In the dark dank depths of the Old Kitchen, Robin sidles up to me. If you should see a loose stone, she says, and I immediately think of my stone from the River Skell, knowing what's coming next.
This place touches her heart and I so want to find something – a pebble, a shard, something for her to hold at home with her eyes closed – a ticket to transport her back to this moment in her life when a dream became reality. But there is nothing. Crichton is exceptionally well kept; the floors of the many rooms we explore are swept clean.
I am resigned to the fact that her memories will have to suffice and watch breathlessly as she leans out of a window to put her hands on the magnificent diamond-faceted facade of the inner courtyard. We peek down through high windows and call out, waving to Dana who is still engaged in conversation with Alistair.
Into another chamber I wander, stopping to admire the lichens and mosses growing on the walls. The air is thick with mist and I reach out to stroke the soft, fuzzy growths that embellish the red sandstone. "Look at this," I say in wonder to Robin, who arrives at my side.
What happened next (I swear, I did not have a chisel in my hand) plays out in slow motion, exactly like the encounter with the sheep. A piece of the stone I was caressing with my fingertip leaps from the wall. I catch it deftly in the palm of my hand before it hits the ground.
I look at Robin, whose eyes are as big and round as a pair of two-pence pieces. Her hand covers her mouth. Suddenly I'm a child again and I can hear my older brother's voice in my head. "Ooh, you're in trouble." A quick peek through the window overlooking the courtyard shows Alistair and Dana still in conversation.
Hmm ... I have two options: I can give the stone to Alistair, who I know is not going to super-glue this small piece of stone back onto the wall, or I can hand it over to Robin. We huddle over the stone in the palm of my hand like two children inspecting a baby bird. It's so fragile. Grains of sand are already falling from it. I poke at it with a finger, and it breaks in two. Decision made. Into my pocket one piece goes, into Robin's pocket the other piece is gently placed like the treasure it is to her.
The castle's most distinctive feature is its Italian-influenced courtyard façade, which forms part of the north range. Francis Stewart, the designer, had travelled to Italy, and was inspired by new styles and technology in buildings there, particularly the Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara (c. 1582). This was the source of the diamond rustication on the courtyard wall. The initials of Francis and his wife Margaret Douglas appear on the walls, together with an anchor representing Stewart's position of Lord High Admiral of Scotland.
Read more about Crichton Castle at Wikipedia.