“Unless there is a Queen,” Glenna said.
“There is that possibility. I wonder if Charlet ever regretted not taking the throne.”
“I wonder where she is. We heard nothing of them after the plague.”
“My dear, I charge you with the chore of finding out. Some of our people must have Cameron relatives and must know what became of her.”
“I accept the challenge. Will you give the word to the next MacGreagor laird?”
“Aye, just in case. And do you know I love you more than life, yet there are sacred words I have not yet said?”
“Such as?” she asked.
“Such as—will you marry me?”
Glenna wrapped her arms tight around him and nuzzled his neck. “I thought you would never ask.”
-end-
Marti Talbott’s Highlander Series
Book 5
(Clare, Dolee, Catlin & Lasha)
Sample chapter
CLARE: Clare of the Abbey hoped to marry the Lord of Wickerly Castle until word came that he was dead. So with no reason to stay, she went to Scotland with her sister and did not speak of her grief. But her uncommon beauty tempted all the Highlander men and soon the jealous unmarried women were demanding she choose a husband. He was not dead, but could the man she loved find her before it was too late?
DOLEE: After three years of marriage, Dolee desperately wanted to give her husband a son. She tried every remedy anyone suggested including potions that made her deathly ill. At last there was no other option—Dolee would have to try the one thing that might cost her everything, including her life.
CATLIN: Known as Bridget Cameron, Catlin’s mother was adamant—if ever Catlin heard the name “Charlet,” she was to go straight away to find Laird Neil MacGreagor. Now her mother was dead and the English were searching for Charlet. But who was Charlet and why had the English put a bounty on her head? The answer left Catlin speechless.
LASHA: As the sister of a laird, Lasha Haldane knew she was expected to marry within her small clan. But one look at the handsome Cowan MacGreagor tempted her otherwise. Then a Haldane asked for her hand and the decision could no longer be put off. Would Lasha follow her heart or would she choose to please her beloved brother?
CLARE
CHAPTER I
IN THE MONTH OF APRIL, on the eighth day, in the year of our Lord 11—
My Beloved Clare,
I cannot seem to think of anything but you, yet I am aware of your caution not to write so often for fear you will be punished. I cannot bear the thought of that happening on my account. Just know my heart is constantly with you.
Father is gravely ill yet he lingers and suffers, which I would not wish upon anyone. He is a good man, mostly, but set in the ways of passing the inheritance to a son who marries according to his father’s wishes.
I do so hope you are understanding of my position. As you are well aware, without the inheritance I would have no way of caring for you.
Would that I could, I would this very day carry you away and keep you in my arms forever
Soon, my love, soon.
Alcott of Cumberland
The adjustment from a well-regimented life in an Abbey, to complete freedom in the MacGreagor Clan made Clare feel lost and ill at ease. Before long she was driving her sister daft asking for permission to do this or that, but a lifetime of habits die hard. Thankfully, Greer was very understanding.
Even more overwhelming was the sudden attention of so many men. More than one MacGreagor learned the words in English and mentioned her extraordinary beauty, but it was not a welcome compliment. Attractiveness, she learned early on in life, was more of a curse than an asset. While she was carefully watched and surrounded by other women in the Abbey, there were occasions when a man in their company wanted her in his bed.
However, none did not, indeed could not, offer marriage. Some men in authority taught self-denial but did not always practice it and when she declined, which she repeatedly did, she was given the hardest of all chores. Therefore, Clare’s plight in life was to keep weeds out of the rows and rows of vegetable and herb gardens.
Working outside caused problems when visitors came and occasionally a man would offer to pay for her attentions and even her freedom. It was then the priests decided she should dress in the clothing of a monk with a hood to hide her comeliness. She did not mind, the hood protected her from the sun and more often than not she enjoyed the extra warmth.
Daily she prayed for Greer to fetch her—nightly she went to bed in the room filled with dedicated nuns and tried not to let her heart hurt too badly. Then something extraordinary happened—she was allowed to go to market with Marlow for the first time ever and it was there she met him.
Alcott of Cumberland had eyes so brown they were nearly black and the color of his hair matched them. So mesmerizing were his features, she could not later remember what he wore, other than it was a blue tunic with white trim. Perhaps he wore a crest denoting his station in life but she could not recall.
Had he asked, she would have gone anywhere with him, but he did not ask and, because of the clerics and the wall around the Abbey, it was the only time she ever saw him up close.
Conditions were complicated on both sides and all they had of each other was a meager exchange of letters. Then word came that Alcott of Cumberland was dead and Clare was devastated.
The very next day, four enormous Highlanders brought her sister, Greer, inside the wall of the Abbey and Clare was saved. Her grief and her joy were so overwhelming, she hardly noticed the journey into Scotland, nor did she mind so much that she had no clothing save the boring brown she wore under the brown robe with a hood.
Once they finally reached the rest of the clan in Northern Scotland, she was given a hot bath in the chambers of Mistress Glenna, the clothing of the MacGreagors and allowed to unbraid and brush her beautiful, long, golden hair.
She was home.
“Home,” Clare whispered. Seated at the small table in the cottage she shared with Greer, she pondered exactly what the word meant. Sent to the clerics at the age of five, she hardly remembered living in the home of her parents, and although the parents managed to visit them once a year, she and Greer were never taken back home even for a holiday. She had, or so she was told, two elder brothers and three elder sisters. Clare and her sister were simply two daughters too many and she tried not to think that her parents bribed the clerics to take her. But with the gifts of jewels and farm animals they gladly gave, what else could it have been?
When the door opened, Clare quickly covered her glower with a smile, a trait she learned out of necessity in her youth. “Sister, you have come back for something?”
A tall woman with Clare’s same blond hair and soft blue eyes, Greer instantly began to fan herself with her hand, “Good heavens, you will cook if you stay inside in this heat.”
It was hot. Clare tried leaving the door open earlier, but people...mostly men... kept coming to the door asking if she were unwell. She was quite well, she just wanted a wee bit of solitude. “Is it always this hot in the Highlands?”
“They say this is very rare and I believe it. Usually it is cloudy and because I love the sunshine, we must enjoy it while we can. I insist you come for a walk with me.”
These days, Greer was always happy and it had a great deal to do with a certain Highlander by the name of Brendan. Once she finally let herself, she fell completely and madly in love with him and soon they would marry—that is, as soon as Clare adjusted and was able to get on by herself.
THE UNUSUAL HEAT DROVE all the people outside, even Laird Neil MacGreagor, who was sitting on a short rock wall in the courtyard. The three story keep he called home offered some shade as did nearby trees, although most trees had long since been cleared away to make room for cottages. Meandering paths connected both old and new cottages surrounding the Keep, a river marked the clan’s border to the north and a lush, wide glen to the south held their herds of horses, cattle and sh
eep.
Normally surrounded by men, this day was no exception and Laird Neil MacGreagor found himself giving fewer orders, since most of the harder labors could be put off for a cooler day. The women congregated on the opposite side of the courtyard, and sat in chairs under the shade of the trees, fussing with sewing or just watching the children play. The boys, Neil’s son Justin included, played a game flicking small stones at other small stones, trying to force them over a line drawn in the dirt. Little girls stayed closer to their mothers and pretended they were queens, while babies slept in wooden boxes.
But when Greer and Clare walked by, the men could not seem to help themselves. Several stopped in mid-sentence and gawked at Clare’s beauty. The women, on the other hand, watched the besotted men and then glared until the men noticed. More than one guilty husband quickly came to kiss his wife and reassure her, but those who did not take the trouble were sure to face intense discussions later.
End of sample chapter.
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Follow Clan MacGreagor through multiple generations beginning with The Viking where it all began, The Highlanders and their struggle to survive, Marblestone Mansion and the duke who simply could not get rid of his scandalous duchess, and still more historical stories in The Lost MacGreagor Books. Then check out Marti’s contemporary romance/mysteries in Missing Heiress, Greed and a Mistress, The Dead Letters, and The Locked Room. Other books include the Carson Series, Leanna, (a short story), and Seattle Quake 9.2.
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