In two days, they would leave Edinburgh to travel to Old Klebreck Tower to visit her father and grandfather for a while before they went to England. There they would live at King’s Retreat, Vin’s new estate, and begin their married life together. Vin thought he might like to raise horses instead of farming and Moira was sure they would enjoy their time as newlyweds there.
She would miss her friends, of course, but they would visit often.
The quartet playing for the dozen couples finished the waltz and Vin took Moira’s arm leading her out to the terrace. The moon shined brightly down upon them, a soft wind played through the trees. With the stars overhead and the music drifting over them from inside, it was a magical evening. Looking down into Moira’s radiant face, Vin felt that magic wash over him as it did every time he looked at her. For a man who hadn’t thought for years he didn’t deserve happiness, Vin had found bliss in spades.
Tenderly, he cupped her cheeks in his hands and bent to kiss her, brushing his lips ever so lightly across hers. Feeling the poignancy in the moment, Moira blinked up at her husband. “What is it, Vin?”
“I’m just finally giving you the kiss I should have six years ago,” he told her. “I can’t believe I was ever such a fool not to know I loved you even then.”
Moira smiled impishly. “Neither can I.”
Vin laughed and wrapped her in his arms, kissing her more enthusiastically.
“All the love in this house is making me ill,” Jamie’s voice broke the spell that bound them. The couple parted to find James lounging against the balustrade at the other end of the terrace watching them with a drink in his hand.
“You should try it, Jamie,” Vin chuckled, feeling that the joy in his heart was something his brother might someday appreciate if he were to allow himself the luxury. “It’s not as bad as you might think.”
“Ha! Causes more problems than it’s worth, I say!”
Moira and Vin shared an amused look. “Women trouble, brother?” Vin asked.
“I don’t have troubles with women in general,” James corrected.
“Ah, so there is one in particular you have in mind?”
James looked off into the distance and heaved what Vin might describe as a desolate sigh. “Aye, one aggravating woman.”
Vin was about to over a comment when Fiona came storming out of the garden. Her color was high and her green eyes snapping with fury as she lifted her skirts high to run past them into the house, but at the door she turned and yelled back to the gardens. “You’ll be sorry, Harry Brudenall! You’ve had your chance! I’m done with you now!”
Staring after her in surprise, the trio on the terrace turned back to the garden to see Aylesbury emerging from the foliage. His face was beet red except for the stark white handprint that stood out on his cheek.
“Harry!” Moira exclaimed. “Did you..?”
“No!” Harry growled. “She did!”
“Ha!” James snorted and met Harry’s eye as they nodded at each other in complete agreement and said in unison. “Women!”
Author’s Notes
I hope you enjoyed this story of Moira winning her long-lost love who was, in turn, lost inside a tortured soul. In the 19th century, of course, there was no acknowledgement of the troubles soldiers brought home with them from war; the battles or sights that haunted them. The nightmares for the friends they left behind. Today we call it PTSD or post-traumatic stress disorder. I tried to keep Vin’s troubles as close to the actual symptoms as possible but it was difficult to write. I didn’t want Vin to seem weak when most of the people who suffer from PTSD are some of the bravest our country has ever seen! Coping with what they’ve seen or done is the hardest part for most of them and, as I’ve written, the love and understanding of family and friends can be the best medicine.
The late 19th century was also a great time for the theater and opera. Some of the greatest had their beginnings in the years surrounding the turn of the century. Not only Oscar Wilde who had written and lectures for years before turning to writing plays like his first, Lady Windermere’s Fan in 1892. Great composers like Puccini, Verdi, Tchaikovsky and even Gilbert and Sullivan delivered some of the greatest operas ever written during that time.
Of course, like any other time, there was war. England fought in many smaller rebellions and uprisings in the last decade of the 1800’s including suppressing the Urabi Rebellion in Egypt and the insurgency in Upper Burma as well as the second Boer War. In using details from those conflicts, I tried to keep the facts and dates as accurate as possible, but of course, this is fiction and occasionally the truth needs to be stretched to fit our stories!
To those who have served and still do, this is for you.
Collect the entire Question series by Angeline Fortin
A Question of Love
A Question of Trust
A Question of Lust
The Perfect Question
A Question for Harry
Also Available
A Laird for All Time
Nothing But Time
My Heart’s in the Highlands
A Time & Place for Every Laird
Taken: A Laird for All Time Novel
Coming Fall 2015
Love in the Time of a Highland Laird
About the Author
Angeline Fortin picked up her first romance novel in college and has never been able to put them down since. A life-long lover of history, she holds a BA degree in History from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and has worked at Colonial Williamsburg as a historical interpreter. Blending her two favorite things, she began writing her own historical romances for the enjoyment of herself and her friends ten years ago.
Angeline is a native Minnesotan, a fan of the Vikings and the Twins. As a former military wife, she has lived in many places but currently resides in the southeast with her husband and two children and misses the cold weather.
Your comments are always welcome! Please send Angeline an email to [email protected] or LIKE her & the Questions for a Highlander series on Facebook for information and updates.
A Question of Lust (Questions For A Highlander Book 3) Page 32