Page 57 of Taming the Heiress
Pride held him still, and he let her go. Turning, he made his way up and over the machair, hand on his pocket all the while, keeping her packet snug and dry.
As soon as he stepped inside his small hut and lit the lamp, then removed his wet hat and coat, he extracted the package. Unwrapping the square of linen, he found a leather-covered book tied with a ribbon.
Sitting down to turn the pages carefully, he saw that she had given him one of her journals. The book was the first one, he realized. Filled with pencil and ink studies, some washed with pale color, its pages were crammed with images of flowers, plants, shells, stones, birds, and wildlife. There were notations, too, in a careful script, for she had identified and written a brief commentary for every drawing.
He pored over the pages with great care, then closed it and wrapped it again in the ribbon and cloth. Resting his hand on it for a while, thinking, he turned to open his mail.
Outside, the rain began to pour in earnest. As he read his correspondence by lamplight and contemplated his answers, the wind shook the walls of his solid little hut, and he soon heard the waves crashing relentlessly onshore.
20 August 1857
To the Northern Lighthouse Commission
George Street
Edinburgh
Dear Sirs,
Recently we endured a storm of considerable force, with high winds, heavy rain, and breakers over six feet high. This confined us to our barracks on Caransay for two days. We emerged to find a world misted gray and littered with debris.
The work site on Sgeir Caran sustained some damage, including two work sheds and the smithy. The iron storage house, once riveted in the rock, now lists to one side. Missing are various tools, workbenches, and an anvil stone, all presumably blown into the sea.
Most astonishing of all, two stone blocks, weighing four tons each, were shifted off the rock by wind and wave, and now lie at the bottom of the sea. We hope to fetch all of these items up again with cranes and divers.
Funds are needed to repair and replace buildings and equipment. This will increase my original estimate of fifty thousand pounds by at least five percent. However, Lady Strathlin's advocates now inform me that some contributors who previously offered assistance will no longer extend it.
I plan to return to Edinburgh shortly. With the commission's approval, I hope to obtain promises from other contributors.
And I intend to pay a call on Lady Strathlin.
Yrs. respectfully,
Dougal Robertson
Stewart Innish Bay Caransay
Chapter 15
"So you refuse to abandon this project," Sir Aedan MacBride said. "I agree wholeheartedly, Dougal. That lighthouse must go up. The location is ideal, and the need is paramount." He leaned back in a leather-upholstered chair that matched the one Dougal occupied. The two men had retired after dinner to the smoking room on the top floor of Dundrennan House, Aedan's Strathclyde manse. "A shame Lady Strathlin cannot understand that."
Dougal nodded, appreciating his cousin's natural reserve and his ability to listen calmly, giving others time to sort things out for themselves. Lingering over glasses of port, Dougal had confided in Aedan, an engineer of highways and byways, his difficulties with the lighthouse as well as the baroness.
"Despite the latest maneuvers of Lady Strathlin and her mob of solicitors, I cannot, and will not, give up this cause." Dougal rolled the bowl of his glass between his palms, staring at the dark liquid sloshing inside. "I will build the thing myself, even fund it myself, though it would break me. I will set every damned stone with my own hands." He sat forward and rubbed a hand over his face, weary and frustrated yet feeling an almost overwhelming determination. "It has to go up."
Aedan regarded him steadily. "That persistence was a bit of a fault when you were younger," he said. "A more bullheaded lad there never was. But you've used it for the better by facing impossible odds and downright danger to build these lighthouses. The Caran light looks to be a magnificent structure, by the drawings and plans you showed me. The design is spare and elegant, combining aesthetics with practicality. It will outlast the ages. And it will go up. I have absolutely no doubt." He smiled. "I know you."
"Thank you. I hope you will make the journey to see it."
"I'd like that. How is Evan, by the way? Still spitting into the wind? The two of you on that rock—what a pair of rascals."
Dougal laughed. He and Aedan had attended Edinburgh University with Evan Mackenzie, so that Aedan knew the viscount as well as he knew Dougal. "Somewhat. He's subdued and keeps his own counsel since that awful incident last year."
"I am convinced that the bridge collapse was not his fault—though unfortunately not everyone agrees."
"Nor is he to blame for the faults of his father, the earl."
"Lord Kildonan is a discredit to the whole of Scotland. No wonder Evan rejects association with him."
