She packed quickly all that she required for a stay at The Castle of no more than a week.
Before she had left England she had bought some very pretty gowns with the money left her by her aunt.
She had not been extravagant, but at the same time she knew that her father and mother would like her to look her best.
So she did not feel that it was wrong to spend a little of the money on herself.
She felt that she had really earned it over the months when she had nursed her aunt so diligently.
However, there would be no one at The Castle, she thought wistfully, to see her in her elegant gowns that she had bought to wear at dinner parties.
She changed into a dress in a pale shade of blue with a short jacket in which to travel to The Castle and the hat that went with it had been bought in Bond Street at one of the more fashionable dress shops.
Her cousin with whom she had stayed in London for a few days before travelling home had told her that her outfits were exceedingly becoming.
“You should stay with us, Vara dear,” she said. “I know of some charming young men who would love to meet you.”
“I must go home to Papa and Mama,” Vara replied, “but, please, ask me again in a month or so because there is so much I want to see in London.”
“You shall certainly see everything,” the cousin promised. “Just tell me when you have had enough of the bonny purple heather and your bedroom here will be waiting for you.”
Vara had kissed her cousin.
On her way North she had thought that it would be very exciting to spend a few weeks in London.
She wanted to go to the theatres and the Opera and, most important of all, to a ball.
The girls at her school had talked a lot about their ‘coming out’ balls and the numerous parties that to that they had been invited to.
They all had a special ambition to be invited to Marlborough House.
Edward, Prince of Wales and his love affairs with lovely women like Lillie Langtry were whispered about at the school.
Vara, like many of her friends, could not help wondering if she would ever be beautiful enough to attract a Prince or even a Duke.
However she told herself it was certainly something that would not happen as long as she was far away in Scotland.
There the Princes and Dukes were few and far between.
Unless one was lucky enough to live in the fair City of Edinburgh when the Duke of Hamilton would entertain a Royal guest.
At the same time Vara was not like some of the other girls intent on being admired and pursued by handsome gentlemen.
She found so many other interests in the various subjects that she had studied over the years of her intense education.
Books had revealed to her a very different world from the one that she lived in.
At the moment every day was a brand new adventure with something she might learn or something to discover.
She reflected to herself as she finished her packing that, when she had just come home, looking forward to being with her father and mother, she had never imagined that anything like this would suddenly happen to her.
She went down the stairs to find her father and the Minister still with a glass of sherry in their hands.
Her mother was saying,
“Is it really correct for Vara to stay at The Castle without a chaperone?”
“I have thought about that,” the Minister answered, “but have you forgotten that Mrs. Bryden is there.”
“Of course,” Lady McDorn said, “how foolish of me. But she is such a retiring woman that I always think of Mr. Bryden as a bachelor.”
The Minister smiled.
“Many people make that same mistake, but Mrs. Bryden likes being alone and she was determined that her rooms at The Castle should be inviolate.”
They all laughed.
They knew the story of how Mr. Bryden, as a young man, had approached the old Earl when he wished to be married.
He had then been informed that it was absolutely forbidden in any circumstances for him to live outside The Castle.
“I need you and I want you here with me,” the Earl had stipulated firmly.
He could be very ferocious when he wished and most definitely intimidating.
Mr. Bryden, however, had stood his ground.
“I am sorry, my Lord, if this means I have to leave your service.”
“Leave my service?” the Earl thundered. “I have never heard such damned nonsense! Of course you cannot leave my service. I trust you and you suit me. You will stay here if I have to lock you up in one of the dungeons!”
Mr. Bryden had laughed and then capitulated.
“I intend to be married, my Lord,” he said, “but, if it does not suit you that I should have a cottage on the estate, which is what I had hoped for, I could perhaps have one of the Towers for myself and my future wife.”
The Earl considered this for a moment and then agreed.
There were four Towers, one at each corner of The Castle. The rooms within them rose one to each storey, but they could be made extremely comfortable and most certainly provide a picturesque and original home.
Mrs. Bryden, who was a local woman of over thirty, had accepted the situation because there was really no alternative.
She, however, had made it perfectly clear that her home was her own and intruders were barred.
Mr. Bryden had therefore continued as secretary to the Earl, which meant that he coped with everything, the large estate as well as The Castle.
Because his wife was so retiring and her Tower was certainly her Castle, it was easy for most people to forget that she existed.
“Yes, of course, Mrs. Bryden is there,” Lady McDorn said, “and I am sure, dearest Vara, should you need any advice or help she will be willing to assist you as best she can.”
“I shall be all right, Mama. Don’t worry about me,” Vara answered, “and I have every intention of riding home every day to tell you what is happening at The Castle.”
“You will have to ask his Lordship’s permission first,” Lady McDorn warned her,
She spoke a little anxiously because there was a glint in her daughter’s eyes, which told her that Vara intended to get her own way.
She had a strong determination which she had inherited from her father and the General had acquired a reputation when he was in the Army of winning every battle in which he was engaged.
The reason was that he never knew when he was beaten.
Even as a very small child, Vara had shown her determination.
As her mother had once said,
“You can persuade her by love but never by force.”
Now, as Lady McDorn looked quizzically at her daughter she thought that, even in the months during which she had been away, Vara had grown more beautiful.
Her fair hair with just a touch of red in it accentuated the whiteness of her skin and she never seemed to burn with the sun.
Her eyes were very large and green with a touch of gold in them.
They seemed to fill her small pointed face, so that anyone meeting her remembered her eyes more than anything else