Chapter 20

Tired from reading in the Count’s magnificent library, Eleanor had retired to her room and stood looking out the window and the lush fields. Was it green like this in Scotia? She could not remember. How long ago had she lost the images of MacDonald lands? Would she even recognize the keep? What did her sister look like now? Was she wed? Had her mother’s hair turned to grey? Would she hear the same birds singing in the north? Some of the books she’d read today had drawings of such colourful and fantastic-looking animals. Some of them were hard to believe, but one of the Count’s guests insisted he had seen the animal with his own eyes. “The giraffe is a gentle giant,” the man had insisted. “Its long neck allows it to eat from the treetops and its long legs help it run fast since it does not have any means to defend itself.” He had called that evolution. There was so much she wanted to learn about. But the time to leave would be drawing near. The Count had arrived home nearly a week ago,