Above Rubies Read Online Free

scarlet, and others are still emerald. Just look at them reflected in the loch! I’ve never stayed in Kilbraggan this late in autumn ... I think it’s even more beautiful than in summer.”
    “I know,” said Nigel. “I’ve tried to paint it, but it only looked garish and artificial. I suppose Benjamin Brendan could make more of it, if he wanted to, that is. He’s an odd sort of chap, preferring to draw kids’ comics to ... this ... ”
    M erry didn ’ t feel qualified to comment as the car snaked along the narrow loch-side road.
    “You’re a jeweller, I believe,” she, said, changing the subject, and Nigel nodded.
    “Jewellery, watches, gold, silver and a few antiques. Are you i nterested in jewellery?”
    “What woman isn’t?” asked Merry. “I’ve never owned any, but I often look in shop windows, and admire.”
    “I shall still be at home tomorrow afternoon,” said Nigel, as the car suddenly emerged into a broader road. “Come over for tea, and you can look at some nice pieces. We’re having a private cocktail party soon for some of our special customers, in the showrooms above our largest shop in Hillington. It gives our customers a chance to see very special pieces of jewellery, worn by mannequins. It takes care and thought to decide which pieces we want to display, so I’ve brought them home for consideration.”
    “I’d love that,” said Merry. “Thank you ... Nigel. Goodness, are we home already?”
    “It was a circular route. I wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of your Mrs. Cameron. Not at this stage,” he added meaningly, and she felt her cheeks flush rosily, as she watched him wave carelessly before driving towards the Cot House.
    It was only two hours since she had left home, but in those two hours the world seemed to have become a different place. She had met Benjamin Brendan, and had found it slightly irritating that he obviously considered her little more than a child, and one who was an amusement to him.
    But Nigel had been different. An hour in his company and she felt that she was someone special, someone of importance. He had made her feel that she was not just someone to be regarded casually. Stephanie, though, hadn’t given her much attention. She would have liked a friend in Kilbraggan, but obviously it wasn’t going to be Stephanie Kilpatrick.
    As she opened the front door, a thought struck her. Why should a girl like Stephanie so obviously wish to cultivate Benjamin Brendan? He was fairly well-known, but not the sort of famous artist one would think could appeal to a girl like that.
    “She’s in love with him,” thought Merry, as she quietly hung up her coat and went to find Mrs. Cameron.
    After dinner, she found a book and sat down in front of the living-room fire, feeling suddenly exhausted. An hour or two later, Mrs. Cameron found her nodding, heavy-eyed, and ordered her up to bed.
    “You must have a good rest, Miss Merry,” she said briskly. “We’ll leave everything else till tomorrow.”

 
    CHAPTER 2
    NEXT morning Merry woke up feeling more rested than she had for months. Downstairs she found Mrs. Cameron busy in the big kitchen with its wonderful view of deep purple hills behind the colourful autumn trees.
    “Och, you should have stayed in bed, Miss Merry,” Mrs. Cameron told her. “I was just going to bring you a wee bit of breakfast on a tray.”
    “Never, unless I’m ill,” Merry told her. “I hate breakfast in bed. I’d much rather have it here by the kitchen fire.”
    “Well ... ” Mrs. Cameron eyed her doubtfully, then drew up a chair to the table, deftly setting out breakfast crockery.
    “I suppose you’ll want to see over the house, Miss Merry,” she said. “After all, it’s yours now, and you’ll want to see that everything is in order.”
    “It feels strange that it should be mine,” Merry told her candidly. “I feel as though Aunt Ellen has just slipped out for a moment. I don’t feel that it all belongs to me