Love in the Time of a Highland Laird (A Laird for All Time Book 3) Angeline Fortin (pride and prejudice read txt) đ
- Author: Angeline Fortin
Book online «Love in the Time of a Highland Laird (A Laird for All Time Book 3) Angeline Fortin (pride and prejudice read txt) đ». Author Angeline Fortin
âWhether ye like it or nae.â Glancing over his shoulder at her, his lips kicked up in the corner. âWhether she likes it or nae.â
He strode to Al and took her in his arms once more. âTell me yeâll marry me.â
Tears burned in her eyes. âI will.â
âAnd say again how ye love me.â
âWith all my heart.â
With a grin, he bent his head and kissed her.
âWeâre not going to go through this again, are we?â Mathilde asked dryly.
âItâs been some time since Iâve done a wedding,â Artair spoke up. âI shall hae tae prepare a sermon.â
Groaning under her breath, Al kissed the man of her dreams and thanked God for accidents.
Epilogue
The redcoats hadnât offered much of a fight, Keir told her later. The Highlanders didnât fight like the Sassenach who lined up just so before taking a shot. They had attacked en masse and broken through the enemy formation by the time the second line had taken their shot.
It was only a stray bullet grazing his temple that had delayed his return. The way it sounded, adrenaline had energized him through the fighting. He hadnât even been aware of the injury until heâd been on his way to the inn and briefly fallen unconscious in an alley where Artair found him.
Sheâd wanted to stay at the inn and nurse him, but heâd insisted they start straightaway back to Rosebraugh to avoid any other encounters with the soldiers.
But the redcoats hadnât come after them. Nor did they in the days following. Cumberland had recaptured a few of the men and had his trial in Carlisle. Following Keirâs example, a mob of angry Scots had stormed the building and freed them. Holding Cumberland and his senior officers as leverage, they were petitioning King George, who was also Cumberlandâs first cousin, for peace.
When he hadnât responded straight away, others had taken up the standard and attacked the prisons in Inverness and Carlisle and farther south in York and Kennington Common. Even the prison hulk on the Thames had been struck. An accord between England and Scotland was being negotiated.
Part of the terms laid out by Scotland was for Cumberland to face punishment for his âcrimes against humanity,â a term newly coined for the time in a long letter by the Duke of Ross to King George detailing the atrocities Cumberland had heaped upon the Highlanders after the battle at Culloden.
History had a way of changing.
So did families.
Oran returned from the Orkney Islands with news that Maeveâs husband, Robert MacLeod, had died from an infection from a minor wound he received in the battle. In her grief, Maeve had thrown herself from the cliffs on the southern coast of the island of Hoy.
Mathilde and Ceana were grief-stricken. Al, too, felt a true sorrow for how unkindly life had treated Maeve.
Mathilde was fast becoming her dearest friend besides Keir. Though she was to return to the Lowlands and her husband soon, she promised to bring her daughters to Rosebraugh soon to visit and be tutored.
Having bet on the wrong side, Cairnâs perfect image with the English monarch was soiled. His place in court lost, he left Scotland for Paris.
Without a word to anyone.
But he did send a note days later.
Ceana and her Earl of Braemore had gone as well to wait out the reprisal of the English king on those who had stood in opposition to him. She would return someday soon, Ceana promised and Al would welcome her back. At least life would never be boring with her around.
Nor would it be in general. Keir had plans for them, both romantically and academically. Having received word that his discovery of two new planets and their moons was being duly noted, he was determined to see what else he could find. No cheating, though, she was only there for confirmation after the fact.
Fortunately, Dingwall didnât suffer heavily under the land seizures of the Highland lairds. Not because the sins of the father hadnât descended upon the son, but because Keir had made friends over the years in some high places.
He might suffer some retribution in the days ahead though if he continued to flout the new laws against Highland customs, Al thought. They might also be negotiating with England to change them as well, but they werenât gone yet.
Keir didnât care. Dressed in full Highland regalia, from his kilt to his sporran, he stood in open defiance of the law at Hughâs graveside.
The wind was blowing from the south off the Moray Firth, tugging at the long length of tartan flung over his shoulder, lifting the hem of his kilt. He wore the outlawed broadsword hanging from his hip, too.
The banned bagpipes wailed mournfully as Hugh was laid to rest. Artairâs eloquent but lengthy eulogy kept them standing there for a long while.
Al stood by Keirâs side, his hand tight around hers as they waited out the speech patiently.
She was to officially become the mistress of Rosebraugh and Dingwall in just four days, though by the traditional Highland customs, they were already wed having publicly stated their intentions in a handfast ceremony. She would be Duchess of Rosebraugh, eventually Countess of Dingwall, but most importantly, Keirâs bride. His wife.
Forever.
Sheâd probably never read another novel. Sheâd never need to dwell in far-flung fantasy again. Realityâor alternate realityâprovided everything sheâd ever need to be happy.
Someone to love.
Someone to love her in return.
And a purpose.
If at some point over the years she just happened to âdiscoverâ the light bulb a century earlyâŠ
WellâŠ
Accidents happened for a reason.
Authorâs Note
I wonder if you recognize Hugh and Keir from A Time & Place for Every Laird? Iâve gotten many emails since it was published asking about the American Indian whoâd been imprisoned with Hugh and escaped at the same time but also a few inquiries about the cousin he left behind on the battlefield at Culloden. I got to thinking, since a wormhole is a two-way street, it would be interesting if
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