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She slipped her hands into her jacket pocket so that he could not see them shaking and clenched them so tightly shut that she could feel her nails biting into the soft flesh of her palms.

‘Oh, come on now, let’s get this over and done with,’ Morgan Grant persisted. If her eyes had been open she would have seen the puzzled expression on his face, but she did not even notice the softer tone in his voice.

Nothing registered with Katriona, nothing except her own pain and shock. All her life she had been expecting this question. All her life she had been terrified of being asked that straightforward question. She had often had sickening nightmares when she was younger, about this very situation ... someone shouting and demanding her father’s name, not giving her time to be evasive, yelling at her so that she came right out with the ugly truth: that she was illegitimate. Strange that it had never happened before.

Usually people asked casually, and she was well practised in answering in an equally casual manner. She had a whole string of answers, such as ... he left my mother when I was tiny ... or, my mother divorced him when I was a baby ... but they only worked because of the careless way she spoke them. This time it was different.

She took a deep breath and opened her eyes and spoke fiercely. ‘I don’t know who you are, Morgan Grant, nor do I know what authority you think you have to be able to come here and question me about my family. It doesn’t matter if you have authority or not, because I refuse to answer any of your questions. I think you’re arrogant, ignorant, and a nosey-parker. So you may now leave. There’s nothing to hinder you. The door is open.’

Tm not leaving until I do have some answers,’ Morgan Grant said quietly. ‘I’m not prying into your private life for a mere whim. My boss, Ross Carmichael of Evangeline ... that’s a sheep station in the South Island of New Zealand ... asked me to come here and check you out.’

‘Well, you’ve checked,’ Katriona cried vehemently, ‘and I’m not the girl you’re looking for. I don’t know Ross Carmichael. I’ve never heard of him, and believe me, I never want to hear of him or you in the future.’ She stood up. ‘If you won’t leave then I will.’ She walked to the far door.

‘Just a minute!’ Morgan Grant spoke sharply. ‘If you’ve never heard of him, why are you claiming that he’s your father?’

Katriona whirled around. ‘That’s a downright lie! ’

‘My opinion exactly,’ Morgan Grant said smoothly. ‘Still, my boss was insistent that I meet you and talk with you and form an objective opinion on the case. Believe me, I find this mission as distasteful as you apparently do. I thought all along that the letter was a hoax. So if you’d only calm down and answer one question, or let me explain ...’

‘No!’

'Oh, do be reasonable.’ He sounded more exasperated than angry.

‘I
am
being reasonable. I have no intention of listening to any more of your gobbledegook. You’re “away with the fairies”, and that’s my own not entirely objective opinion.’ Katriona’s voice was scathing. ‘The car has just stopped and in a few moments you can explain your position to Donald and Jeannie, and how you came to be alone and uninvited in their home.’

He gave a short laugh. ‘Donald being the one who’s going to throw me off his land. I hope he’s big enough for the job.’

Katriona slammed the door behind her and took the stairs to her room two at a time. She had no doubt that Donald would handle the situation efficiently without resorting to brute strength. Well ... she hoped he would, because that man from New Zealand was taller than Donald, broader than Donald, and much much meaner and nastier than Donald could ever be. He could only be described as a formidable proposition.

She hurried to the window which overlooked the yard, expecting at any moment to see Donald ushering Morgan Grant out of the gate. The minutes passed slowly as she waited and she became more and more impatient. At last she could stand it no longer, and opened her door and stood at the top of the stairs, trying to catch the drift of the conversation. There was no angry upraised voice, just the pleasant rise and fall of conversation between people enjoying a talk. Then she heard them laughing.

It was too much! She stalked back into her room and closed the door firmly. She would have liked to bang it shut. She should have known that Donald and Jeannie would find it impossible to be rude to a stranger under their roof. Katriona began to throw her clothes into her suitcase. She would not go downstairs while Morgan Grant was there.

At last she heard the car drive off and Jeannie calling up the stairs. ‘Katriona, come down. Supper is ready, and Morgan could not stay. Donald has driven him back to Alex and the car.’

Blast Donald! Blast Highland hospitality! And most of all blast that dratted Morgan Grant. He had spoiled her holiday. She had
known
he would. She should have stayed downstairs and denounced him. Instead she had left him in control of the situation while she was trapped sulking in her bedroom. He had put her in the wrong and she hated him for it.

She joined Jeannie by the brightly burning open fire. ‘Oh, thanks for lighting the fire, Jeannie. It isn’t really cold enough for a fire in the evenings, but there’s nothing as homely and welcoming as an open fire.’

‘I knew you would enjoy it. And it is your last night.’ Jeannie smiled sweetly. ‘What a nice man that Morgan Grant is—so handsome, and such elegant manners. He said he was truly sorry that he had upset you, and asked me to offer his apologies. We both found him quite charming.’

‘Charming indeed
,’ Katriona repeated with a very different inflection in her voice. ‘How did he say he’d upset me? And what explanation did he give you for hounding me down like a criminal?’

‘Oh, it wasn’t like that at all, Katriona,’ Jeannie protested with a reproachful glance. ‘He said you would not hear him out. He said he was leaving for New Zealand this week, and had only followed you up here because your office would not tell him when you were expected back. You can understand how he would be worried. How could he return to those good people in New Zealand and say that he had failed to contact you? It must have been very difficult for him.’

‘My heart bleeds for him,’ Katriona remarked sarcastically.

‘Here’s Donald,’ Jeannie said thankfully. ‘You two will' be looking forward to your meal. Donald said you’ve been on the go all day.’

Donald joined them at the table. ‘Fine fellow that Morgan Grant, Katriona. A pity you two got off to such a bad start. Did Jeannie say he offered his apologies?’

‘She did.’ Katriona’s eyes were smouldering. Oh, Morgan Grant had played a fine confidence trick on these two friends of hers. They would never believe her now if she told them that he had manhandled her, bullied her, and shouted at her. ‘So you liked him?’

‘Yes, I did. An intelligent and interesting man. He’s a farmer, did you know that?’

‘No. That didn’t come up in our conversation.’

‘Oh, yes.’ Donald sounded delighted with himself. He’s very interested in our way of farming here, and was very pleased when I suggested he come back and spend the day with us tomorrow. He said now that he’d spoken with you there was no need to rush away.’

‘Did you tell him that I was leaving on the boat early tomorrow morning?’ Katriona asked with deceptive sweetness.

‘Well now, I don’t think I did.’ Donald looked surprised. ‘You see, we were talking about farming methods most of the time.’

Katriona hooted with laughter, her good humour miraculously restored. Fancy Morgan Grant thinking he had wormed his way into Donald and Jeannie’s good grace with a pretended interest in farming, and thinking he had cornered her in her friends’ home. Oh, it was delicious! He would come over tomorrow refreshed and ready for battle and she would be well away to sea, having sailed at dawn.

‘Did he say to you why he was so anxious to see me?’ she asked.

Jeannie smiled with relief at Katriona’s change of mood. ‘No. He said it was a personal matter. Some people who lived in the same district as he does, and who wanted to contact your mother but had lost her address but vaguely knew where you were ... I may not have it right.’

‘I can understand if you’re a little confused. I was myself.’ Katriona’s grin was wide. She wanted to warn these two not to be taken in by that plausible rogue even if he was good-looking and appeared courteous. She wanted to shout at them that he was lying and that his story was a hoax, but she decided to drop the subject of Morgan Grant and enjoy her evening. Oh, he was a cunning man, but she had outwitted him.

Even so, she did not completely relax until next morning when Donald and Jeannie drove down to the wharf at Scamish and put her on board. Usually when she left the island she would feel sad, but all she could think of was getting away from that wretched man, and the thought of the disappointment in store for him when he arrived at the farm to find her gone made her chuckle wickedly. She walked the deck enjoying the crystal clear morning and the sparkling smooth sea. She always loved this sea trip even if it took five hours, much preferring it to a quick flight in a plane. Whether the sea was rough or smooth, it made no difference because she was an excellent sailor.

After she arrived in Oban there was still the long train trip to Glasgow. Her mind kept going back to the meeting with Morgan Grant. Why had he said she was claiming to be the daughter of Ross Carmichael? And he had mentioned a letter. If he had been a different sort of a man she could have talked with him and sorted it all out. Perhaps she had been a bit hasty. It would have been interesting to find out more. Could her mother have been married to Ross Carmichael? No, that was not possible. Or was it? But if her mother had been married to this Carmichael fellow, then she, Katriona, could be their legitimate daughter. She could have a real father ... a
legal father. Oh, it was all rubbish. Her mother would have told her.

Katriona sighed deeply as she gazed out the window of the train at the sunlight glistening on Loch Lomond. Could her mother have kept a secret like that all these years? But why keep it a secret? Her mother had never spoken to Katriona about her father. Many times Katriona had tried to find out something about him, but her mother had always said she was lucky she had never met him, implying that he was a bad lot. Further questioning had only made her angry, and Katriona had learned never to mention the subject as it would put her mother in an evil mood for days.

So she had assumed that she was illegitimate because her mother’s maiden name was Carmichael ... but say her mother had been married to a man whose name was the same as hers? Oh, that was ridiculous. But it could happen. Angrily Katriona tried to put further speculation from her mind. But the question crept back again and again. If her mother had been married to Ross Carmichael why keep it a
secret? Her mother had never worried about mentioning her other husbands and her other marriages. But then Katriona was old enough to know what was going on.

And that Morgan Grant had not said anything about a marriage. Just that she was claiming to be the daughter of his boss. It was just a mix-up. They had made a
mistake because of the name Carmichael. She had never written a
letter.

Forget it, Forget it, Forget it, the words clicked through her mind in rhythm with the train’s wheels. Tomorrow she would be back at work, and it would be good to be busy, too busy to waste time thinking about that preposterous creature Morgan Grant. She gave an involuntary giggle as she thought of his chagrin on finding her gone from the island. She would never see him again.

The staff greeted her warmly when she arrived at the office next morning and by lunch time she was so much involved she felt that she had never been away. There was that disturbing rumour that big changes were afoot. Katriona did not want any big changes in her life, she enjoyed her work and got on fine with Mr Drummond.

Miss Jamieson, the senior buyer for the firm, quelled the younger girl’s enthusiasm. ‘It’s merely a rumour, Katriona, take no notice. Although I must admit that I’ve heard several snippets that do lend themselves to the merger theory.’

‘It must have developed very quickly,’ Katriona commented. ‘I heard not a whisper about it before I left.’

‘Exactly what I was telling the girls. If Miss Carmichael hasn’t been informed, then there’s no truth in it. We all know what confidence Mr Drummond places in you.’

The intercom crackled and Katriona jumped up. ‘Mr Drummond must be back in his office. I haven’t seen him yet.’

‘Ah, Katriona, nice to have you back. Did you enjoy your holiday? I can see you did. I have missed you. No one could find a thing for me during your absence.’

Katriona smiled warmly at him and said quite truthfully, ‘It’s a pleasure to be back. And yes, I did have a lovely break. Now, what particular file were you wanting?’

‘That thing about Canada. You know, they were sending a rep over here. I’ve forgotten his name.’

Katriona went swiftly to the filing cabinet and sorted out the required file. It was no wonder that the staff found it hard to trace things when she was away. Mr Drummond could never remember names and relied on Katriona to be his memory bank. It would be impossible to find the file on a man whose name could not be remembered, nor yet the name of a firm he worked for.

‘Ah, Katriona, you’re more than a secretary,’ Mr Drummond said thankfully. ‘We’ll have to give you a new title, what do you say? Super-secretary or senior office executive, do you favour that?’

‘No, thanks. I’m perfectly satisfied with my title,’ Katriona replied just as the door burst open and a short, self-important-looking man strode in.

‘See here, Drummond, you tell that stupid girl out the front that I don’t need escorting to your office each time I visit, nor do I need to be announced each time. I can’t seem to get it through her thick head.’

Katriona was shocked by the stranger’s behaviour and could see Shona through the open doorway, crimson with humiliation.