Chapter 4

I turned up for the first day of Fresher's week. This is the time when new students were given a guided tour of what the university had to offer. I could not believe my luck, the girl I wanted to meet was in the same group. I did not make any move to introduce myself, but I watched her as we toured around the different places.

I noticed that she seemed either very reserved or very shy. It was probably a bit of both I felt. For me, being reserved meant someone was deliberately holding themselves back because for some reason they did not want to get involved. Being shy, on the other hand meant you did not mix in because you were socially handicapped in one way or another and just couldn't bring yourself to do it.

When it came to lunch time those who had struck up some rapport within a little group all headed for a cafe. While I had been sociable enough, I had not really allied myself with anyone else as I had been busy studying Kathleen. I was watching how she reacted in the group situation. I saw her head down past Auchterlonie's large golf shop and guessed she was heading for the beach, so I decided to follow her.

She went into the toilet at the car park and I walked on past and went into the gents on the other side of the same little building. I hung about a bit longer than normal and then exited. My timing was good and as I rounded the corner and reached the pavement I almost collided with her. I apologised and pretended to be surprised when I recognised her.

You and I are in the same freshers' group today aren't we? Are you heading for a walk along the beach rather than going for something to eat?

"Not really" she said, "Or perhaps I should say it is a bit of both. I am going to take a short walk along the beach and then on my way back I will take the road which leads across the Old Course and walk up to a tea room I know."

"I just felt the need for some fresh air," I told her, "So would you mind if I joined you?"

"I could feel her reserve kicking in and making her uncomfortable, she would obviously have preferred to be alone, but good manners made her respond."

"I would have preferred to be by myself, but since you are obviously alone and obviously want some company, she said with a polite sort of smile; "It would churlish of me to say no. Though I am not sure why anyone would want my company I am not very good at mixing with others."

I had the feeling that she was really giving me the opportunity to return her politeness and honour her wish to be left alone. I refused to take her up on that and instead I began to walk alongside her.

By the way, my name is Calum MacDonald and if your last question is not merely a rhetorical one. Then I could answer it quite easily."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"You said that you did not know why anyone would want your company, I said with a smile. "Well I can tell you why that might happen. First of all since you are here at St Andrews, this means you are a very bright girl and someone worth knowing and talking to. Then there is the fact that you are also a very beautiful young woman and you have sort of refined shyness that makes you very sexy. Then lastly, since I know who you are and I know that your father is a Lord and that you are the Honourable Kathleen Lucinda Winslet, this means you come from a very different background from me. That also creates a sense of mystery. All of these things make you someone any young man would want to get to know"

She sort of smiled at that and she blushed at my remarks before replying.

"I prefer to go with the name Kathleen Winslet since being the daughter of a lord is just an accident of birth. Besides, my so called noble ancestry is something that I feel makes it difficult for me to make true friends. As for the rest, what you have just said only proves one thing, 'beauty must truly lie in the eye of the beholder, ' as I don't see myself as being all that attractive or sexy."

"But it does mean you move in a very rarefied circle that is far removed from that of people who are not born into it and probably your friends all belong to it as well. I can also assure you that an awful lot of the young men attending this university will see you as some who is both beautiful and sexy."

"You really are a flatterer, maybe I should let you walk with me more often and then you might bolster my confidence. I could do with that happening. I have already told you I am not very good with people, so I don't have many friends. In fact my only real friend is our chauffeur's daughter who is a year older than me and attends another university."

"Well you seem to be doing alright talking with me, and in the light of what I have said already, I would cheerfully volunteer to be your friend," I said with a grin.

"Then if you really think that I am bright, beautiful and sexy, maybe I should give you a try, so long as the sexy bit is not your main aim, because then you might well be disappointed and become tired of me."

"Oh I don't think that would happen," I told her. "There is much more about you that I find interesting besides your sex appeal."

For the first time in our discussion so far she really laughed at something I had said.

"I am glad you think that way" She told me. "I will take it on advisement until you prove it is true."

"Then if that is the case, I will consider myself your friend and ask you if you will allow me to take you to lunch at your tea room. I am well able to afford the price of someone so lovely accepting my hospitality. You will realise that when you see my car, so I might as well let you know that now."

"Oh though you are not a lord, am I to take it you come from a family who obviously come from the wealthy elite who are also a small exclusive group compared to the rest of our citizens?"

I did not think this was the moment to tell her, as my cover story would demand, that I was an orphan whose parents had died in a car crash in the not so distant past so I merely responded to her question.

"You would be correct in that assumption, but you would only need to go back about three generations to find that my grandfather was the son of a coal miner and that our wealth stemmed from the efforts of my grandfather and my father and mother."

"Ah, a nouveaux rich then, as my father would define you with a trace of scorn in his voice. Alas he easily forgets that our wealth was probably built on slavery and sugar and perhaps even tea. Our lofty position only goes back to the eighteenth century and the latter part of it at that."

"Does that mean that you don't scorn the fact that my origin of my wealth is so recent?"

"Of course I don't. It is probably better earned that our early wealth was, though we have now branched out into other areas."

With this remark we left the beach and walked up to the tea room in the town. The place was quite busy, but a couple got up from their table as we entered and we managed to get seated right away. Once we had given our orders and the waitress returned with our Cokes, I resumed our conversation.

"I think there is always some degree of ruthlessness needed to amass a fortune. The upside however is that in doing so in this day and age you provide employment and earnings for a great many others. Many of the people whom you employ though many who are working merely to earn the money which keeps the wolf away from the doors might well regard themselves as wage slaves"

"That is still a long way up from being actual slaves working for my forebears. Among the things we own now is farm land in South Africa. My brother is the manager of three large farms there. We employ a lot of local labour from the black community and I still feel that many of them live on the poverty line or even below it."

"That sounds as if we have something in common," I said with a smile. "It looks as if we both lean a bit to the left of centre politically."

I never thought of it like that," She said, "But I suppose you are right. I do have concern for people who are deprived and also for environmental issues. I actually donate to Greenpeace, UNICEF and Save The Children on a monthly basis."

Then that is more than I do, I just haven't got round to it yet. It is only recently I inherited my money without restrictions," I told her, "So I will have to think of doing the same kind of thing."

"What do you mean when you say you have just inherited money? I thought you were talking about your family's money."

"My parents were killed in a car crash almost two years ago and their lawyer who was also a friend looked after me until I was sixteen and he was also their executor. But now the inheritance has passed into my hands."

She was now embarrassed and shocked by this revelation and apologised profusely. Of course it was not hurtful to me since it was only a fiction and part of my cover, but I put her at ease by telling her that I had come to terms with my situation.

"It does not hurt to talk about it now; I told her, I just remember how fortunate I was to have them. They were great parents and I had a very happy childhood as a result. I will always be grateful for that.

"I wish I..."She started to say and then stopped.

It was obvious she was going to make some kind of revelation about her childhood before she stopped. With the information the general had given me I knew what she had been about to say so I tried to encourage her to continue.

"Were you about to say, that you were not as fortunate and that your childhood was not as happy as mine?" I asked her.

Again she looked embarrassed at my question and she lowered her head so that I could not see her eyes. I decided to use the powers that had been bestowed on me, but all I picked up was her sense of embarrassment and a bit of fear. Then she lifted her head and looked into my eyes before speaking;

"I don't usually speak about personal things," she told me, "Especially if they are embarrassing and a bit detrimental to my parents."