Murder by Appointment: Inspector Faro No.10 Read Online Free PDF Page B

Rose, 'May I see you again? Now that I've found you?' he added gently.
    She smiled. 'Of course. I'll be here with Papa until the end of the week.'
    Lachlan bowed over her hand. 'Dinner is out for me, I'm afraid. But lunch at the Café Royal, perhaps?'
    'That would be lovely.'
    Lachlan smiled ruefully. 'Where I was brought up, dinner was the midday meal, but here in Edinburgh it's de rigueur to call it luncheon.'
    Rose laughed. 'It's the same in Orkney. Breakfast, dinner and supper. No one's heard of luncheons yet!'
    They had forgotten Faro whose mind wrestled with a fast-moving kaleidoscope of thoughts, none of which gave him any cause for complacency. It was obvious that the two were very attracted. At one time he would have welcomed Rose's distraction from Danny McQuinn, especially for a concert pianist and composer, a cultured young man with a great future.
    But with one of fate's little ironies, Rose had been presented with the one man she might never marry.
    'A very pleasant young man,' he said as the front door closed and he wondered what bitter destiny had brought them together.
    Rose was eager to tell him. 'He is so nice. I'm glad you think so too, Papa.' So his suspicions were correct.
    'I've heard him play. He's very talented, you know. Did you meet at one of his concerts?'
    Rose smiled. 'Goodness, no. We met on the Aberdeen train for Glasgow. I’d spent Easter at Orkney, as you know, with Gran and Emmy. The boat was late disembarking and I had only about ten minutes to get from dock to railway station. Naturally there wasn't a carriage in sight. I took to my heels and the guard had blown his whistle when I raced on to the platform. Someone—Lachlan—threw open the door, stretched out a hand—but just then the strap on my luggage broke. You know what I'm like when it comes to packing. Well, everything spilled out on to the platform. I was so embarrassed. Books papers—clothes everywhere.
    'But Lachlan took charge of the situation, leaped out, commanded the guard to hold the train, gathered up all my belongings and bundled me into his carriage. I was very grateful. He was so charming and we talked all the way to Glasgow.'
    She paused for breath, her eyes shining, remembering.
    'Without any exchange of names, I take it?' said Faro. 'There seemed no need as we were fellow travellers, together for an hour and unlikely ever to meet again. Talk of Aberdeen led to Deeside and that he had been brought up there. I said I went there for holidays long ago. You know how it is, Papa,' she added dreamily, 'how you can meet a complete stranger and within minutes be telling him the story of your life.
    'It wasn't until the train pulled into the station at Glasgow and I saw people rushing forward to greet him on the platform, I guessed he was someone of importance. So I quietly disappeared. And then I read in the newspapers about his background, the scandal about being Brown's illegitimate son, and I realized that I had been travelling with Lachlan Brown, the famous concert pianist.'
    She made a face. 'He mentioned vaguely that he played the piano and to my everlasting shame I remembered saying how interesting, so do I! Wasn't that awful! Anyway, I never expected to see him again—and now this, finding him in my father's study. I can hardly believe it. Is he a friend of yours?' she added eagerly.
    'Hardly, although I greatly admire his playing. He was just bringing me greetings from old friends at Crathie,' Faro lied cheerfully. Rose would hardly appreciate that her rescuer was being used as target practice for some maniac with a rifle.
    'I am so pleased,' said Rose. 'Makes it a lot easier doesn't it, for us to meet when he is, well, almost a friend of the family. And talking of family, where are Vince and Olivia?'
    ‘Vince is visiting sick patients and Olivia busy with one of her charities, I expect. She is involved in so many good works, I've lost count.'
    Rose laughed. 'She is wise to enjoy them while she may, I'm afraid