I admit that I like leaving a story with the hero and heroine in bed. This is romance, after all, and what better way to face the future than in each other's arms? If you enjoyed reading about Kiernan and Phoebe's journey of love, perhaps you would also like to learn just how Kiernan's father, the duke, came to fall in love with an American woman. For your pleasure, I have included sample chapters of My Highland Love.
Enjoy, and remember, "Where there is love, there is life." Mahatma Ghandi.
Tarah
Afterward
For those who might think that I allowed my imagination to run rampant with government conspiracies, mass assassinations, and revolutions, I refer you to the book Enemies of the State: The Cato Street Conspiracy by M. J. Trow, which was a major source for the history I used in My Highland Lord. Years ago, when I wrote the first draft of this book, there was very little information available on The Cato Street Conspiracy. Now, however, there are a few good books like Mr. Trow's Enemies of the State, and they prove once again that fact is far stranger than fiction. Of course, I only touched upon the intricate web woven by the British government in an effort to maintain the status quo during The Cato Street Conspiracy, and the lengths to which so-called radicals were willing to go in order to achieve their revolutions. I took a few liberties and added a character or two in order to tell Phoebe and Kiernan's story, but the history is solid. I hope you found it as interesting as I did.
My Highland Love
How does a woman tell her betrothed she murdered her first husband?
Elise Kingston is a wanted woman. Nothing, not even Highlander Marcus MacGregor, will stop her from returning home to ensure that the man responsible for her daughter's death hangs.
Until she must choose between his life and her revenge.
Chapter One
America
Winter 1825
"The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away." Or so her eulogy would begin.
The heavy gold wedding band clinked loudly in the silence as he grasped the crystal tumbler sitting on the desk before him. He raised the glass in salutation and whispered into the darkness, "To the dead, may they rot in their watery graves." He finished the whiskey in one swallow.
And what of that which had been hers? He smiled. The law would see that her wealth remained where it should—with him. A finality settled about the room.
Soon, life would begin.
Solway Firth, Scottish-English border
Elise jumped at the sound of approaching footsteps and sloshed tea from the cup at her lips. The ship's stateroom door opened and her grip tightened around the delicate cup handle. Her husband ducked to miss the top of the doorway as he entered. He stopped, his gaze fixing on the medical journal that lay open on the secretary beside her. A corner of his mouth curved upward with a derisive twist and his eyes met hers.
With deliberate disinterest, Elise slipped the paper she'd been making notes on between the pages of the journal and took the forestalled sip of afternoon tea. She grimaced. The tea had grown cold in the two hours it had sat untouched. She placed the cup on the saucer, then turned a page in the book. As Robert clicked the door shut behind him, the ship's stern lifted with another wave. She gripped the desk when the stern dropped into the swell's trough. Thunder, the first on the month-long voyage, rumbled. She released the desk. This storm had grown into more than a mere squall.
Robert stepped to her side. "What are you doing?"
"Nothi—" He snatched the paper from the book. "Robert!" She would have leapt to her feet, but her legs were shakier than her hands.
He scanned the paper, then looked at her. "You refuse to let the matter lie."
"You don't care that the doctors couldn't identify what killed your daughter?"
"She is dead. What difference can it possibly make?"
Her pulse jumped. None for you. Because you murdered her.
He tossed the paper aside. "This has gone far enough."
Elise lifted her gaze to his face. She once thought those blue eyes so sensual. "I couldn't agree more."
"Indeed?"
The ship heaved.
"I will give you a divorce," she said.
"Divorce?" A hard gleam entered his eyes. "I mean to be a widower."
She caught sight of the bulge in his waistband. Her pulse quickened. Why hadn't she noticed the pistol when he entered?
Elise shook her head. "You can't possibly hope to succeed. Steven will—"
"Your illustrious brother is in the bowels of the ship, overseeing the handling of the two crewmen accused of theft."
Her blood chilled. When her father was alive, he made sure the men employed by Landen Shipping were of good reputation. Much had changed since his death.
"One of the men is wanted for murder," Robert said.