The Master Of Strathburn Read Online Free Page B

I’m sure pleases her ladyship no end.’ She had then winked at Jessie in a conspiratorial fashion. ‘Now ye dinna hear that from me, lassie.’
    ‘I apologise if this question seems indelicate, Mrs MacMillan but … does the family know wha’ became of Lord Lochrose at Culloden?’ Jessie had asked, curious about the young nobleman’s fate. ‘I have heard it was a terrible battle.’
    Mrs MacMillan patted her arm with a floury hand. ‘Och, it’s all right to ask, lassie. It’s no’ often talked about here, ye ken, given what passed between Robert an’ his father was such a tragedy—the way they fell out wi’ each other. Rumour has it tha’ the canny wee devil managed to escape and leave Scotland, but as to where he ended up or how he is after all this time, nobody kens. I’m certain his lordship would be verra happy to have Robert home once more. But unless the Sassenachs take the price off his head, he willna be able to set foot on Scottish soil again. Better to live in exile than end up meeting the same fate as poor Fraser of Lovat.’
    Jessie had to agree. Although she had only been nine years old at the time, she still recalled how shocked her father had been when Fraser of Lovat, the chief of one of their neighbouring clans, had been beheaded at the Tower of London in 1747 for his role in the Rebellion. The English did not easily forgive or forget Scottish traitors. In recent times, she had heard of pardons being granted in rare instances—young MacDonald of Clanranald had been one such case. But by and large, acts of clemency were few and far between.
    ‘But thank heaven fer small mercies.’ Mrs MacMillan had given Jessie a warm smile. ‘I thank the Lord that yer father has come. It’s aboot time that Lord Strathburn passed the running of things over to a manager, before Lady Strathburn and Mr Grant go through the family’s entire fortune—although ye never heard me say tha’. It never used to be this way, ye ken.’
    Mrs MacMillan, obviously a keen orator, refilled their teacups at this point before she continued to reminisce. ‘It seems like only yesterday tha’ Robert, the young master, was here. A fine man in the making he was. He took after his lordship, in looks and temper, ye ken. Charming an’ full o’ good humour. Fair minded wi’ the staff and tenants too. A natural born leader. Everyone thought verra well o’ him.’ Her brown eyes suddenly twinkled. ‘A bonnie man to look at too, he was. Och, all the lassies were turning their heads for Lord Lochrose. Why he even made an old piece o’ mutton like me flush an’ jibber when he looked my way. Quite the rake he would ha’ been. If he’d stayed, he’d be wed by now to be sure, with a few wee bairns underfoot.’
    She then grasped Jessie’s hand and looked her in the eye, suddenly serious. ‘Now Mr Grant, he’s quite a different kettle o’ fish. Ye must needs be careful around him. If he likes the look of a bonnie lassie such as yerself … weel let’s just say, the other female staff have dubbed him ‘Master of the Wandering Hands’ if ye ken wha’ I mean. Although you have yer father here so he may no’ think it wise to try any such nonsense with you.’
    If only it were so .
    The sound of a birch log falling in the grate pulled Jessie out of her reverie. An early portrait of the earl hung over the fireplace in the drawing room. Tired of sitting idly, Jessie crossed the room to study it. She found it hard to reconcile the weak and broken man slumbering behind her with the braw and confident looking clan chief in the painting. The younger version of Lord Strathburn had been very handsome, she decided. Even though the earl’s countenance was now deeply lined with age, one thing about him hadn’t changed; the deep blue eyes looking down at her had a familiar twinkle in their depths.
    There was little resemblance between him and Simon, who favoured his mother in looks, she thought. She suddenly wondered what Robert