Page 16 of Beguiled

“You’d better away, then,” David said, adding truthfully, “It was good to see you, Euan.”

Euan stopped midstep, caught in the doorway. He turned to David, his gaze oddly intent, as though he was considering saying something. In that moment, he seemed more like the old Euan than he had at any other time today, fresh-faced and youthful, his fair hair falling down over his brow, his sandy lashes doing nothing to veil his searching gaze. A handsome man, this one—and a serious one. “It was good to see you too,” he said. A pause. “I didn’t just come to return the money, you know.”

“No?”

“No. I wanted to thank you for everything you did for me.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“Yes, you did. You helped me over and over again—and you stopped me making the biggest mistake of my life. I’ll always be grateful to you.”

For a moment, he looked as though he’d say more, but the only other words that came out were a mumbled, “Good-bye, Davy,” and then he was out the door and heading down the stairwell at a run, his boots clattering on the stone steps.

Chapter Five

Friday, 16thAugust, 1822

Chalmers was not well. He didn’t seem as bad as he’d been in the spring, but he looked worryingly tired. Shrunken too, his once-round frame swamped by a brocade dressing gown that would have fit him snugly when David first met him. Pain etched deep grooves into his forehead and at either side of his mouth.

“Thank you for coming round,” the older man said, smiling weakly. “As you can see, I’m under the weather again.” They were sitting in his study, Chalmers ensconced in the large chair behind the desk, David on the other side. It was their usual sitting arrangement and would have felt quite ordinary, had Chalmers been dressed for business. In his dressing gown, though, he looked incongruous.

“It’s no trouble.” David smiled, disguising his worry behind an easy expression.

“I wanted to ask you a favour,” Chalmers continued. “I’m supposed to be part of the faculty’s delegation at Holyrood on Monday, but there’s no question of me being able to go. Will you go in my place?”

The faculty’s opportunity to meet with and address the King? Was Chalmers serious?

David laughed, shaking his head. “Me? There must be fifty men who’d be more suitable to replace you. More eager too.”

Chalmers’s expression didn’t alter. He was utterly unreadable when he wanted to be. “I’ve already spoken to the Dean, and he’s agreed.”

David frowned then. After a pause, he said, “Why do you want this? What’s it really about?”

Chalmers smiled as though amused by David’s suspicion. “What am I always telling you, lad? You need to move in the right circles, talk to the right sort of people. Call it leading the horse to water, if you like.”

David’s heart sank. “Is that it? You don’t have to—”

“Oh, I think I do. You keep burying yourself in your books and hoping people will appreciate you for your work. The trouble is they don’t.”

“You do.”

“I won’t be around forever.”

David swallowed, wondering how serious Chalmers’s illness was. “I don’t want to let you down,” he said after a brief silence.

Chalmers gave a soft, wheezy chuckle. “You won’t. In fact, youcan’t, not when I don’t really care what happens once you get there. The fact is, I’m not obliged to find a replacement, but I told the Dean I wanted to so I could send you.

“I know you hate the thought of going, but please, consider it. The other five delegates are the Dean, the Vice-Dean, Braeburn, MacIver and Irvine. It’s an excellent opportunity to further your acquaintance with them. Apart from MacIver, they all have more work than they can manage.”

David sighed. “How can I say no when you’ve gone to such trouble?”

“That’s the spirit.” Despite his hearty words, Chalmers’s voice was thready, and his skin had a greyish hue. He closed his eyes, as though their conversation had tired him.

“Are you well?” David asked, placing his hand on the older man’s where it rested on the desk. “Should I call for a servant?”

Chalmers shook his head. “I’ll be all right in a minute. Stay. I wanted to talk to you about something else.”

“All right.” David sat back and waited for Chalmers to rally a bit. There was a tightness about the man’s jaw, as though he was in pain. Eventually, though, his grim expression relaxed a bit, and he seemed to come back to himself.