Page 19 of Highlander’s Sloth

An Invitation and a Journey

Both Kirsty and Callum had their feelings deeply wounded by the disagreement. He had had his eyes opened to what his wife truly thought about his lifestyle and the characters of his family, and she was so angry at his lackadaisical attitude to marriage and how the husband of a well-bred Highland lady should behave, Kirsty had to stifle back all the insults she wanted to hurl at his head whenever they happened to pass each other in the passage in stoic silence.

It was an intolerable situation, made all the more difficult by Callum’s suspicions about the newly hired male staff and Kirsty’s distrust over her husband’s town affairs.

The lodge house and gardens were set into a bustle as Lady Elspeth gave her daughter-in-law permission to act as her proxy in all things, and Kirsty was grateful for anything that took her mind off the state of her marriage. Callum threw himself into ordering the ingredients for another batch of whisky and spent his days in the library engaged in arranging for the sale of all their remaining barrels and bottles.

This task was uppermost in his mind when the new footman brought a letter for Callum. He held it high on a brilliantly silver salver and proffered it to his master with a flourish.

Callum checked and saw the mail had been hand-delivered. He stopped the man before he had bowed himself out of the room.

“Er...what’s yer name again? I’ll be honest, I have so many new servants lately, I cannae remember every one o’ ye.” Despite his lazy ways, Callum was a good master when all was said and done, a fact he was able to verify to his wife if she wanted proof by pointing out to her the twelve years his valet, Brock, had been with him.

“MacEnroe, sir,” the footman said politely, “but dinnae fash if ye forget it. I can always tell ye it again.”

Callum said the name over to himself to commit it to memory and then asked the man, “Is the messenger waiting for a reply?” He indicated to the letter. The seal was thick and ruby red, firmly embedded with an impressive-looking signet.

“Aye, sir, he is. I have been so bold as to send the man down to the servants’ parlor for a wee bit of ale and cheese.”

Callum nodded and dismissed the footman, breaking the seal with his strong fingers and unfolding the parchment.

Lloyd House

Kielder Forest

Northumberland

My dear Mister Macanroy,

I trust this letter finds you and your family well and in good spirits. Alack, this sultry summer weather is not at all to my liking or, believe me when I say, I would be more than happy to travel to Macanroy Lodge to make myself known to you in person.

As sad news is wont to fly like the wind, I am addressing my request to you, sir, as I have lately heard that your dear father has become too frail to attempt a long journey.

I pray this most earnest request does not fall on deaf ears, but I am prepared to wager a large sum that it will not when you have heard what it is I am to ask.

I need five hundred bottles of Macanroy whisky post haste (crated and strawed). I am due to set sail on my brig, The Splendid Endeavor, when the winds change with the cooler weather. It is to the New World I am bound, but cannot bear the rigors of the trip – nor indeed my long sojourn on the shores of New England – without five hundred bottles of your whisky.

And for this great kindness you do me, I am prepared to pay you five thousand pounds in gold sovereigns upon delivery.

Did I not say you would find it hard to refuse my request?

As this is nearly double the price you ask for your delicious brew, I have to insist, sir, that you arrive at Lloyd House in person to transact the sale – I trust not a proxy.

By all means, bring your equipage and any other member of your household you deem necessary to your comfort, however, you will find it far easier to carry your whisky - and the chest of gold I give you after our transaction is complete -, in as an unobtrusive a manner as possible, as this is the most unlikely manner to attract the attention of those who would question your cargo.

I wait your arrival with the greatest impatience, sir,

And remain your ever faithful and grateful

Servant,

Baron Dilbert Lloyd

Callum thought of those five thousand gold coins as the perfect way to show his wife he was not only capable of sitting around a gaming table. She had been acting as cold as ice towards him since their argument, and he was at a loss as to how to regain her favor. As much as Callum missed the previous entrée he had had to Kirsty’s bedchamber, he was not about to risk attempting it again until she had forgiven him. He did not fancy having any part of him bitten by his unforgiving spouse. And what better way to do that than to pour a stream of golden sovereigns into her lap?

He looked around his father’s library and felt a warm glow of gratitude toward Kirsty. In this room and every other like it in the house, the wood panels gleamed, the table smelt of beeswax and lavender, and the candles in each sconce had trimmed wicks and clean holders.

And as for the staff, they had either been replaced or had such a fire of determination lit under them, he could hardly credit them as the same people.