when he was fourteen – Fanshawe – and he just had the life ragged out of him until he left.’
‘And even more amazing still,’ Albert Wilson continued.
‘You amazed me all the way from Waverley to Rattray, changing at Perth, old man,’ said Lord Robin. ‘I’m not sure I can take any more amazement today.’
‘Pretty good stuff of this Merryman to say instead: here I am, turning into a beanpole, now what is a beanpole good for?’ said Alec, looking hard at Lord Robin who, although not quite as outlandishly tall and thin as the figure I had glimpsed in the Gilverton woods, was certainly far from stocky.
Albert Wilson, deaf to all slights directed at him by Lord Robin, was not similarly oblivious when lowly hangers-on such as Alec started taking pot-shots at his prize and, with a look at me as though asking me why on earth I had brought such a boor, he began a sustained bout of flattery which Lord Robin accepted with amused graciousness but to which I could not listen for fear of being sick.
Alec and I, instead, chatted to Ina, with Alec being quite charming, claiming common ground with her as a fellow incomer to Perthshire, as though there were no difference between his inheriting Dunelgar and Ina’s husband buying up Benachally with the money from his bricks.
When the two conversations merged again, Lord Robin was saying what I knew would bring Ina great relief.
‘No, I’m afraid I must be off in the morning. I can hardly forgive myself for tonight’s little holiday from duty.’
‘Oh, come now, Lord Robin,’ said Albert Wilson, ‘you’ll do your brother all the more good for a night’s rest and refreshment, and you know you could not have come to see us here from the sickroom. I am sorry to be so blunt but I couldn’t have allowed that.’
‘He’s dying of heart trouble,’ said Laurie. ‘There’s no danger of infection.’
‘Your brother’s dying?’ said Alec, squirming a little.
‘Still, once a body is weakened there’s no telling,’ said Wilson. He was on his home ground now.
‘He is,’ said Lord Robin to Alec, then he turned to Albert Wilson. ‘Believe me, we are just as well versed in the knotty question of contagion at Buckie as you are here at Benachally,’ he said.
‘You must excuse my insisting,’ said Albert, his voice rising almost to a squeak at the thought of his own temerity. ‘Of course, it must seem silly to you, but we have all been through the same—’
‘Hardly!’ Robin said, interrupting. ‘You had it easy down in Glasgow. Doctors on hand and nurses to spare. You should have tried getting a decent nurse to travel all the way out to Cullen when in town she could wait until one patient was dead and then just walk down the street to the next.’
‘Robin!’ I said, unable to help myself. ‘Surely there’s no need to go back over such things after all this—’
‘What he is saying is quite true, Dandy,’ said Ina, although why she should defend him was beyond me. ‘I cannot imagine what it must have been like for anyone with no nurse to help.’
Robin Laurie frowned at her and then turned back to Alec.
‘My sister-in-law, two nephews and two nieces died like flies all within a week,’ he said.
Alec was struck dumb by this and turned to me beseechingly. Albert looked close to tears and Ina only stared into her lap.
‘Too, too horrid,’ I said, thinking if the conversation could not be stopped then one owed him at least a little sympathy. ‘And then there was a dreadful accident too, I believe?’
Robin nodded curtly.
‘The oldest,’ he said. ‘Drowned.’ He looked at Albert Wilson as he carried on. ‘And when my brother heard that, he took his weak heart and went to the sickroom and lay down beside his dead wife, holding his dead baby in his arms, and he did not catch it .’ These last words were drilled into the air like nails being banged into oak and there was a long silence after them. Finally, Albert spoke.
‘What a sad
‘And even more amazing still,’ Albert Wilson continued.
‘You amazed me all the way from Waverley to Rattray, changing at Perth, old man,’ said Lord Robin. ‘I’m not sure I can take any more amazement today.’
‘Pretty good stuff of this Merryman to say instead: here I am, turning into a beanpole, now what is a beanpole good for?’ said Alec, looking hard at Lord Robin who, although not quite as outlandishly tall and thin as the figure I had glimpsed in the Gilverton woods, was certainly far from stocky.
Albert Wilson, deaf to all slights directed at him by Lord Robin, was not similarly oblivious when lowly hangers-on such as Alec started taking pot-shots at his prize and, with a look at me as though asking me why on earth I had brought such a boor, he began a sustained bout of flattery which Lord Robin accepted with amused graciousness but to which I could not listen for fear of being sick.
Alec and I, instead, chatted to Ina, with Alec being quite charming, claiming common ground with her as a fellow incomer to Perthshire, as though there were no difference between his inheriting Dunelgar and Ina’s husband buying up Benachally with the money from his bricks.
When the two conversations merged again, Lord Robin was saying what I knew would bring Ina great relief.
‘No, I’m afraid I must be off in the morning. I can hardly forgive myself for tonight’s little holiday from duty.’
‘Oh, come now, Lord Robin,’ said Albert Wilson, ‘you’ll do your brother all the more good for a night’s rest and refreshment, and you know you could not have come to see us here from the sickroom. I am sorry to be so blunt but I couldn’t have allowed that.’
‘He’s dying of heart trouble,’ said Laurie. ‘There’s no danger of infection.’
‘Your brother’s dying?’ said Alec, squirming a little.
‘Still, once a body is weakened there’s no telling,’ said Wilson. He was on his home ground now.
‘He is,’ said Lord Robin to Alec, then he turned to Albert Wilson. ‘Believe me, we are just as well versed in the knotty question of contagion at Buckie as you are here at Benachally,’ he said.
‘You must excuse my insisting,’ said Albert, his voice rising almost to a squeak at the thought of his own temerity. ‘Of course, it must seem silly to you, but we have all been through the same—’
‘Hardly!’ Robin said, interrupting. ‘You had it easy down in Glasgow. Doctors on hand and nurses to spare. You should have tried getting a decent nurse to travel all the way out to Cullen when in town she could wait until one patient was dead and then just walk down the street to the next.’
‘Robin!’ I said, unable to help myself. ‘Surely there’s no need to go back over such things after all this—’
‘What he is saying is quite true, Dandy,’ said Ina, although why she should defend him was beyond me. ‘I cannot imagine what it must have been like for anyone with no nurse to help.’
Robin Laurie frowned at her and then turned back to Alec.
‘My sister-in-law, two nephews and two nieces died like flies all within a week,’ he said.
Alec was struck dumb by this and turned to me beseechingly. Albert looked close to tears and Ina only stared into her lap.
‘Too, too horrid,’ I said, thinking if the conversation could not be stopped then one owed him at least a little sympathy. ‘And then there was a dreadful accident too, I believe?’
Robin nodded curtly.
‘The oldest,’ he said. ‘Drowned.’ He looked at Albert Wilson as he carried on. ‘And when my brother heard that, he took his weak heart and went to the sickroom and lay down beside his dead wife, holding his dead baby in his arms, and he did not catch it .’ These last words were drilled into the air like nails being banged into oak and there was a long silence after them. Finally, Albert spoke.
‘What a sad
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