03 - Dreams of Destiny
Page 32
“But David, she had no reason to kill her own daughter.”
“’Tis a long and twisted story, but Augusta may have thought she had a very good reason.”
****
The path narrowed, and suddenly Augusta was looking down at the roiling water battering the rocks of the riverbank far below. The water was running high. It would be impossible to cross until she traveled much farther upstream.
She would cross if she had to go all the way to Clovenfords. The jewels she was wearing would be more than enough to secure her a coach south. There, she could take refuge in any of her friends’ houses.
She would deny all of it. It would be her word against Gwyneth’s. She had been kind to the grasping wretch for all these years. No one would believe the spoiled brat…especially when she exposed her as the writer of those scandalous tales.
And hadn’t the Pennington family caused her enough harm. Everyone knew it. She would accuse them of being in on it with Gwyneth. Yes, she would survive this.
Augusta paused on the path, looking down again at the rushing water. She had survived other difficult times. She had managed to carry on after greater disappointments. She had lived on after Emma’s betrayal.
Life’s treachery, though, had started years before.
Her husband had been unable to give her children, but Augusta had always taken the blame for that on herself. It wasn’t until after her affair with Sir William Truscott that she learned the truth. It was he that gave her Emma.
She had a weakness for impoverished knights. Sir William. Sir Allan. How many others? But Sir William was the finest of them all. Emma’s father cut a dashing figure in those days. Bold and arrogant, he knew his charm. Many women in Augusta’s circle would have been thrilled at the opportunity to bed him.
Augusta had found herself at the center of the gentleman’s attentions during one of his visits to Baronsford to see his sister. She’d been flattered and overwhelmed,th Ghing into his arms and giving little thought to the consequences.
The affair had been short-lived, and Augusta had walked away knowing she carried his child. Unfortunately, she had not been with her husband for quite some time before that, and Lord Cavers had known immediately that the bairn was not his.
Her husband, though, was a man of discretion. He abhorred scandal and a divorce was unthinkable. A verbal settlement was agreed upon. The bairn would be raised as his own child, and the two would continue on with their separate lives.
Over the years, though, the arrangement had turned out to be disadvantageous for Augusta. Although Emma was never told of her true parentage, Augusta knew the child must have guessed. She would have had to be daft not to realize it, especially Lord Cavers had betrayed them both, making Gwyneth his chosen heir.
She moved quickly but carefully along the narrow path. The rocky path was still slippery from the morning rain. At least the sun was starting to burn through the lingering mist.
It had been very difficult for Augusta to overcome the financial straits Charles had left her in. She had run up some serious debts, though her credit problems had eased considerably when Emma had become Countess of Aytoun. With a daughter married to a man as rich and powerful as the Lord Aytoun, Augusta was set for as long as she lived.
Emma, though, had contrived her own bit of treachery.
Augusta knew about her daughter’s affairs with other men. She had done the same herself. It was the way of the world. Her own marriage had survived it even after she had found herself with child. Emma was in a secure position. She was the mistress of Baronsford. The Countess of Aytoun. There was no woman more envied in the Borders…perhaps in all of Scotland.
And then, she had ruined it all. She’d thrown it all away. And for what. For a man she knew was her brother. Even now, it sickened Augusta to think about it. Lying with her own brother. Carrying his child.
Augusta’s vision blurred, and she reached out and grabbed a branch to steady her as she stumbled over a loose rock. A few pebbles rolled down the cliff face. After all these months, and she still felt ill thinking about what Emma had done.
“Aunt!” The call came from ahead of her on the path. “Please. Stop there. The path is washed out just ahead of you. Stay where you are.”
She looked at the path between her and Gwyneth. David Pennington stood beside her. The path had indeed been washed out. The wretch’s hands were stretched out toward her.
As if she would believe her. As if she could believe any of them. Augusta turned around.
The ethereal figure was standing on the path that August had just traveled. The pale golden hair shone in the sunlight. She had materialized out of nowhere. The pale skin. The accusing eyes. She’d come back.
“Emma!” she cried out in shock.
With no thought but to escape the dead, Augusta whirled in panic and stepped over the edge.
*****
She did not want the title. Baronsford could crumble felt i the pits of hell, for all she cared. She wanted nothing to do with her husband or the power that went along with being the Countess of Aytoun. She just wanted to be loved…and loved by one man alone. She wanted Walter Truscott’s love.
What difference did it make that the blood of the same father flowed in their veins? They had different mothers. That was enough.
“What are you doing here?” Emma cried out in surprise as her mother stepped out of the heavy mist enshrouding the path.
“You cannot do this, Emma. You cannot ruin your future…and mine.”
“Was I not clear enough, last night? How many times must I say it? You ruined your life in staying with a man for whom you felt not one shred of affection—by staying with a man who never loved you. Well, you chose your own life. Leave mine to me.”
“But you know the truth! Walter Truscott has the same father as you. This child you carry shall be cursed. God can never forgive you for what you are trying to do.”
“I do not need God’s forgiveness, and I certainly do not need your blessing,” she snapped. “I am finally seeing a clear path before me. Walter is the only one who has ever understood me. We two are the same. We share the same destiny.”
“No.”
Emma heard Lyon calling in the distance. He was coming after her. She needed to get away. She stepped forward to pass her mother.
She was unprepared when Augusta’s hand darted out, driving her to the edge of the path. Waving her arms desperately, Emma looked in horror at her mother’s face as she tried to regain her balance.
“Then you can share your destiny with him in hell,” Augusta said, shoving her again.
CHAPTER 23
Gwyneth and David decided to marry in September. Portia and Pierce were back. Helena, Portia’s mother, also returned to Baronsford for the event. Millicent, on the verge of delivering a bairn herself, insisted on seeing to all the arrangements and preparing a celebration that would rival royalty wedding.
No one outside of the family had been told of the events of the past summer, but whispers had soon spread from Edinburgh to London. The first wife of Lord Aytoun—the news went—had died by the hand of her own mother. Lady Cavers, finally driven mad with guilt at her crime, had jumped to her death from the same cliffs above the River Tweed.
As the day of the wedding approached, the Pennington family—Lyon and David especially—appeared to be finally at peace with the past. Walter Truscott had started a new journey of healing—one that involved Violet Holmes. He knew that the secret of his past with Emma was safe. No one else would be hurt by it. David and Gwyneth had assured him that it was a tale they would take to grave.
Walter and Violet still had a long road ahead of them. She was learning to trust again her but her heart was opening slowly. Each step was taken deliberately, and with great deal of hesitation. Truscott, though, was there, beside her at every step. Even as their commitment to each other became clear, there was no pushing them into anything. They put a quick end to Gwyneth’s wish that they all be married in a double
ceremony. There was little doubt in anyone’s mind, however, that before the winter sun shone upon Baronsford, another wedding would be in the offing.
So on a brilliant September afternoon, the village kirk saw a radiant bride and a handsome groom. As pipers filled the Great Hall with music that night, the Dowager Countess Aytoun looked with so much pride at her sons and the wives they’d been lucky enough to woo and win. Of course, this was when she was not arguing with Ohenewaa about some secret potion that would make her live for at least another score of years.
The music and the dancing continued late into the night, when Gwyneth was carried to a wedding chamber filled with wines and fruit and delicacies to rival a sultan’s table. After readying herself for the wedding night, she opened her notebook, picked up her Keswick pencil, and wrote the final lines of her current tale.
Standing in the gray mist on the rain soaked hill, she wrapped her arms tightly about the man she loved. Looking down into the villain’s unseeing eyes, she knew she had found her liberty. Finally, she was free of the evil that lay in the mud at her feet. Finally, after so long, after so much, she was completely and truly free...to love...to live.
“Perfect timing,” David whispered as she closed the notebook. Wrapping his arms around Gwyneth’s waist, he drew her tightly against him.
“I didn’t even hear you come in.” She tossed the notebook onto the table beside the bed. She smiled over her shoulder at her husband.
“I was reading what you wrote. I have been more impatient to read your next tale of pirates and Highlanders than any of your devoted readers out there.”
“Have you, now?” she turned in his arms and kissed his chin, his lips. She looked up into his blue eyes. “And why is that?”
“Because I am proud of you.” He pressed his lips to her brow, to her cheeks. “Because I respect your wit and intelligence and because I find myself enthralled by a vastly entertaining talent.”
“Is that all?”
“Oh yes…and because I love you and look forward an eternity together.”
She pushed his jacket down over his shoulders. Her fingers undid the ribbon holding his hair tied at the nape of his neck. “And is that all?”
David smiled. “And as your resident pirate, I also find myself eager to offer my services in the name of research.” His hands gently opened the front of her robe. He gazed reverently at her breasts showing through the silk nightgown. “Do I have to say more?”
Putting her arms around his neck, Gwyneth kissed her husband with all the passion in her soul. Drawing back from him, she looked lovingly into his eyes.
“Does that mean you’ll show me how to handle a cutlass?”
AUTHOR’S NOTE
We hope you enjoyed our Scottish Dreams Trilogy.
In Borrowed Dreams, you met Lyon and Millicent and had a brief introduction to Emma’s murder. In Captured Dreams, you met the second brother Pierce and his wife Portia. Violet—who showed up initially in The Promise and then disappeared from Melbury Hall at the end of Borrowed Dreams—had many of you writing and asking us to bring her back. We hope we did her justice in this book.
By the way, for the many readers who have been following our novels from our first book on, you might recognize the portions of Gwyneth’s tales that you read in this book. They were taken from the first of our own Highland tales, The Thistle and The Rose.
Lastly, we could not close this novel without thanking the many readers of our Jan Coffey novels who discovered us through our tales of suspense set in the contemporary world. Thank you all for your goodwill…thank you for your loyalty…thank you for reading this far!
As always, we love to hear from our readers.
May McGoldrick
JanCoffey@JanCoffey.com
The 'May McGoldrick Family Tree' Book Information
Our 16th Century books...
In The Thistle and the Rose, Colin Campbell and Celia Muir are introduced...
And we also introduce Alec Macpherson, who is the hero of our second book, Angel of Skye...
Alec has two brothers, Ambrose and John, who are the heroes of Heart of Gold and The Beauty of the Mist, respectively...
In Angel of Skye, we also introduce a little boy, Malcolm MacLeod, and in Heart of Gold we introduce a little girl, Jaime...
When Malcolm MacLeod and Jaime grow up, they are the hero and heroine of The Intended...
In Heart of Gold, we also introduce Gavin Kerr, who becomes the hero of Flame...
In Flame, we introduce a number of characters who show up in The Dreamer, The Enchantress, and The Firebrand (the Highland Treasure Trilogy), including John Stewart, the earl of Athol and a number of villains...
The Highland Treasure Trilogy is the story of three sisters...Catherine Percy of The Dreamer, Laura Percy of The Enchantress, and Adrianne Percy of The Firebrand...
In The Enchantress, we introduce Sir Wyntoun MacLean, who also appears in The Firebrand...
In The Firebrand, we also introduce Gillie the Fairie-Borne, who may just have a story of his own one day...
Colin Campbell and Celia (from The Thistle and the Rose) also make a 'cameo' appearance in The Firebrand...
Alec Macpherson and Fiona (from Angel of Skye) have three sons. The youngest, Colin Macpherson, is the hero of Tess and the Highlander (a young adult novel published by HarperCollins in November 2002)
Arsenic and Old Armor (Love and Mayhem) By Nicole Cody is a retelling of Arsenic and Old Lace. Reference made to Angel of Skye.
Our 18th Century Books
In The Promise, Samuel Wakefield, the Earl of Stanmore, and Rebecca Neville/Ford are the hero and heroine...
In that book we also introduce Stanmore's friend, Sir Nicholas Spencer, who becomes the hero of The Rebel, which is set in Ireland...
Stanmore and Rebecca also appear in The Rebel...
In The Promise, we also introduce Rebecca's friend, Millicent Wentworth, who becomes the heroine of Borrowed Dreams...
Borrowed Dreams is the start of a new trilogy about three Scottish brothers, starting with Lyon Pennington, Earl of Aytoun. We also meet a new cast of characters who show up in the trilogy. Violet, from The Promise, plays a big role in this book, too. She will show up again in the third book in the trilogy, Dreams of Destiny.
In Captured Dreams, we see Lyon and Millicent and the entire household of Baronsford in Scotland, along with wonderful heroes and villains that Pierce Pennington meets in colonial Boston.
In Dreams of Destiny, the mystery of Emma's death is solved...
Stay tuned...
Complete Book List as of 2011
Writing as May McGoldrick:
DREAMS OF DESTINY
CAPTURED DREAMS
BORROWED DREAMS
THE REBEL
TESS AND THE HIGHLANDER
THE PROMISE
THE FIREBRAND
THE ENCHANTRESS
THE DREAMER
FLAME
THE INTENDED
BEAUTY OF THE MIST
HEART OF GOLD
ANGEL OF SKYE
THISTLE AND THE ROSE
Writing as Nicole Cody & May McGoldrick
LOVE AND MAYHEM (Arsenic and Old Armor)
Writing as Jan Coffey:
THE BLIND EYE
THE PUPPET MASTER
THE DEADLIEST STRAIN
THE PROJECT
SILENT WATERS
FIVE IN A ROW
TROPICAL KISS
FOURTH VICTIM
TRIPLE THREAT
TWICE BURNED
TRUST ME ONCE
Writing as Nikoo Kafi:
OMID'S SHADOW
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
&
nbsp; CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23