The spell of good weather showed no signs of ending and, much to Ally’s surprise, the Armstrongs finally decided to venture out. It was while they were breakfasting that Patti announced that they might go for a walk in the afternoon.
‘I’m sure Angus would be pleased to see you,’ Ally said.
‘No, we thought we’d go to that loch place,’ Patti said, ‘where the girls went, you know?’
‘Oh, Loch Soular you mean,’ Ally said.
‘You’ll be glad to see the back of us for a while,’ said Wendy with a faint smile.
‘Not at all,’ Ally lied, thinking of finally being able to give the sitting room a good clean.
Wendy was the quiet one of the family. The death of her brother had plainly hit her hard, and she’d rarely joined in the conversation at breakfast time. She was also the antithesis of her sister-in-law – a tall, somewhat gangly woman in casual, comfortable clothing, and if she was wearing any make-up at all, it was barely perceptible.
When Morag had finished her stint and was making herself a cup of tea, Ally said, ‘Believe it or not, our guests have finally decided to go for a walk.’
‘What,now?’ Morag asked.
‘No, I think they said this afternoon.’
Morag stirred her tea and thought for a moment. ‘You’ll be wantin’ to give that room a good tidyin’ up,’ she said.
Ally nodded, a little disappointed because she’d planned a visit to the castle.
‘Well, I could do with some overtime,’ said Morag. ‘If you wanted any help, that is.’
‘Oh, Morag, would you be able to come back this afternoon?’
‘Aye,’ Morag replied, gulping some tea. ‘If I could do a couple of hours, I could give all of downstairs a real good clean.’
‘You’re an angel! Of course you can do a couple of hours. I was planning to go out, so it suits me fine.’
Just don’t turn over that picture,she thought, gazing at the oranges, lemons and grapes.
‘Of course you can come up; we’d love to see you,’ Magda said when Ally phoned a little later. ‘Come for tea and see our beautiful babies!’
And squeeze some information out of your husband,Ally thought. She needed to know as much as possible about Angus’s helpers. She was also very tempted by the daily afternoon tea ritual, with so many delicious confections that were hard to refuse.
As always, when Ally approached the castle in the afternoon, she was impressed by the sheer size of the building, with its turrets and its huge oak door, complete with a bell which, when the rope was pulled, she felt sure could be heard all over Locharran.
It was Mrs Fraser, the housekeeper, who appeared.
‘Ah, Mrs McKinley,’ she said. ‘The earl and the countess are taking tea in the south garden as it’s such a beautiful day. Do you know how to get round there?’
‘Yes, I do. Thank you.’
Ally made her way round the castle walls to the southgarden where, on the patio, Magda and Hamish were sitting in the sun, with the pram in the shade behind them.
‘Just in time for tea!’ boomed Hamish.
Ally smiled and walked straight over to the babies, amazed at how quickly they’d grown since she last saw them. ‘Wow!’ she exclaimed. ‘Aren’t they getting big?’
‘I think she’s feeding them steak!’ said Hamish.
‘Just mother’s milk,’ said Magda proudly.
Mrs Fraser and her trolley, piled high with dainty sandwiches, scones, cream, jam and luscious-looking cakes, emerged from the door. She poured Assam tea for Hamish and Ally, and Earl Grey for Magda, before distributing plates and passing round the sandwiches.
Ally had started on one tiny cucumber sandwich when Hamish asked, ‘So, how’s life down at the malthouse at the moment? It’s never-ending up here, with Kandahar arriving every five minutes to question us all. God knows when I’ll get my rifle back. It’s being kept for evidence and further tests, of course. And I’ll never understand who could have broken in and taken it from the cabinet.’
