At the same time she was overwhelmingly thankful that the Duke was safe and his cousin could no longer threaten him.
She fell asleep while she was still saying her thanks to God.
She awoke a long time later, thinking that the Duke was kissing her.
She opened her eyes to find that it was true.
He was sitting on the side of the bed, the sun streaming in through the windows and his lips were on hers.
Because his kiss was so possessive, he aroused a response within her.
Her eyes were shining when he raised his head and her hands went out to hold him, just to be sure that he was really there.
“I love – you!” she sighed and her voice was a little hazy.
“And I adore you,” he replied.
He made as if to kiss her again and then checked himself.
“I have so much to tell you,” he said, “and there is very little time to do it in! First your father and mother will be arriving at any moment.”
Now Isa was wide awake.
“My father and – mother?” she repeated in surprise.
“I sent a carriage for them and the reason why I want them here to stay the night is that you and I are being married in the Kirk tomorrow morning.”
Isa felt she could not have heard aright.
“What are you saying – what has – happened?”
The Duke glanced over his shoulder to make sure that the door was closed before he told her,
“Harry has made certain that Donald and Andrew can be trusted not to talk and nobody else except for us three is aware that Talbot is dead.”
Isa listened, her eyes on his face, but she did not quite understand.
“It will take several days, perhaps a week,” the Duke went on, “before the bodies of the four men are washed up somewhere along the coast.”
Isa gave a little murmur as if she did not want to think about it and the Duke continued,
“Talbot was a McNaver and, however despicable he may have been, he must be buried ceremoniously in the churchyard.”
He paused and, as if to make his words more impressive, he said slowly,
“But you and I will not be there, for we shall be abroad on our honeymoon!”
Isa gave a little murmur of surprise and he added,
“If we do not get married immediately, I shall have to be in mourning for several months and that, my precious one, is something I have no intention of being.”
Isa understood.
If they were married immediately, then the Duke would not have to pretend to mourn his cousin and Heir Presumptive.
What was more, neither of them wished to wait before they could be man and wife.
“Did you say– we are to be– married– tomorrow?” she stammered.
“Early tomorrow morning and our excuse will be that Her Majesty the Queen has sent for me and I do not wish to travel to London without you.”
“It– sounds very– impressive.”
“Not half so impressive as being married to you, my lovely one, and for us to go abroad together on our honeymoon.”
“Can we– really do– that?”
“We are going to do it, unless you no longer love me.”
“You know I love you,” she declared. “I love you so much that it is – difficult to think of – anything else. At the same time –.”
She hesitated and the Duke waited.
“At the same time –.” she went on in a very low voice, “I don’t think that you– really ought to– marry me.”
“Why not?”
“Because you are so important – and so grand. I thought at the ball you would marry somebody as beautiful as Lady Lavinia Hambleton.”
“I am marrying somebody far more beautiful,” the Duke replied, “someone who has captivated my heart until no other woman exists in the world except one called ‘Isa’!”
“Is that– really true?”
“Do you imagine that I would lie to you about anything so perfect as our love?” the Duke enquired.
They looked at each other and Isa knew that he was right and their love filled the whole world and nothing else was of any consequence.
The Duke drew in his breath as if he forced himself back to normality as he said,
“As I don’t want to distress your father and mother with the truth, and I am sure you agree it would be a mistake for anybody except the five people involved to know what happened, they will be told the same story as everybody else.”
“I am sure that you are right,” Isa said in a low voice. “Both Mama and Papa would be – horrified if they knew what had – happened in the – cave.”
“We will just tell them that we have fallen in love,” the Duke said, “which is true and that, as I have no idea of how long I shall have to be in London, it is impossible for me to leave you behind.”
“Is that– true too?” Isa asked.
“You know that every minute and every second I am away from you,” the Duke assured her, “seems like a century!”
He bent forward and his lips held hers.
He kissed her passionately and demandingly until with what seemed a superhuman effort he rose to his feet.
“I must go and meet your mother and father,” he said, “and then send out messengers in every direction to inform the Clan that we are to be married.”
“Do you expect – them all to be – present?” Isa asked in astonishment.
“As many as possible,” the Duke replied. “Those who have sheep or cattle to attend to will undoubtedly arrive at The Castle in time for the festivities which Harry is organising.”
Isa knew that this was the roasting of an ox and the consumption of a great deal of whisky and beer.
There would also be the pipers playing non-stop until the early hours of the morning.
She was just a little disappointed that she would not be there, but she knew that nothing could be more wonderful than to be alone with the Duke on their honeymoon.
She put out her hand towards him and he said,
“You are not to tempt me, Isa, otherwise I shall stay here kissing you and your mother will undoubtedly be shocked that I am in your bedroom!”
Isa laughed.
It seemed so funny that such a little thing could matter after all they had been through together.
When the Duke had gone, she jumped off the bed to tidy herself in the mirror.
She thought, as she gazed at her reflection, that she looked starry-eyed and, without being conceited, prettier than she had ever looked before.
It was because she was in love and she thought, if it was possible, the Duke was even more handsome than when she had first arrived at The Castle.
She told herself that she would make him happy and never again would he look contemptuous or cynical.
Then, because all she wanted was to be with him, she hurried to the drawing room and she found that her father and mother had already arrived and were staring at the Duke in astonishment as they listened to what he had to tell them.
*
After dinner that evening when Isa’s father and mother had gone to bed and only the Duke and Harry were left with her in the drawing room, Isa asked,
“Are you quite certain that– no one has any – idea what– happened today?”
“Talbot was very secretive because he did not wish us to know that he was in the vicinity,” Harry answered, “and the only person who might miss him will be Rory, whoever he may be.”
“I have made some discreet enquiries,” the Duke said, “and I gather he is a disreputable old character who is always begging from somebody. For the last twenty-four hours, having obtained money from some unknown source, he has been too drunk to be coherent.”
It was impossible not to laugh.
Then Isa said,
“Do you think it was– Rory who found – the way into the– cave?”
“I imagine so,” the Duke replied, “and I am quite sure that Talbot expected to find the t
reasure there. That is what they were looking for when we surprised them by walking in through the ‘front door’ so to speak.”
“Of course!” Isa exclaimed. “What a surprise it must have been for them.”
She gave a little shudder as she thought of the terror she had felt when she had been seized from behind and her wrists tied together.
Then she gave a sudden cry.
“What is it?” the Duke asked.
“I have just thought of something,” she answered, “and I cannot imagine why we did not think of it before.”
Both the Duke and Harry were listening and she went on,
“I think I know where the treasure is!”
“What do you mean?” the Duke asked. “It cannot be in the cave or Talbot would have found it.”
“Not in the cave, but under it!”
The two men stared at her and she explained,
“I have often wondered if the Chieftain of those days would have hidden the treasure in the loch, but it is too far from The Castle. The map which the Englishman showed to Rory marked the treasure as being somewhere in the garden.”
“Go on,” the Duke said as Isa paused for breath.
“If there was a hidden cave behind the cascade, as we discovered, why should there not be one, perhaps a very small one, lower down where the water actually falls and strikes the rocks?”
“It’s a possibility,” Harry agreed.
“Do you not see that even if the Chieftain did not know of the cave,” Isa said, “the treasure, most of which must have been unbreakable, would doubtless have been in an iron box?”
“That is true,” the Duke murmured.
“It would be too heavy,” Isa explained, “for the cascade to wash it away, but strong enough, we hope, to defy the time it has existed either with the water beating directly onto it or, what I think is more likely, to be tucked away behind it at the very bottom of the rocks it falls over.”
The Duke looked at Harry and for a moment neither of the men spoke.
Then Harry exclaimed,
“My God, I do believe she is right!”
“I would not be in the least surprised,” the Duke agreed. “I am so lucky, so unbelievably lucky to have found Isa, it is as if both the moon and the stars have fallen into my hands at the same time, therefore I accept this as another gift from the Gods!”
He smiled at Isa as he spoke and she knew that, if he was lucky, then she was lucky too.
“The moment you return from your honeymoon,” Harry said, “we will investigate. Until then, the treasure can remain quite safely where it has been for all these years.”
“If you dare to go exploring without us,” the Duke exclaimed, “I shall exile you from my land!”
Harry laughed.
“You need not worry. I intend to be here as soon as you return, catching your salmon and shooting your grouse in the autumn. What is more, being Godfather to your sons!”
Isa blushed and looked shy as the Duke said,
“As my Best Man how could you be anything else?”
*
To Isa it was like a dream when the next morning her mother came early into her bedroom to help her into the beautiful white gown that she had worn at the ball.
She thought that perhaps the décolletage was too low for a bride.
As her mother thought the same, they had lifted the chiffon higher, so that it now looked exactly as a Wedding gown should.
To wear over it was a lace veil that the housekeeper said had been used by every Duchess of Strathnaver for three centuries.
There was also a magnificent diamond tiara that had belonged to the Duke’s mother.
“You look lovely, my dearest,” Mrs. McNaver said as she kissed her daughter.
“I am so happy, Mama.”
“I am happy too,” her mother replied, “I could not imagine anyone more charming or more handsome than your future husband. I am sure you will find the happiness that your father and I have always known together.”
Her father was a little more reticent in what he had to say.
But Isa knew how proud and happy he was as he took her up the aisle of the small Kirk to where the Duke was waiting.
Isa knew that no man, resplendent as he was in full dress, could look more magnificent and at the same time more romantic.
Despite the short notice, the word of their marriage had obviously been carried on the wind, for the Kirk was packed with Members of the Clan.
Outside there was a crowd who must, Isa thought, have been hurrying to The Castle since the first moment that they heard the news.
The fishing village was actually only a mile away to the North and she was sure that every inhabitant from the oldest to the youngest had come to see them and to wish them good luck.
There was not only the Duke’s pipers to play for them as they came from the Kirk, but every McNaver who had pipes of his own was there to make himself heard.
They marched ahead of the carriage as they drove back to The Castle, while the Members of the Clan followed behind.
On The Castle steps the Duke made a short speech thanking them for their good wishes and asking them to drink his bride’s health.
Isa saw with amusement that already an ox was being roasted as well as a stag and Harry had arranged for there to be a great number of barrels of beer besides the traditional whisky.
She changed from her Wedding gown into a pretty outfit that she had worn in London.
To travel on his private train to Edinburgh the Duke gave her a velvet cape edged with sable.
“It belonged to my mother,” he said, “and you will find it useful when we board my yacht to take us to London.”
“We are going by sea?” Isa asked in surprise. “I thought that it would be by train.”
“It is easier to be alone with you and certainly more comfortable in my yacht,” the Duke said. “If it is rough we can stay in harbour. If not, I think that you will enjoy the voyage as much as I shall.”
She knew that she did not mind about anything so long as she was alone with him.
Actually she was a good sailor, having been sea-fishing many times with her father in quite rough weather.
A number of the Clan came to see them off in the train, which was always a source of interest and amusement to them.
As they steamed out of the small private Station, Isa and the Duke stood at the window of the drawing room compartment waving until everybody was out of sight.
She had a last glimpse of The Castle silhouetted against the sky.
It was a symbol to the McNavers that they belonged and their Chieftain would rule them, protect them and fight for them.
It flashed through her mind how terrifying it would have been if Talbot had won his campaign and been installed there in his cousin’s place.
Then the Duke’s arms were around her and he was guiding her to a comfortable sofa.
“Is it – really true that we are – married and I am your – wife? And we need no – longer be – afraid?” Isa asked.
“I hope I shall never again see fear in your eyes,” the Duke said, “or be terrified that we must both die.”
As if the agony of what he had felt was still in his mind, he drew her closer to him.
*
There was a great deal of Scotland Isa wanted to see from the train as they travelled South.
One of the Duke’s servants served them with a delicious luncheon and there was champagne to drink with it.
There was so much to talk about and so much to tell each other that the journey passed quickly.
They arrived at Edinburgh while it was still daylight and could see Edinburgh Castle, which had always seemed to Isa to be enchanted, high above the town.
From the Station they drove to where the Duke’s yacht, The Thistle, lay at anchor.
After they had been piped aboard, the yacht began to move slowly down river towards the sea.
The Thistle was a new acquisition and the Duke was very
proud to show Isa the lighting that he had installed and the way that he had decorated the cabins.
There were many other unusual features and gadgets which he claimed proudly that no other yachtsman in the North possessed.
They dined in the Saloon, which was decorated in green and had a painting of The Castle on one wall.
It reminded her of the last and impressive glimpse she had had of it from the train that morning.
As she looked at it, she said quietly to the Duke,
“I will try to make it such a happy home that you will never want to leave it.”
“Now that I have you, I should not want to anyway,” the Duke answered, “and I think, darling, it will be the right place to teach our children all the things that we both believe in.”
She gave a little sigh as she said,
“I am sure it was our prayers that brought Harry to us, and if you had not prayed as I was doing, we might – never have been – saved.”
“I do not want to think of that time again,” the Duke said. “All the same, my darling, I shall never forget that when Talbot threatened to shoot me, you stood in front of me so that you could save my life.”
“I-I did not think you – realised that was what I was – doing.”
“Because I have not spoken of it?” the Duke asked. “It was so wonderful of you, so unbelievably brave, that I was waiting for the right moment in which I could thank you.”
“Is that now?” Isa asked.
“Now, and a little later,” he answered.
Because she knew what he meant she blushed.
*
The Master cabin, which the Duke had given over to Isa, was very impressive.
The big bed, with a crimson velvet headboard on which was embroidered the Strathnaver Coat-of-Arms, was in its way very masculine.
The Duke had, however, ordered two huge vases of Madonna lilies, which stood on each side of the bed and their fragrance scented the air.
The Thistle was anchored for the night at the very mouth of the estuary and they would not begin their voyage to England until first thing in the morning.
The Captain had predicted that the sea would be calm and now there was just the gentle lap of the waves against the side of the yacht.
169. A Cheiftain finds Love (The Eternal Collection) Page 12
