CHAPTER XIII. A Surprise Announcement

CHAPTER XIII

A Surprise Announcement

The girls traveled on a main road for some time and stopped for luncheon at a small hotel. It stood at a corner of the country road they were to follow next. The visitors were in mountainous country now, and when they set off again, Bess began to worry about the narrowness of the road.

“What do we do if a car comes the other way?” she asked, fearful that another accident would befall Nancy’s automobile.

A moment later Fiona pointed to a turnout at the side of the road. “You will find many of these lay-bys on all the narrow roads in Scotland,” she said.

Bess relaxed and turned her attention to the beautiful scenery. She mentioned a yellow-flowered plant which grew along the roadside. “That’s lovely. What is it?”

“We call it gorse,” the Scottish girl replied. She smiled. “It blooms the year round, and there is an old saying that when gorse stops blooming, kissing will go out of fashion!”

The American girls laughed and George remarked with a twinkle in her eyes, “Bess, how about you taking home a couple of bushes to plant?”

Bess tossed her head. “What’s the matter with kissing?”

About four o’clock Fiona said that she believed the grounds of Douglas House lay just ahead. The car climbed a particularly steep hill, which was flat on top. At the far end the girls could see the many chimneys of the large residence. There was an extensive area of grass and the landscape of the estate was dotted with stately sycamores, beech, and silver birch trees.

A beautiful garden surrounded the palatial home. Many flowers were already in bloom. To one side of the house was a small pond bordered by Douglas fir trees.

“What a magnificent place!” said Bess. “Nancy, I don’t see why you and your father don’t come here to live!”

Fiona spoke up. “It is lovely at this time of year,” she said. “But it is very lonesome in winter, when the winds howl and the atmosphere is damp and cheerless.”

“But you like it,” George commented.

“When you’re brought up in the Highlands, then you do,” the Scottish girl answered. “But if you are not used to the ruggedness, it can make you melancholy.”

Nancy pulled up to the main entrance of the huge gray stone building. Bess, intrigued by the many small, leaded-glass windows, began to count them. She had reached thirty when the front door was opened by a man whom the girls assumed was the butler.

“I am glad you and your friends made a safe journey, Miss Drew,” he said, and led the visitors through the spacious center hall into a high-ceilinged living room. “I will announce your arrival to Lady Douglas.”

Even though Nancy had heard about Douglas House since her childhood, she was overwhelmed by its grandeur. On the floor were priceless Oriental rugs. The furniture was a combination of beautifully carved oak pieces and small, dainty French gilt tables and chairs.

There were two enormous, exquisitely painted Japanese lamps, and in the rear of the room was a large hanging tapestry. It depicted a scene of a young woman, dressed in a flowing robe and a bonnet, standing high on the balcony of a castle and looking at a jousting match between two knights armed with lances.

“Oh, those exciting old days!” Bess murmured.

In a few moments the butler reappeared and said Lady Douglas would see her visitors upstairs.

They followed him up the heavily carpeted stairway, which had a room-sized landing, to the second story.

Here the walls were lined with portraits in oils, apparently of deceased members of the Douglas clan. Finally the girls paused before the pleasant, elegantly furnished living room of Lady Douglas’ suite. The servant stepped inside and announced them.

“Thank you, Tweedie,” came a rather high but musical voice.

“So the butler’s name is Tweedie!” Nancy thought. “I love it!”

She entered the room first and found herself looking upon a very slender, frail, white-haired woman with a beautiful face and of dignified mien.

Nancy made a slight curtsy and said, “Lady Douglas, I am so happy to be here.”

The elderly woman arose and smiled. “No need for medieval formality, my dear,” she said. “I am your great-grandmother and I would much prefer to have you call me that.”

Nancy was delighted. She and her great-grandmother embraced. Nancy now turned to her friends and introduced them one by one. They were warmly welcomed and Lady Douglas said that she would be very pleased to have Fiona remain also.

“Now, let us all be seated.” Lady Douglas indicated a grouping of brocaded chairs. “Morag will serve tea.”

She pulled a bell cord on the wall near her, and shortly a middle-aged woman, who reminded Nancy of Hannah Gruen, appeared. She wore the conventional maid’s black dress and small white apron, but the cap on her head was quite different from anything the Americans had seen. It was a frilly halt-bonnet, with two long black streamers down the back.

The maid wheeled in a teacart which contained dainty, blue-flowered china, an ornate silver tea service, and several plates of tiny sandwiches and cakes.

For the next half hour the group chatted and ate the delicious food. Nancy found herself feeling that she had known her great-grandmother for years. There was an instant sense of closeness between the two.

Although eager to hear more of the missing heirloom, Nancy refrained from bringing up the subject. Finally Lady Douglas herself did so. It was apparent that the elderly woman felt Fiona, too, could be trusted with a secret, and said:

“The heirloom which Nancy was to have received was my most prized possession. It was a brooch with a large topaz in the center surrounded by diamonds.”

Nancy gasped. “What a wonderful gift! It must be gorgeous!”

Her great-grandmother nodded. “The brooch was given to an ancestor of mine by Bonnie Prince Charlie.”

“Oh!” Bess exclaimed. “The handsome, romantic young man who got away in a maid’s disguise?”

Lady Douglas smiled. “He is the one.” Then her face took on a serious expression. “Nancy, I have spent many sleepless nights since losing the pin. I last remember taking it from the safe to see if it were in proper condition to give you. The brooch appeared to be all right, and I pinned it to my dress to see how it looked.

“At that moment the room seemed a little stuffy, so I decided to go outdoors and take a walk in the garden. When I returned, it was my bedtime. I took off the dress and hung it in my wardrobe. It was not until the next morning that I thought of the brooch and decided to put it back in the safe. The pin was gone!”

“How very unfortunate!” Fiona said.

“Indeed it was,” Lady Douglas agreed. “At first I thought the brooch had become unclasped and dropped off during my walk. But every part of the house and garden where I had been was thoroughly searched, and the pin was not found.”

“You are sure you lost it?” Nancy asked.

Her relative asked wryly, “You think I might have absent-mindedly misplaced it?”

“No, Great-Grandmother dear,” Nancy answered. “I wondered if it might have been stolen.”

Lady Douglas looked somewhat startled. “But there was no one here except Tweedie and Morag. They are my only two servants, and both are strictly honest.”

“I wasn’t thinking of them,” Nancy said quickly. “Perhaps your brooch did drop off outdoors, and some outsider who came here found the jewel and took it.”

“That is a possibility, of course,” Lady Douglas replied. “But not many people come to this lonely spot. I had a fine watchdog, but the dear creature died the very night I lost the brooch.”

All this time, Nancy had been thinking of the newspaper article in the River Heights Graphic. She had never given up the idea that a thief or thieves had the heirloom and he had given out misleading information concerning it. But she said nothing about it.

After the tea hour was over, the visitors were shown to their rooms. Bess and George began to unpack, but Nancy and Fiona decided to go outdoors and make a search of their own. There was not a sign of the brooch, but the two girls spotted deep boot prints leading from a field at the rear of Douglas House, and back across it.

“These were certainly made by a bigger, heavier man than Tweedie,” Nancy remarked.

Seeing him at work pruning some bushes, she walked over to speak to him. He assured her that he had not made the prints and that to his knowledge no other man had been on the grounds.

“Then some stranger was here very recently, perhaps even last night, no doubt spying on the house,” said Nancy. “Tweedie, do you realize that these boot marks might belong to someone who was here the night Lady Douglas lost the brooch, and that the same person might have killed your watchdog?”

The man looked startled. “Champion didn’t look as if he had been hurt and we couldn’t figure out what had caused his death.”

Suddenly Nancy recalled her theory about the sheep thieves anesthetizing the stolen animals. Could the same method have been used on the dog, Champion, so that he could not alert those in the house?”

Another disturbing possibility occurred to Nancy. “So far the thief has taken only the brooch,” she thought. “He may have come the second time to do a really big theft job!”

Nancy turned to the servant. “Tweedie,” she said, “maybe there was a thief in the house last night. Let’s find out if anything has been stolen.”

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