Above Rubies Read Online Free Page B

“I’d like to go through them all at my leisure. Oh, that reminds me, I shall be going out this afternoon.”
    “Oh, aye?” asked Mrs. Cameron inquiringly, and Merry hesitated for a moment.
    “Mr. Kilpatrick has invited me over to Rossie House,” she explained, “for tea, and to show me some of his jewellery.”
    “Oh, aye,” said Mrs. Cameron again, this time with a small non-committal nod.
    “Oh, and Mr. Brendan, the artist, is coming to tea next Wednesday.”
    “Oh, aye,” said Mrs. Cameron for the third time, and a gleam lit her eyes. “Seems like we’re getting to know the neighbours, Miss Merry. Not that Mr. Brendan is a stranger, you might say. He is and he isn’t. We all ken wha he is, if you get my meaning.”
    “I don’t,” said Merry, bewildered.
    “Why, he’s a Ross-Findlater, and is really the last of them, now Mr. Ian and old Mr. Alexander have both gone. Miss Alison married Mark Brendan of Ladykirk, you see, and when Mr. Ian died, there was only the old man left at Rossie House, and Mr. Benjamin still at school. Davie Laird was at the Cot House in them days, to see to things. Then old Mr. Ross-Findlater died, and last year Davie Laird followed him, puir sowl, and Mr. Benjamin decided to come home. He’s the real owner of Rossie House, Miss Merry, only he’s rented it to the Kilpatricks.”
    “Oh, I see,” said Merry.
    There was no need to wonder any longer why Stephanie Kilpatrick so obviously wanted Benjamin Brendan. His must be one of the oldest families in the neighbourhood.
    “He’ll be right welcome here, Miss Merry,” said Mrs. Cameron. “He called a few times to see Miss Ellen, but latterly she wasn’t so well and couldn’t entertain much. She aye liked him, though.”
    “I thought you said he was a funny one.”
    “So he is,” defended Mrs. Cameron. “He makes me laugh, the way he goes on.”
    Mrs. Cameron again told her all about Benjamin’s behaviour in public, punctuated with hearty giggles.
    “Mr. Kilpatrick seems nice,” put in Merry softly, remembering Nigel’s dancing blue eyes and charming smile.
    “Oh, aye,” said Mrs. Cameron non-committally. “Yon Miss Stephanie is chasing Mr. Benjamin at the moment, and she’ll have him, too, if he doesn’t watch out. She’s fair spoiled, that girl. She once condescended to help with a garden party for church funds, and Mrs. Cairns, the minister’s wife, asked her to help me sell home provisions, and I was never so near slapping any young girl, she was that uppity and bossy. If you ask me, it’s what she’s short of, and another one I could name, too, and that’s Miss Sylvia. I was always glad when she didn’t stay here long, and that’s a fact. Folk don’t know how to bring up girls these days.”
    “No?” asked Merry, grinning.
    “I wasn’t meaning you, as you well know,” said Mrs. Cameron. “It’s been the opposite for you, and you could do with a bit of spoiling now. Only mind the Kilpatricks, Miss Merry. They’re strangers, you see.”
    “But I thought they’d been here almost a year.”
    “ Still strangers,” said Mrs. Cameron firmly, “and it doesn’t do for a young man to have a conceit of himself. Och, never mind an old woman’s havers,” she added, as she saw Merry’s puzzled face. “Go and have a good time. I’ll get a nice bit of salmon for Mr. Benjamin’s tea.”
    After lunch Merry dressed carefully in her best suit of russet-coloured tweed, beautifully cut to enhance her neat figure. She brushed her soft brown hair till it shone with red lights, and applied discreet make-up. Satisfied with her appearance, she went downstairs and into the kitchen.
    “I don’t expect I’ll be home late, Mrs. Cameron.”
    The older woman turned, then gasped with delight.
    “My, but you look a fair treat, Miss Merry,” she said admiringly. “I didn’t realise you were such a braw lass.”
    Merry dimpled at the compliment, and was grateful for it. It gave her poise and confidence, and she