope to reach my wife’s relatives by luncheon time,” Major Morgan said, “but if not, I expect that there will be an inn where we can get something to eat.”

  “If I had known there was any question of that,” the Earl replied, “I would have had a packed lunch ready for you.”

  The idea of having to wait for one now made the Major say quickly,

  “No, no of course not! I am certain that we will do the journey in good time and our hosts will be expecting us.”

  He shook hands with the Earl.

  Taking the reins from the groom he drove off.

  The Earl watched them go up the drive with a sense of relief.

  They had left without any trouble or any questions asked.

  He was certain that Vanora would now have his treasures waiting for him.

  “I think that her Ladyship wants a word with you, my Lord,” Donald said.

  “Tell her Ladyship I will come and see her as soon as I possibly can,” the Earl replied. “At the moment I have something important to do.”

  He walked from the hall as he spoke and down the passage that led to the library.

  He paused and then opened the door, feeling half-afraid that something might have happened and Miss Bruce would not be there.

  As he entered the library, she rose from the writing desk where she had been sitting and ran towards him.

  “Have they gone?” she asked with a touch of fear in her voice.

  The Earl closed the door behind him.

  “They have gone,” he said, “and they did not have the slightest idea that anything was happening behind their backs, if in fact it did?”

  “Of course it did,” Vanora replied. “The portrait is waiting for you to lift onto the mantelpiece.”

  She indicated the Holbein with her hand.

  Then she said.

  “When you have done it, I have a surprise for you.”

  The Earl smiled.

  “I know what that is.”

  He walked over to the fireplace and picked up the portrait by Holbein.

  He put it back where it had been before.

  He found it difficult to realise how satisfactorily it had all worked out and that he had not lost one of the most important pictures The Castle possessed.

  While he was doing this, Vanora pulled out several books from the bottom shelf and put them on the floor.

  Then she brought out the Shakespeare First Folio and the Chaucer.

  She had one in each hand and held them out to the Earl.

  He looked, not at them, but at her.

  He put his arms around her and drew her against him.

  He looked down at her and at the excitement in her beautiful eyes.

  Then his lips were on hers.

  He kissed her gently at first, then possessively, as if he could not help himself.

  It was impossible to express in words what he felt.

  Still holding the books in her hands, Vanora felt as if the sky had suddenly opened.

  A brilliant light came down and enveloped them.

  She had never been kissed before.

  Yet this was as wonderful as she had expected it to be, and so much more.

  She felt her whole body melt into the Earl’s.

  As he kissed Vanora and carried on kissing her, she thought that they had somehow flown up into the sky and were surrounded by stars.

  Only when they were both breathless did the Earl raise his head and say,

  “How can you make me feel like this? How can you be so wonderful, so incredible and so different from anyone I have ever known?”

  He did not wait for an answer, but kissed her again.

  It seemed a very long time before she managed to whisper in a voice he could hardly hear,

  “I love you, I love you – but I did not know that love could be so marvellous.”

  “That is what I feel,” the Earl said, “and I cannot believe it has happened to me after all these years of being deceived, disillusioned and tricked.”

  Vanora would have spoken again, but the Earl held her lips captive.

  He kissed her until the books she was still holding became too heavy.

  The one by Chaucer fell to the floor with a crash.

  As if with surprise because he had not realised that the book was there, the Earl turned to look at it.

  “We must be careful,” Vanora said. “We must not damage it after all – we have been through to save it.”

  “It is just impossible for me to think about anything except you,” the Earl said. “I knew from the first moment I saw you that something strange was happening inside me. I know now it was because you were taking my heart. I have never given it to anyone else.”

  “How can you possibly say anything so wonderful and so perfect?” Vanora asked.

  “That is what you are,” the Earl said, “and I love you, my darling, as I have never loved any woman before. I thought it was impossible to find the perfection I wanted until I saw you.”

  “Suppose it had never happened,” she whispered.

  “Then I should have felt incomplete for the rest of my life.”

  He kissed her very gently, before he asked,

  “How soon will you marry me, my precious one, because I cannot live without you?”

  It was then that Vanora awoke to reality.

  She remembered who she was and why she was here.

  For a moment she could only look up at the Earl.

  Then she gave a little cry before she hid her face against his shoulder.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  The Earl suddenly became aware that Vanora was trembling all over.

  He took the First Folio from her and placed it very carefully on the nearest armchair.

  Then he put his arms round her and held her very close.

&
nbsp; “I am waiting for an answer, my darling,” he said.

  For a moment there was no reply.

  Then, in a sobbing little voice that he could hardly hear, Vanora whispered,

  “I love you – but I cannot marry you.”

  The Earl was astonished.

  It had never occurred to him that any woman he asked to be his wife would ever refuse him.

  Certainly not the woman he now held in his arms.

  He knew that she loved him as he had never been loved before.

  “I just don’t understand,” he said. “What is wrong? What are you saying to me?”

  Vanora did not answer and he realised that she was crying.

  Very gently he put his fingers under her chin and turned her face up to his.

  He saw that her eyes were filled with tears and they were running down her cheeks.

  “My precious, my wonderful one, tell me, what has happened? What have I said to make you cry like this?”

  “I cannot – marry you,” Vanora murmured again.

  “Why ever not?” the Earl asked. “What can prevent you? You cannot be married or is there another man?”

  “It is nothing – like that. It is just impossible – and when you know who I am you will not want to marry me.”

  The Earl bent his head and kissed her.

  It was a long, possessive, passionate kiss.

  When he could speak again, he said,

  “Whoever you are and whatever you have done, I cannot lose you. You belong to me, you are mine!”

  The way he spoke made the tears come faster into Vanora’s eyes and she tried to hide her face against his shoulder.

  The Earl, however, prevented her from doing so by holding her a little way from him.

  “Now tell me,” he said very gently, “what has upset you. I cannot believe that anything you have done could separate us and nothing, my darling, nothing in this whole wide world, will stop me from loving you.”

  “I cannot be sure of – that.”

  “I swear it,” the Earl said. “Now tell me this terrible secret which is making you cry.”

  Vanora closed her eyes for a moment and it was with the utmost difficulty that she forced herself to speak.

  She felt that she was dealing herself a death blow.

  Whatever the Earl might say when he finally knew the truth, he would leave her.

  “My name,” she managed at last to whisper, “is not – Bruce.”

  “Then what is it?” he asked a little impatiently.

  Once again Vanora closed her eyes.

  She could not bear to see the expression on his face when he heard the truth.

  “I am – Vanora McKyle.”

  As she spoke, her whole body stiffened.

  She waited for the Earl to take his arms away and perhaps walk out of the library.

  Again there was silence before he said,

  “What is wrong with that?”

  Vanora opened her eyes.

  “I said – ‘McKyle’,” she managed to stammer.

  “I know,” the Earl replied. “They are the Clan on the Aulay and I think my father had some trouble with their Chieftain ages ago.”

  Vanora made a small sound of surprise before she said,

  “There was a feud – which has gone on for a long time. I really came to The Castle to try – to take back the Stone your father took from us.”

  “A Stone!” the Earl exclaimed.

  Then before Vanora could speak he added,

  “Oh, I know what you mean. It was years ago, but I heard my father say that he had taught the Chieftain of the McKyles a lesson they would not forget in a hurry. I recall at the time feeling rather sorry for the Chieftain.”

  “Sorry,” Vanora gasped. “But the Clans have been made to – hate each other and the reason why I came here to The Castle was to find the Stone – and carry it back to my brother.”

  “So you meant to steal it?”

  “Your father stole it from us first,” Vanora replied. “Every McKyle Chieftain has sat on it – when he succeeds. Your father claimed that never again would a McKyle have true power and authority because – their appointment was not valid – without the Stone.”

  The words seemed to tumble from her mouth, but somehow she managed to say them.

  Then to her astonishment the Earl laughed.

  “If that is what your brother feels, then, of course, he can have the Stone back. Quite frankly I consider it was wrong of my father to have taken it in the first place.”

  Vanora stared at him and he went on,

  “Is that all that is making you unhappy, my darling? I would give anyone a thousand Stones rather than see you shed one tear because you thought that I might be angry.”

  “I thought you would hate me,” Vanora murmured, “as the McKyles – have hated the MacFiles for so long.”

  “And that is what we must stop,” the Earl said. “I want you to smile and look beautiful, my glorious, because you love me. We will send your brother a hundred Stones, if that will make him happy.”

  Despite herself Vanora gave a watery smile.

  “He only wants the one – and I have not been able to find it.”

  “It must be here somewhere. I cannot believe that my father would have thrown it into the sea if it had any value.”

  “To the McKyles it is the most valuable thing they ever – possessed,” Vanora said, “and my brother will never feel he is completely the Chieftain of the Clan – until he has it.”

  “Then we will find it and give it back to him,” the Earl replied.

  He pulled her close to him again and asked,

  “Now I want an answer to my question. How soon will you marry me, my darling?”

  He felt Vanora quiver.

  Now it was not with fear.

  “How can I – marry you?” she asked desperately. “If I do, my brother will throw me out of the Clan and the hatred – between the McKyles and the MacFiles will be worse than ever.”

  The Earl touched her forehead with his lips.

  “This, my sweet, is where you and I have to use our brains. I understand now why this stupid feud has gone on for so long. I think that between us we will find a way to end it.”

  “How can we possibly – do that?” Vanora asked. “I am sure Ewen will never forgive me – if I married you.”

  “Which I intend you to do,” the Earl said firmly. “But, as I don’t want you to be upset and I want my Clan to receive you with open arms, we have to be very astute.”

  “But how? And what – can we do?” Vanora asked no less desperately.

  “I think the first thing is to find the Stone.”

  “But you don’t know – where it is.”

  He shook his head.

  “I have not seen it since I was about six or seven years old. I do remember my father bringing it back to The Castle in triumph when he must have taken it from your father after a battle between the Clans.”

  “Where could he – have put it?”

  “That is what we are going to find out. The person most likely to know is Donald, who has been here longer than any other servant.”

  He looked at her.

  He thought, even with tears still on her cheeks, that she looked even lovelier than she had before.

  “I worship and adore you,” he said, “and even if we have to move mountains and turn back the sea, we will be married and be blissfully happy and then make our Clans feel the same.”

  “How is that – possible?” Vanora asked.

  He was speaking very sincerely and his eyes were filled with love.

  She felt that the clouds were now moving away and somehow the sunshine was percolating through.

  “There is no time to be lost,” the Earl said firmly. “Let’s go and find Donald.”

  He took her hand in his and would have pulled her towards the door.

  Only as she started walking beside him did she give a sudden cry,

  “The books!” she e
xclaimed. “We just cannot leave them lying here unprotected!”

  “They can wait,” the Earl insisted. “For the moment the Stone is far more important than Shakespeare, Chaucer or anyone else, because it concerns you.”

  Vanora would still have protested, but he took her out of the library and along the passage that led to the hall.

  They did not speak as they went, but Vanora wiped her eyes with her handkerchief. She hoped that the Earl would still think she was looking pretty.

  When they reached the hall, there were only two footmen on duty.

  “Where is Donald?” the Earl asked.

  “He be in the dinin’ room, my Lord.”

  Without saying anything, the Earl took Vanora up the stairs and into the dining room.

  Donald, wearing a dark green apron and in his shirtsleeves, was arranging the silver on the sideboard.

  He turned round enquiringly as they walked in.

  “We are now looking, Donald,” the Earl said, “for a Stone I understand belonged to the McKyle Clan. Have you any idea where it is?”

  “Of course, my Lord,” Donald replied.

  He put down the piece of silver he was holding and walked across the room to the table.

  When he reached the chair at the head of the table, where the Earl always sat as his father had before him, he bent down.

  He drew from the seat of the chair a deep satin cushion.

  As he did so, Vanora gave a gasp.

  Underneath it was the Stone of the McKyles, which they treasured as if it was sacred.

  “I remembers, my Lord,” Donald said, “that his Lordship, your father, said that were the right place for it!”

  Looking down at it, Vanora realised that at least the Stone had come to no harm.

  Made of marble it was engraved with the insignia of the Clan and ornamented in colour.

  “Take the Stone out,” The Earl said to Donald, “and have it cleaned. I will tell you what I want done with it later.”

  “Very good, my Lord.”

  The Earl then took Vanora to the Chieftain’s room, where he knew there would be none of the house party.

  When they went into the room with its stags’ heads and fine pictures, the sun was pouring through the window and it turned everything to gold.

  The Earl closed the door behind him and then took Vanora into his arms.

  “Now I will tell you, my darling,” he said, “what we are going to do. I have a plan and I hope, when you hear it, that you will think it a clever one.”