to change out of their good clothes and get on with their work.
Lady Helen knocked at the door of Keeper’s Cottage at ten o’clock sharp the next morning. She wore her black coat and a silk headscarf knotted beneath her chin.
‘Please, take a seat, your ladyship.’ Flora’s father motioned towards the sitting room, where three chairs had been set out in a row.
‘The kitchen looks far cosier, I think. Let’s sit at the table instead.’ She pulled off her scarf and smoothed her hair into place, shrugging her coat from her shoulders as she drew up a chair.
Flora had never seen her looking so relaxed. It was as if she’d had to carry herself carefully, self-consciously, at Ardtuath House whereas here, in the cottage, she could be at ease. Just like her son before her.
‘Can I get you a cup of tea, Lady Helen?’ Flora asked.
‘No, thank you, dear. I’ve only just had one. Please, sit down.’ She gazed around, taking in the range and the shelves stacked with gleaming pots and pans and floral cups and saucers, and nodded her approval. ‘No wonder Alec liked spending time here. It feels so homely.’ She smiled.
Iain clasped and unclasped his hands on the table before him, seemingly at a loss to know what to do with them. Flora reached over and laid one of her own hands over his, reassuring him.
Lady Helen cleared her throat. ‘Now then, there’s to be no mention of my husband’s accident. It’s behind us once and for all. Doctor Greig took care of the paperwork and the police agreed there was no need for an inquest. Everyone’s far too busy with more important war work these days.’ She smiled at Iain, who gave a slow nod, unable to voice his feelings of gratitude. ‘I’ve been speaking to my lawyers. I have no desire to keep Ardtuath Estate on now, and I’ve known for some time that the Urquharts have wanted to buy it. It makes sense for them to combine it with their own land. They’re intending to plant trees. Apparently forestry is the way forward. They’ll use the house for shooting parties sometimes, but otherwise it will remain shut up. They’d like you to keep an eye on things here, Iain, although their own factor will be taking on the overall running of the land. The common grazings will be maintained for the use of the community. But I have excluded Keeper’s Cottage from the sale and I am making it over to you. This will always be your home, Iain, and a home for you, Flora, and for my grandchild. My lawyer in Inverness is drawing up the papers.’
Flora and Iain looked at one another in amazement. ‘But what about you, Lady Helen? Where will you go?’ asked Iain.
‘I’ve decided to move back to London. There are too many memories here – good ones of Alec, of course, but they make me sad, those reminders that he’s no longer here. And I have some memories that are not so good, too.’ She dropped her eyes to her lap for a moment but not before Flora had glimpsed the look of pain in them. Then she lifted her head again, arranging her features in a determined smile. ‘So it will be for the best if I go back to London. Thankfully the house there escaped the Blitz undamaged, and I shall enjoy being nearer to my friends and family in the south, too. It’s a lot safer now that the Allies have taken back control of so much of Europe. There’s work to be done there that I can get involved with, helping with the war effort. Don’t worry, though, we will stay in touch. I’ll pop back to visit every now and then. I can even stay in Ardtuath House if I can persuade the Urquharts that I’ll be perfectly all right on my own. And you will come and see me in London sometimes, Flora, won’t you? I want to get to know my grandchild.’
She stood, pulling on her coat and picking up her headscarf. At the door she took her leave, hugging Flora tight.
‘It means so much to me to know that Alec lives on through his child,’ she whispered.
Then she started to tie the scarf over her head but changed her mind and stuffed it into the pocket of her coat instead.
And Flora watched her walk away up the path through the pines, the wind from the loch blowing free the