For a moment the women were silent from sheer astonishment.
Then they started to cheer.
Their voices rang out and seemed to echo and then re-echo round The Castle.
The men began to cheer too and the Earl held out his hand so that those nearest to him could shake it.
As they did so, the Earl’s piper, as if inspired by what he had just heard, started up his pipes.
It was the song of the Clan.
As they all began to sing it, Jacoba found that tears were running down her face.
But now they were tears of happiness and she knew that everything the Earl’s Clansmen wanted for their Clan would come true.
She and the Earl would lead them to a prosperity that they had never known before.
*
It was a long time later before Jacoba and the Earl could go back into The Castle.
But not before they had shaken hands with everybody.
When she could speak, Jacoba said to him,
“I still cannot – believe that the women would – really have sent – you away.”
“Curses are very powerful in Scotland,” the Earl told her, “but so are blessings and that is what you have brought me, my precious, a blessing I will never lose.”
“I-I hope that – is true,” Jacoba said, “but – ”
Before she could go on, the Earl interrupted,
“Because I can read your thoughts, I know that you are thinking of all the things I should have done for the Clan, which with your help I shall do now.”
“Do you mean – that?” Jacoba asked excitedly.
“I think, as Hamish sent you to me, we should thank him,” the Earl said simply, “and he can organise the sale of our local lobsters, crabs and salmon in London as he originally planned, but I intend to take particular interest in how it works from this end.”
Jacoba gave a cry of delight.
“That will help bring – prosperity to your people.”
The Earl’s eyes twinkled.
“I know without your telling me that you have dozens of other ideas in mind and, of course, I must see you are kept busy in case you become bored with me.”
“I shall – never do – that,” Jacoba insisted. “How could anyone be as wonderful as you, and make me – feel as I – do now!”
“What do you feel?” the Earl asked.
“So much – in love that it is – impossible to put it into words! I feel when – you kiss – me – ”
“You have never been kissed before?”
“Of course not!”
The Earl laughed.
“Because you are so lovely I have tortured myself with the thought of the men who kiss you when you are in London.”
“I have only been in London once – and that was the night – before I came to Scotland,” Jacoba said.
There was a shy expression in her eyes as she went on,
“I-I don’t think – you realise how – ignorant I am of – anything other than the English countryside. I have – met very few men and certainly – never one – like you!”
“That is exactly how it should be,” the Earl declared. “Exactly what I want in my wife and what the McMurdock Clan want in their Chieftain’s wife.”
Then, as he swept her into his arms, he said,
“I love you, my darling! I vow I will make you happy and nothing else shall ever hurt us again.”
She knew, as his lips found hers, that he was thinking of how hurt he had been in the past.
And she vowed that she would never disappoint him or do anything to make him unhappy.
She knew too that it was her prayers that had brought her safely to Scotland.
It was her prayers that had prevented the Earl from sending her back South.
He carried her once again up to a special Heaven of their own.
As he did so, she was thanking God for giving her the only thing in life that really mattered.
And that was Love.
OTHER BOOKS IN THIS SERIES
The Barbara Cartland Eternal Collection is the unique opportunity to collect as ebooks all five hundred of the timeless beautiful romantic novels written by the world’s most celebrated and enduring romantic author.
Named the Eternal Collection because Barbara’s inspiring stories of pure love, just the same as love itself, the books will be published on the internet at the rate of four titles per month until all five hundred are available.
The Eternal Collection, classic pure romance available worldwide for all time .
Elizabethan Lover
The Little Pretender
A Ghost in Monte Carlo
A Duel of Hearts
The Saint and the Sinner
The Penniless Peer
The Proud Princess
The Dare-Devil Duke
Diona and a Dalmatian
A Shaft of Sunlight
Lies for Love
Love and Lucia
Love and the Loathsome Leopard
Beauty or Brains
The Temptation of Torilla
The Goddess and the Gaiety Girl
Fragrant Flower
Look Listen and Love
The Duke and the Preacher’s Daughter
A Kiss for the King
The Mysterious Maid-servant
Lucky Logan Finds Love
The Wings of Ecstacy
Mission to Monte Carlo
Revenge of the Heart
The Unbreakable Spell
Never Laugh at Love
Bride to a Brigand
Lucifer and the Angel
Journey to a Star
Solita and the Spies
The Chieftain Without a Heart
No Escape from Love
Dollars for the duke
Pure and Untouched
Secrets
Fire in the Blood
Love, Lies and Marriage
The Ghost who Fell in Love
Hungry for Love
The Wild Cry of Love
The Blue-eyed Witch
The Punishment of a Vixen
The Secret of the Glen
Bride to the King
For All Eternity
King in Love
A Marriage made in Heaven
Who can deny Love?
Riding to the Moon
Wish for Love
Dancing on a Rainbow
Gypsy Magic
Love in the Clouds
Count the Stars
White Lilac
Too Precious to Lose
The Devil Defeated
An Angel Runs Away
The Duchess Disappeared
The Pretty Horse-breakers
The Prisoner of Love
Ola and the Sea Wolf
The Castle made for Love
A Heart is Stolen
The Love Pirate
As Eagles Fly
The Magic of Love
Love Leaves at Midnight
A Witch’s Spell
A Tangled Web
Love Lifts The Curse
THE LATE DAME BARBARA CARTLAND
Barbara Cartland, who sadly died in May 2000 at the grand age of ninety eight, remains one of the world’s most famous romantic novelists. With worldwide sales of over one billion, her outstanding 723 books have been translated into thirty six different languages, to be enjoyed by readers of romance globally.
Writing her first book ‘Jigsaw’ at the age of 21, Barbara became an immediate bestseller. Building upon this initial success, she wrote continuously throughout her life, producing bestsellers for an astonishing 76 years. In addition to Barbara Cartland’s legion of fans in the UK and across Europe, her books have always been immensely popular in the USA. In 1976 she achieved the unprecedented feat of having books at numbers 1 & 2 in the prestigious B. Dalton Bookseller bestsellers list.
Although she is often referred to as the ‘Queen of Romance’, Barbara Cartland also wrote several historical biographies, six autobiographies and numerous t
heatrical plays as well as books on life, love, health and cookery. Becoming one of Britain’s most popular media personalities and dressed in her trademark pink, Barbara spoke on radio and television about social and political issues, as well as making many public appearances.
In 1991 she became a Dame of the Order of the British Empire for her contribution to literature and her work for humanitarian and charitable causes.
Known for her glamour, style, and vitality Barbara Cartland became a legend in her own lifetime. Best remembered for her wonderful romantic novels and loved by millions of readers worldwide, her books remain treasured for their heroic heroes, plucky heroines and traditional values. But above all, it was Barbara Cartland’s overriding belief in the positive power of love to help, heal and improve the quality of life for everyone that made her truly unique.
Love Lifts the Curse
Barbara Cartland
Barbara Cartland Ebooks Ltd
This edition © 2013
Copyright Cartland Promotions 1992
eBook conversion by M-Y Books
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