He motioned to Tim to take one of the chairs, andhe took another, stretching out his sodden boots to the heat.
“I take it you’re the gatekeeper of Kilmarin,” Douglas said.
“You take it wrong, then,” the man said. “I’m Robert Tulloch, grandnephew to Donald himself. We all take turns at the gate, just as we all take turns doing what needs to be done at Kilmarin.”
Tulloch sat as well, focusing his attention on Douglas.
“You look familiar,” he finally said.
“I was born and raised in Perth,” Douglas said. “Perhaps we met there.”
The man nodded. “Aye, perhaps we did.”
The cave was evidently hewn from solid rock, but that hadn’t stopped whoever had created it from adding a few comforts. Two deep and long ledges carved into the wall looked as if they could be made into pallets if necessary. A shelf on the far wall held a quaich, a wooden two-handled bowl, and a small barrel.
Tulloch stood, walked to the other side of the cave, and filled the quaich from the barrel.
“Tulloch whiskey,” he said, returning to the table and placing the quaich between Douglas and Tom. “The best in Scotland. You’ll know that if you’re from Perth.”
Douglas stifled his smile, as well as his comment that every distillery in Perth made that pledge. Still, he wasn’t averse to warming his insides since it was all too evident his outside was going to stay wet for a while.
By the time they finished their whiskey, the two men returned. They ignored Douglas and Tim, turning to Tulloch.
“He’ll see them.”
Douglas stood. “I thank you for your hospitality,” he said. “And the whiskey.”
Tulloch only nodded, following them out into the rain.
Douglas entered the carriage, keeping his distance as much as possible from Sarah and Florie. He was still sodden.
“Your grandfather has agreed to see you.”
She sat back against the seat, adjusted her bonnet, then clasped her hands together primly.
He wondered if she knew how difficult the next few hours would be. Coming to Scotland was something she’d felt she had to do, and he knew her well enough to know that she would have come to see her grandfather either with him or without him. The least he could do was stand at her side.
The great black gates of Kilmarin swung slowly inward, almost as if giving them time to reconsider whether or not they truly wished to enter.
Four floors tall, Kilmarin was constructed of deep red stone. Few windows faced the drive, and only from the upper floors. Kilmarin was stolid and huge, dwarfing the countryside but possessing none of the aesthetic beauty of Chavensworth. Douglas had thought, from the first moment of seeing Chavensworth, that it resembled a French château. Kilmarin was defiantly Scottish.
Tim drove the horses through the gates and up the sweeping drive to the castle. On a fair day, in the morning light, the gravel might have sparkled, the flower beds with their nodding blooms would have seemed a pleasant precursor to this meeting. In the afternoon, the sun would have lightened the deep red stone ofKilmarin, weathered it to a dusky pink. In a Scottish storm, however, there were only beds of blackened flowers, and shadowy fingers of darkness stretching onto the gravel drive, as if trying to snare a carriage wheel. Kilmarin’s brick was the color of blood.
None of them spoke; the only sound was the drumming pattern of rain on the carriage roof.
They didn’t reach Kilmarin as much as they were enveloped by the structure. As they drove beneath the porte cochere, the silence was sudden and as loud as the rain. The carriage rolled back and was still. Seconds later, the door opened.
Douglas looked over at Sarah.
“Are you ready?” he asked, more than willing to turn the carriage around and leave Kilmarin if she changed her mind.
She straightened her shoulders, tilted her chin up, and smiled. He’d studied her avidly over the last few days and knew pretense from genuine emotion. She was terrified, but he doubted anyone else could tell.
He reached over and placed his hand on top of hers.
“I’ll be with you,” he said.
She bit her bottom lip but didn’t comment. A swift nod was the only acknowledgment she gave him. But there was a momentary look in her eyes, a glance of surprise and gratitude that would have to suffice.
