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met a young man who
fell deeply in love with her. Mary loved him too but not enough to go against
the wishes of her family. You see, the young man was a poor factory worker. Mr.
and Mrs. Kinnaird did not think much of the boy and refused Mary to continue
with the courtship. The boy was so distraught, he died of heart-ache. However
the boy’s mother had gypsy ancestry. Rumour has it, she cursed the Kinnaird
family. That they would never be able to retain a marriage and that Mary would
never be anyone else’s. Of course the Kinnairds dismissed it as ludicrous, pagan beliefs, never giving it a second thought.
    There was no reason
to. It was the late 1960s and business was booming in America. Mr. Kinnaird was
a shrewd business man and invested heavily into all sorts of business there,
basking in its profits and rewards. Unfortunately, their only son, George was also
lured by the alluring, glamorous life of America. Now having tasted the nectars
of fame and fortune in America, George made it quite well-known that he had no
wish to return to dull, mundane Skye. Instead he revelled in drunkenness and
debauchery. His parents were utterly disappointed. They threatened to cut him
off his inheritance if he didn’t return. But George called their bluff and
remained in America much to the disdain of his parents.
    But that was only the
start of the Kinnaird downfall.
    Anne Kinnaird, now Mrs.
Cameron, gave birth to a healthy baby boy two years after the marriage. The
Kinnaird’s were absolutely elated with this new addition to the family.
Actually so much so that they gifted the young parents with a trip to Europe. I
heard Mrs. Cameron refused to leave her newborn and wanted to take her baby
with her. But after much coaxing and convincing by both her husband and her
family, she ultimately decided to leave the child with her parents and set off
on a journey to Europe with her husband. Only two days into their trip and not
having yet even left the shores of London, the young couple died in a car
crash. It was rumoured they had a terrible argument while Mr. Cameron was
driving. Apparently they were arguing over the control of finances over their
trip. It appeared Mrs. Cameron had snubbed it in her husband’s face and the
fact that his family did not support them as much in their financial endeavours
as did her own family. In anger, Mr. Cameron   sped to overtake a truck before him in an oncoming bend but lost control,
veering off the road and tumbling down a cliff. They both died that awful
night.
    The Kinnairds were terribly distraught over the death of their
daughter. Mr. Kinnaird took the blame of their death upon himself. He had been aware
of their marital problems and assumed that a three month trip to Europe would
save the young couple’s marriage. Instead it had only surfaced Mr. Cameron’s
insecurities to provide the luxuries his wife was so used to having. Mr.
Kinnaird locked himself up in his bedroom for seven days, refusing to talk to
anyone. Well, he did come out at the end of it, but the atmosphere of the
entire household had now become sombre. There was no laughter or playful teasing
ringing through its empty halls. No, all that was gone. Mr. Kinnaird withered
away, eating very little but strangely determined more than ever to build an
empire stronger than he had before.
    However it was the
early 1970s now and economic situations had vastly altered. The market crashed
and Mr. Kinnaird lost a lot on his shares and investments. There was nothing
poor Mr. Kinnaird could do but wallow in his sorrow.
    Not long after George
Kinnaird took an interest in a native Indian girl. Despite being warned and
threatened again by his parents, George eloped with her causing quite a stir
amongst both the elite American socialites and the Indian tribe she belonged
to. It brought the Kinnaird’s into much disrepute within the social classes in
both England and America. A week on the run from the girl’s family, George was
found dead in the