Fortunately, Dingwall didn’t suffer heavily under the land seizures of the Highland lairds. Not because the sins of the father hadn’t 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 weren’t gone yet.
Keir didn’t care. Dressed in full Highland regalia, from his kilt to his sporran, he stood in open defiance of the law at Hugh’s 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. Artair’s eloquent but lengthy eulogy kept them standing there for a long while.
Al stood by Keir’s 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, Keir’s bride. His wife.
Forever.
She’d probably never read another novel. She’d never need to dwell in far-flung fantasy again. Reality—or alternate reality—provided everything she’d 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 “discover” the light bulb a century early…
Well…
Accidents happened for a reason.
Author’s Note
I wonder if you recognize Hugh and Keir from A Time & Place for Every Laird? I’ve gotten many emails since it was published asking about the American Indian who’d 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 someone traveled back through it at the same time it’d been opened for Hugh.
And since Keir is, after all, Hugh’s friend and cousin, he couldn’t be anything less than brilliant and in need of someone to push him and challenge him on that front. A bit of a change to the typical Highland tale but I hope you enjoyed it.
Culloden was of course, one of the most famous and bloody battles in Scotland’s history. To my surprise, I learned something new in reading about the Duke of Cumberland and how he earned the moniker ‘The Butcher’. By giving ‘no quarter’ (a term hated among the Highlanders at the time) he became the most reviled man of the era.
His treatment of prisoners afterward was appalling. One passage I read summed it up rather well.
‘When we had filled all the jails, kirks and ships at Inverness with these rebel prisoners, wounded and naked as they were, we ordered that none should have any access to them, either with meat or drink, for two days. By this means, no doubt, we thought at least the wounded would starve, either for want of food or clothes, the weather being then very cold. The two days being passed, there was a quorum of officers pitched upon to go and visit them, in order to take down their names and numbers, which was diminished pretty well, without having the least regard to order the remaining part either meat or drink to support nature. Amongst the number I was myself; but oh, heavens! what a scene opened to my eye and nose all at once! The wounded weltering in their gore and blood… Their groans would have pierced a heart of stone; but our corrupt hearts were not in the least touched; but, on the contrary, we began to upbraid them the moment we entered their prison.’
Even so, the Highland spirit never died. The laws banning Highland customs and tradition were lifted within fifty years and still lives proudly today.
Obviously for the purposes of this book, I changed a few historical facts here and there.
Keir’s telescope is modeled after one built by Willaim Hershel in 1789. It had a 49” (1200 mm) lens and was 40 feet long. With it in 1781, he discovered Uranus and was appointed Court Astronomer by George III. He discovered its moons not long after, as well as a wealth of other discoveries. Neptune wasn’t discovered until 1846. You can see why Al was a bit confused.
I had a bit of fun playing with history and thinking about what might have happened if Elizabeth I hadn’t ever been queen of England. Catherine of Aragon did get pregnant many times during her marriage to Henry VIII. Though there were several sons among her unfortunate miscarriages and still births, one son, named Henry and titled Duke Cornwall, was born on New Year’s Day in 1511. He lived for fifty-two days. But what if he’d never died at all? No necessity for Henry VIII to divorce Catherine. No split and excommunication with the Pope. No Church of England.
Perhaps Ann Boleyn would have still entered the picture, perhaps Elizabeth would have still been born but she would not have been Queen. Think of her long reign, the battle against the Spanish Armada. Maybe England would have never become such a worldwide power. And perhaps those English colonies in the Americas wouldn’t have grown so large.
Maybe none of us would be here at all.
I think I could write a whole book just about the possibilities.
Angeline
About the Author
Angeline Fortin is the author of historical and time-travel romance offering her readers a fun, sexy and often touching tales of romance.
Her most recent release, Taken: A Laird for All Time Novel, was recently awarded the Virginia Romance Writers 2015 Holt Medallion Award for Paranormal Romance. Her first release in May of 2011, the Highland time travel novel A Laird for All Time, has steadily ranked in Amazon's Top 100 in Time Travel for the past four years with more than 100 five-star reviews so far.
A Question of Love, the first of her Victorian historical romance series Questions for a Highlander, was released later that year and quickly followed by series additions A Question of Trust and A Question of Lust. The series primarily follows the siblings of the MacKintosh clan. Ten brothers and their lone sister who end up looking for love in all the right places.
While the series continues on with familiar characters well known to those who have read the entire series, each single title is also a stand-alone tale of highland romance.
With a degree in US History from UNLV and having previously worked as a historical interpreter at Colonial Williamsburg, Angeline brings her love of history and Great Britain to the forefront in settings such as Victorian London and Edinburgh.
As a former military wife, Angeline has lived from the west coast to the east, from the north and to the south and uses those experiences along with her favorite places to tie into her time travel novels as well.
Angeline is a native Minnesotan who recently relocated back to the land of her birth and braved the worst winter recorded since before she initially moved away. She is a PAN member of the Romance Writers of America, Midwest Fiction Writers and Romancing the Lakes. She lives in Apple Valley outside the Twin Cities with her husband, two children and three dogs.
She is a wine enthusiast, DIY addict (much to her husband's chagrin) and sports fanatic who roots for the Twins and Vikings faithfully through their highs and lows.
Most of all she loves what she does every day - writing. She does it for you the reader, to bring a smile or a tear and loves to hear from her fans.
You can check out her website www.angelinefortin.com for summaries off all her books, companion information and for news about upcoming releases. Email her at [email protected].
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ALSO AVAILABLE BY ANGELINE FORTIN
A Laird for All Time
Nothing But Time
My Heart’s in the Highlands
A Time & Place for Every Laird
Taken: A Laird for All Time Novel
The Questions for a Highlander Series
A Question of Love
A Question of Trust
A Question of Lust
A Perfect Question
A Question for Harry
Love in the Time of a Highland Laird (A Laird for All Time Book 3) Page 25
