Page 16 of The Sky Beneath Us
His eyes still held doubt, but I saw a glimmer of hope there alongside it. ‘It would be a sacrifice, Vi.’
‘What, giving up the opportunity to marry some stuffy neighbour of my parents and never be allowed to get my hands into the earth again? It’s not much of a sacrifice, Callum, if in return I get to see where life’s adventures take me, with you by my side.’
He relaxed then, his more usual broad smile spreading again across his face. ‘I do love you so, Violet Mackenzie-Grant.’
‘As I do you, Callum Gillespie.’
We were both silent for a mile or so as the train steamed onwards into the outskirts of the city. And then I said, ‘So what was it you were saying about marriage?’
He laughed. ‘Of course I want to marry you, Vi. And I’ll buy you a ring to prove it, just as soon as I’ve saved up enough. But I do want to be able to provide for you, at least a little. So wouldyou be prepared to wait until I can afford to give you a roof over your head?’
I nodded, thinking of the roof of the bothy the night before, the Samhain stars shining through the holes in it. The simple shack had been more than enough, and I’d felt a deeper contentment lying there with him beside me than I’d ever known before. But I understood that he felt the need to establish himself, that for his sense of self-esteem he needed to be able to give me that. Just as I too needed to prove I could stand on my own two feet. The least I could do was respect it in him. It only made me love him more.
‘We’ll save every penny,’ he said. ‘Then by the time you finish your studies we can marry.’
And so it was that I alighted at Waverley Station betrothed to my true love and happier than I had ever known it possible to be.
Arriving at the Herbarium the next morning, I was sure our colleagues must see all that had passed between us, Callum’s eyes meeting mine and filling with golden light as soon as I walked through the door. But as usual the other botanists scarcely acknowledged me, as I hung my coat on the back of the door and took my place at the workbench where Callum was already unpacking specimens from a newly arrived tea chest. It was stamped with exotic-looking characters and the wordsProduce of Darjeeling.He pulled out a newspaper-wrapped parcel and carefully opened it, revealing a species of rhododendron that we hadn’t seen before. His hand brushed mine as he passed it across to me, and I held it up to the light to study it more closely. Then I reached for my paintbox and my sketch pad and was soon absorbed in my work, only raising my head now and again to smile across at him as he leafed through a heavy book, methodically identifying each plant or setting aside those that appeared to be previously unknown.
Just before lunchtime, the door opened and there was a slight stir amongst the others in the workroom that made me look up. Tomy surprise, the Regius Keeper himself stood there. He exchanged a few quiet words with the principal curator, Dr Kay, and then beckoned to Callum. I opened my eyes wide and gave him a smile of encouragement as he grabbed his jacket and hurried to follow the two men out of the room. The door closed behind them and, after a flurry of muttering amongst the others, quietness fell once more as we got on with our work.
It was a raw, grey day, the east wind blustering amongst the trees in the gardens, so I made my way to a sheltered spot behind one of the potting sheds to eat my lunch. I knew Callum would come looking for me there, once he had finished whatever business the Regius Keeper had with him. Sure enough, a few minutes later he appeared.
His face shone with excitement, but it seemed to be mixed with something else too, some sort of doubt. He grabbed both my hands in his. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out at first and I realised he was struggling to contain his emotions.
‘Well,’ I said, drawing him down to sit on the bench beside me. ‘It must be good news, so put me out of my misery.’
‘Oh Vi,’ he said. ‘It’s the best news, I think. I’ve been asked to accompany Colonel Fairburn on his next expedition to Nepal! One of their number has dropped out, so they’re in need of another pair of hands, someone who can collect specimens and prepare them properly. And they’ve chosen me!’
I flung my arms around him, knowing how much it meant. The experience would make him an expert in the field, furthering his career and giving him the recognition he so deserved. At the same time, I swallowed a gulp of sadness at the thought of the two of us being parted by such a distance.
‘When do you leave?’
‘Very soon! We sail from Southampton in a week’s time. I know it’ll be hard for us being apart, but Vi, this is just the break I need.I’ll make enough money from this one expedition to be able to afford a place for us. It means we can marry as soon as I come home. Who knows, it may open up all sorts of other doors too. It’s a chance to change our lives.’
I listened as he told me the plans. He’d be away for much of the coming year. The aim was to spend this winter in the southern part of Nepal, when the climate of the tropical forests and plains would be more bearable, before the expedition began to climb into the mountains in spring so that they could spend as much time there as possible exploring that largely uncharted territory.
‘I’ll miss you so terribly, Vi.’
‘I’ll miss you too. But I’ll be waiting for you back here. And I’ll look forward to opening the specimen cases you send back and seeing your initials on some of the notes.’
‘Maybe I’ll discover a new species. And then I can name it after you. Wouldn’t that be a good wedding present?’ His doubts set aside now, his enthusiasm bubbled over, and I tried hard to make mine match it. I think I succeeded because he didn’t seem to notice the way I forced the tone of my voice to sound bright and cheerful. I wondered about it later. Why was I not as joyful as he was at the news? Perhaps I was just envious of him having the opportunity to travel to the places I could only dream of visiting, leaving me stuck in the damp winter chill of the Herbarium. Yes, it was only that, I told myself firmly, squashing the anxiety niggling in the back of my mind at the dangers he would face.
He hugged me before we parted that afternoon. He returned to his workbench to attempt to concentrate on the task in hand – although I knew his mind must surely be filled with plans for the expedition ahead of him – and I walked away, hurrying through the rain to get to an evening lecture, not daring to glance back in case he saw the tears in my eyes as the last leaves tumbled from the branches of the trees above me.
TUESDAY, 1STJANUARY, 1929
Callum must have posted the letter and present he sent almost as soon as he reached Nepal to make sure it reached me in time for Christmas. Hetty brought the small brown paper parcel to me in my room when I arrived at Ardtuath House, knowing what it must mean to me. Coming home again was a part of my camouflage, to make my father and brother believe I was toeing the line they’d drawn for me. Hetty was the only one I’d taken into my confidence and so she’d intercepted the package when the postie delivered it, keeping it hidden until my arrival.
Callum’s neat handwriting – so familiar from the notes he wrote on the entries he used to make in the plant catalogues when we worked alongside one another – brought tears to my eyes, juxtaposed as it was with the crumpled and stained wrappings that spoke of its journey from Kathmandu to Aultbea. I’d received a handful of postcards from him in Edinburgh since he left just over a month ago, sent from the ports where the ship had docked on the way to India. I treasured every single one of them, even though the messages were brief and necessarily a little formal since he knew they would have to pass through the hands of my landlady at The Laurels.
‘It’s lovely having you home, Vi,’ Hetty said as she watched me begin to tug at the string tied around the parcel.
I set it aside for a moment and turned to hug her tight, my sisterly enthusiasm dislodging one of the pins that held her hair back from her pretty face in a rather too severe French pleat. ‘And it’s lovely to see you,’ I said. ‘I want to hear all about the plans for the wedding just as soon as I’ve unpacked.’
She grimaced, fiddling with the large sapphire engagement ring that sparkled on her left hand. ‘There’s no danger of you NOThearing all about them. Ma can talk of nothing else.’ She gave a short laugh.
I held her at arm’s length for a moment and looked at her searchingly. ‘But youarehappy, aren’t you, Het?’
