Heroes of Honor: Historical Romance Collection
Page 76
The room seemed fixed on the scene before them, watching the interaction between Lydia and Lady Emmeline with rapt attention.
When Culbertson reached them, he brought Liddy’s hand to his lips as a show of affection, then turned to his betrothed and took her into his arms.
The onlookers broke into thunderous applause.
“Follow me, Austin.” Harrison patted the money in his pocket. “We have an appointment with the Duke of Chisolmwood and I don’t want to be late.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Lydia leaned against the low cement balustrade on the terrace and waited. The muffled roaring of excited voices still echoed from behind the patio doors as the guests offered their congratulations on Culbertson’s announcement. It had indeed been a shock to everyone.
Especially Gabriel.
She watched him as Culbertson made his announcement and recognized the restrained fury he kept from escaping. His years in the military had trained him to take charge of any situation, to accept nothing less than victory, so she knew how helpless he felt having to stand by while another man announced his engagement to her.
If the roles had been reversed, she wouldn’t have acted nearly so nobly.
Her breath caught and she clamped her hand over her mouth to stop the nervous laughter that wanted to escape. She couldn’t believe things had turned out the way they had. Only a few days ago she thought she was the one Culbertson would announce as his future wife. And last night in the dark, she’d told Gabriel goodbye for the last time. Until Culbertson saw her and told her his plan for both of them to escape a life separated from the person they loved.
God did indeed answer prayers, and the Marquess of Culbertson realized he was as loathe to spend the rest of his life apart from the person he truly loved as she was.
If everything went as Culbertson had planned, this would be the last time she’d ever have to go through a night like this.
She paced from one end of the flagstone terrace to the other, stopping before the open doors to listen for his footsteps. The longer she waited, the more anxious she grew. She clutched her fingers around the cement railing and—
The ballroom doors opened and excited voices from inside spilled into the nighttime silence. She took a deep breath in anticipation, then turned around when the determined thud of his cane hit the flagstones behind her.
“Have you finally come for me?” she asked.
“Yes, my lady. I’ve finally come for you. And I don’t intend to ever let you go again.”
“Good.” The tears she swore she wouldn’t shed ran down her cheeks and she quickly swiped them away.
He took several steps toward her and stopped when he reached her. “How long have you known Culbertson was going to announce Lady Emmeline’s name instead of yours?” he asked.
“Since last night.”
“I see.” He breathed a heavy sigh. “I should be exceedingly angry with you.”
“You should?”
“Exceedingly. The torture you put me through took several valuable years off my life.”
“I have suffered more,” she said as a rebuttal. “Your discomfort doesn’t come close to matching the torture you put me through when you told me you didn’t love me and left me a year ago. Then when Austin brought you back more dead than alive. Then again when Jean-Paul returned with Austin and Geoffrey but you weren’t with them. And once more when you delivered us safely aboard the Silver Star and we sailed without you. And last night when you told me goodbye a final time. When I tally the score, you owe me far more in years than I owe you.”
He smiled. “Let it never be said that I don’t pay my debts. I intend to devote the rest of my life making up for my rudeness.”
“You most assuredly will. I intend to make sure you do. You may start this moment.”
He arched his brows in a devilish gesture. “Of course. What service may I offer?”
“You may begin by holding me.”
“It would be my pleasure.”
He gathered her in his arms and his warmth enveloped her. She sighed with relief. “How do you think Chisolmwood will take his son’s announcement?”
She heard his chuckle beneath her ear. “Publicly? Joyous elation.”
“Privately?”
“I don’t know. Your brothers can fill us in on the riveting details when they return.”
She lifted her head in alarm. “The money! Do they have the money to repay His Grace?”
“Yes. Culbertson sent Harrison the amount to pay their debt.”
A heavy weight lifted from her. “Oh, it seems I’m more indebted to Lord Culbertson than I thought.”
“We’re all indebted to him. Especially me.” He placed his finger beneath her chin and lifted until her gaze locked with his. “I love you, Liddy.”
“And I love you. I always have. But what I feel is more than love. It’s… it’s…”
He ran the backs of his fingers down her cheek. “What do you feel, Liddy?”
She thought a moment then said the only word that came to her mind. “Consumed.”
“Consumed by what?”
“Not what,” she said. “By whom. By you.” She nestled her face against his chest. “Do you know what it’s like to be consumed with thoughts of you day and night? It’s been more than a year since you walked away from me that first time and there hasn’t been a day— No, there hasn’t been an hour that I haven’t wondered what you were doing. Where you were. If someone else was taking care of you, talking to you, laughing with you…” She stopped and swallowed hard. “Holding you.”
“You’re the only woman I’ll ever hold—day, night…anytime.”
An errant tear spilled from her eye and she wrapped her arms around him and held tighter.
“Ah, Liddy. I love you so much I nearly died that first time I had to give you up. Then, I missed you so much I didn’t care if I came back from any of the missions I was sent on because what did it matter? Life wasn’t worth living if you weren’t a part of it.”
“Oh, Gabriel.”
He lowered his head and kissed her gently. “Do you know how I survived the trip to England from the Crimea? I survived because every day Austin told me when we got home you’d be waiting for me. I fought to stay alive so I could see you just once more. Then I fought to stay alive because I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving you. And tonight…”
He held her close. “Tonight was the hardest of all. Standing there while I thought Culbertson intended to announce he was going to marry you.
“I searched the room, knowing if it were possible to steal you away, I’d do it. I love you, Liddy. More than I have a right to.”
She cupped her palms against his cheeks and brought his mouth down to hers.
He lifted his lips from hers. “How soon will you marry me, Liddy?”
“Tonight?”
He laughed, then kissed her again.
Oh, she’d missed the feel of his arms around her and his lips against hers. Missed feeling the warmth of his body against hers and the surety of knowing she’d spend the rest of her life with a man who loved her as much as she loved him.
For her, love was enough.
It always had been.
About Laura Landon...
If you ever meet a senior citizen who says she's living her dream, that's me. I spent years of my life teaching music, running a Dairy Queen, and stocking a MiniMart. And then I discovered writing. That's when I knew who I was truly meant to be. Now my books are sold all over the world, in four languages, and even in Japanese manga! Oh yes. Thanks to my dear readers I'm living my dream!
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"Always beautifully set and with a mysterious twist or bit of suspense, Laura’s books average nearly a million pages a month read by her loyal readers."
Laura Landon is a Prairie Muse Platinum
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Laura loves to
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…
DEDICATION
To my mom—
who is the most special mom in the world.
Thank you, Mom. I love you!
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NOT MINE TO GIVE
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THE DARK DUKE
CAST IN SHADOWS
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................
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.
WHEN LOVE IS ENOUGH
Copyright © 2010 by Laura Landon
First print edition
ISBN 978-0-9830741-3-7
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used in the context of another work of fiction without written permission of the author or Prairie Muse Publishing.
Cover art by Prairie Muse
www.prairiemuse.com
www.lauralandon.com
Copyright
His Highland Lass Copyright © 2018 by Celeste Barclay. All Rights Reserved.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
Cover designed by Lisa Messegee, The Write Designer
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Celeste Barclay
Visit my website at www.celestebarclay.com
First Printing: April 2018
Kindle Digital Publishing
His Highland Lass
The Clan Sinclair Book One
Celeste Barclay
The Clan Sinclair
Book 1 His Highland Lass
Mairghread Sinclair and Tristan Mackay
Book 2 His Bonnie Highland Temptation
Callum Sinclair and Siùsan Mackenzie
Book 3 His Highland Prize
Alexander Sinclair and Brighde Kerr
Book 4 His Highland Pledge - Magnus Sinclair and Deirdre Fraser
Book 5 His Highland Surprise - Tavish Sinclair and Ceit Comyn
Book 6 Their Highland Beginning - Prequel Novella
Liam Sinclair and Kyla Sutherland
The Clan Sinclair
Liam Sinclair m. Kyla Sutherland
b. Callum Sinclair m. Siùsan Mackenzie (SH-IY-oo-san)
b. Thormud Seamus Magnus Sinclair (TOR-mood SHAY-mus)
b. Rose Kyla Sinclair
b. Alexander Sinclair m. Brighde Kerr (BREE-ju KAIR)
b. Tavish Sinclair m. Ceit Comyn (KAIT-ch CUM-in)
b. Magnus Sinclair m. Deidre Fraser (DEER-dreh FRA-zer)
b. Mairghread Sinclair m. Tristan Mackay (Mah-GAID)
b. “Wee” Liam Brodie Mackay
Chapter One
S
he entered the Great Hall like a strong spring storm in the northern most Highlands. Tristan Mackay felt like it had blown him hither and yon. As the storm settled, she left him with the sweet scents of heather and lavender wafting towards him as she approached. She was not a classic beauty, tall and willowy like the women at court. Her face and form were not what legends were made of. But she held a unique appeal unlike any he had seen before. His eyes were riveted to her long chestnut hair that had strands of fire and burnt copper running through them. Unlike the waves or curls he was used to, her hair was unusually straight and fine. It looked like a waterfall cascading down her back. While she was not tall, neither was she short. She had a figure meant for a man to grasp and hold onto, whether from the front or from behind. She had an aura of confidence and charm, but not arrogance or conceit like many good-looking women he had met. She did not seem to realize her own appeal. Intuition told him she was many things, but one thing she was not was his.
Mairghread Sinclair was intended for his brother—his stepbrother, Alan. She and her father, Liam, and her four brothers approached with a contingency of guardsmen behind them. They had left even more guardsmen in the inner bailey attending to their horses. The Mackays and Sinclairs had not been on good terms of late, and an alliance between Tristan’s stepbrother and the Sinclair’s daughter was meant to create a truce between the two raiding clans. Within the last three years, both sides burned numerous crofts and fields. and countless heads of cattle and sheep switched back and forth between the two. However, when an out and out clash between raiders who met coincidentally one night left fifteen Sinclairs dead and eighteen Mackays dead or wounded, both chiefs decided they needed a truce. The strongest way to secure that and to form an alliance was through marriage. As there were no eligible females in the Mackay chief’s family to marry off to one of the Sinclair brothers, it fell to Mairghread to marry a Mackay. Tristan did not consider himself ready or even inclined to marry at this point. He suspected his stepbrother, Alan, would benefit from settling down and sowing his seed in only one woman rather than any who allowed him to get his meaty hands onto long enough to lift his plaid. He had a quick pang of guilt as he sensed Mairghread was the sacrificial lamb flashed through his mind.
Tristan stepped down from the dais where he had been eating his midday meal with his stepbrother and stepmother, Lady Beatris. As the Sinclair party approached, he observed a wary expression cross each of their faces as they looked past Tristan to where Alan and Beatris remained seated. He almost groaned at their rudeness. This was not the first impression he would like to make. He did not dare glance back as he did not want to make their rudeness any more obvious than it already was.
When he reached Laird Sinclair, he reached out his arm to grasp the other chief’s forearm in greeting. He noted that Laird Sinclair was a bear of a man. He was barrel chested and stood almost as tall as Tristan’s six and a half feet. While he had to be at least two and half score, if he was a day, his hair and beard were still the same dark chestnut as his daughter. In fact, all of Laird Sinclair’s children shared his coloring, but while the men had brown eyes, his daughter had a blue-grey unlike any shade he had seen before. When he turned to greet her, she took his breath away once more. She had clear skin, slightly darkened from time in the sun. There was a hint of freckles across the bridge of her nose and across the tops of her cheekbones. Her nose was neither narrow nor pointy like most women he was acquainted with. It had a soft, almost flat, finish to the tip. He was sure her profile would be gentle and rounded rather than harsh and angular. Her lips drew his attention away from her eyes and nose. They were a perfect bow shape and pink but almost closer to red. They looked soft and kissable. He almost shook his head to cl
ear his thoughts. He had no business fantasizing about how those lips would feel against his. He ran a hand through his shoulder length, jet black hair.
“Welcome to Castle Varrich. On behalf of ma stepmother, stepbrother, and Clan Mackay, I welcome ye. I trust yer journey went smoothly.” Tristan gathered his thoughts enough to say something to his guests.
“Thank ye for having us, Laird Mackay.” Clearly, Liam Sinclair was not a man of many words.
Tristan turned to Mairghread and said, “Lady Mairghread, we have prepared a chamber for ye above stairs if ye would like to retire until the evening meal.”
A flash of annoyance crossed her face, but it was gone as quickly as it came. She looked at Tristan and plastered what she hoped was a serene smile on her face.
“Thank ye, Laird Mackay. I would like to refresh maself and have a moment to change out of ma travel clothes. However, I’ve been atop a horse for three days. I would really like to stretch ma legs. Perhaps someone might show me the gardens.” She looked pointedly over his shoulder at her soon-to-be betrothed. Alan was still shoveling food into his mouth as though it would be his last meal for days. Alan was known to indulge in all things whether it was food, drink, or women. His mother only encouraged him, and he was as spoiled an adult as he had been a child. Fortunately for him and for the clan, he loved to train as much as he loved to imbibe in drink and women. It was the only way he kept himself from being as broad as the side of the stable. He must have sensed several pairs of eyes on him because he finally looked up.
Tristan turned to face the dais as it was impossible to ignore any longer the fact that neither his stepbrother nor his stepmother came forward to greet their guests. It took quite a great deal to embarrass Tristan, but now he was not only embarrassed but ashamed of his family. Alan had not jumped at the idea of marrying, and certainly not a Sinclair, but he had come around to the idea when he realized that a wife meant a guaranteed woman to warm his bed each night.