Questions for a Highlander

by Angeline Fortin

  “What on earth are you doing?” Aylesbury asked harshly as he caught up with her and caught Fiona’s arm to pull her to a halt. “You cannot simply abandoned your dance partner in the middle of a waltz like a…”

  “Spoiled brat?” Fiona finished for him, refusing to look at him as she dashed away any evidence of tears with the back of her hand. “It is what you always thought of me, is it not? Why should tonight be any different?”

  “I only called you such when you acted like one,” he returned. “Now come back inside.”

  “Why? So you can court me some more?” she asked. “I don’t want you to court me, Harry. I don’t want any of this. I just want to go back home to Glen Cairn and…”

  “And what?”

  “And live my life in peace. I’ve met a man I l-love very much.” She almost couldn’t say it. “He’ll make me happy. I don’t need you any long…”

  His mouth, the shape and feel of his kiss were exactly how Fiona remembered them. Full of frustration, yes, and perhaps a bit of anger. But passion as well. A moan built up inside of her as his lips parted hers and his tongue lashed out to caress hers, teasing tempting before he jerked his head away with a low curse. “Damn but this isn’t what I wanted!”

  Fiona pressed her lips tightly together, willing the tingle away as his words lashed at her tender heart. “No, of course, it is not.”

  Aylesbury swore again, gasping her hand before she could slip out of reach again. “Blast it, Fiona, that is not what I meant. In fact, it is far more simple than that.”

  “You are making no sense.”

  “Then let me explain. I always imagined that if I were going to kiss you again – yes, I did imagine it – that it would not be like before, rash and impulsive. And yet, you provoked me into doing just that.”

  Staring resolutely away from Aylesbury’s handsome face, Fiona willed her heart into an arctic chill but as always it warmed like a tropical summer under his melting grin. She didn’t want this. She didn’t want to be charmed by him again, to like him… to love him once more. Fiona clenched her jaw, working up the resolve to turn away from him once more. But her feet did not move nor could she bite back the trembling question that came unbidden to her lips. For she just had to know. “Wha-what did you imagine?” she asked into the night.

  Harry stroked her chin, tilting her chin up until her eyes met his. He was so beautiful, it tore at her soul just to meet his gaze. “I thought it might be more like this.” His knuckles traced a slow path down her cheeks before his fingers unfurled along her jaw.

  Though she tried to steel herself, Fiona quivered helplessly at the tender caress, her heart already racing just as it had the first day they had met. With deliberate restraint that tempted far more than his more forceful execution, he bent his head to hers. Harry’s lips brushing like a whisper across hers once, twice, fanning the flames gently rather than feeding the molten fury as if he were trying to coax a reluctant animal out of a corner when all the beast within Fiona wanted to do was leap into his arms.

  His lips played over hers, teasing, toying. His tongue lightly tracing her lower lip before plunging in for a swift parry with hers. Feint. Retreat. Urging Fiona to take the offensive, to advance and claim for her own. Her arms lifted of their own accord and wrapped around his neck as his lips settled more firmly over hers, attacking, plundering, demanding surrender.

  With a low moan, Fiona was ready to give it to him. Her always uncontrollable but now unwelcome desire for him was unchanged even after all this time. The knowledge left her feeling vulnerable. Then angry… with herself more than him.

  Pulling away, Fiona brutally quashed the impulse to lose herself in his arms and in his kiss until the rest of the world and even the past was forgotten. But she couldn’t do this again, couldn’t allow herself to love him again. To invite the heartache once more.

  She looked up at him, seeing the inviting warmth in his eyes, the tenderness that scored her heart and took a step back and then another, fortifying herself against his undeniable appeal.

  Knowing even as she turned away from him that it might already be too late.

  “Damn you, Harry.”

  Author’s Notes

  The Perfect Question

  Though published last of the quartet as a prologue, I put her first in this anthology so that the timeline would flow more fluently. Abby’s story has been a long time in the making. Originally, it was entitled A Rose by Any Other Name. I actually wrote most of it years ago when I first started on Eve’s tale. Initially, it was just Abby, Eve and Moira I had focused on before Kitty came along as well. But I liked Abby especially, a woman who no longer had that perfect beauty of the romantic heroine on the outside and who was capable of being outspoken and giving as good as she got. I hope you enjoyed her tale.

  The Prince and Princess of Wales did attend Ascot in 1882. They took up residence at Coworth Park with their party including the Dukes and Duchesses of Edinburgh, Connaught and Teck as well as the Duke of Cambridge and Prince and Princess Christian. An article from the New York Times the next day wrote:

  “The weather throughout the meeting has been unsettled, causing much disappointment to the ladies, to whom Ascot gives the opportunity for a display of their summer toilets. There was a perturbation this morning on the Ascot heath as the weather was cheerless and gloomy. But as the day advanced the sky cleared and, although cloudy, the weather allowed the fashionable throng to assume the brilliant festive appearance which makes Ascot remarkable above all other race meetings in England. All the mansions and houses lying within the charming woodlands which surround the picturesque heath on which the course is laid out had been engaged and were occupied by the wealthy fashionable, who also transfer their households from London for the week. The Prince and Princess of Wales took Coworth Park, whither the royal carriages and footman were sent from Windsor for the opening procession down the course in “Ascot State”.”

  The article also added that just before the race began, the clouds parted and “a gleam of sunshine induced the ladies to throw off their wrappers, adding to the interest and beauty of the scene.” I love that description, melding that scene with those from My Fair Lady, I feel as if I can actually see it all.

  You can check out an etching of the scene on my cover page on Facebook.

  Also, all the details of the Urabi rebellion as I’ve related them are based on actual events barring the attempts by Urabi’s supporters to revive the rebellion leading to the capture of Richard, Vin, Jason and their unit. Ahmed Urabi was the Egyptian Minster of War. He was popular with the Egyptian people because of his peasant origins and a dynamic speaker. He was also a traditionalist who opposed Khedive Muhammed Tawfiq Pasha’s European preferences and found others among the government to support the beginnings of his rebellion against the Khedive in 1879. In 1882, the Khedive did ask Britain to help him suppress the uprising and he received it, beginning with a raid by forces led by HRH the Duke of Connaught’s forces at Alexandria in June of 1882 where the lads first fought when they were commissioned into the Scots Guards.

  All the government officials I mention, as well as their titles, and in some cases, their addresses are accurate to the period. Both Henry Campbell-Bannerman and Edward Stanhope were very vocal in their disapproval of Prince George’s policies as the Commander-in-Chief of the Queen’s military forces, a position he held for 39 years. They lobbied to have him removed from that position. When CB (yes, that was his nickname) was finally appointed Prime Minister, he succeeded in stripping the Duke of Cambridge of his position.

  HRH Prince George was the Duke of Cambridge at the time, the title now held by Prince William. He was the grandson of King George III through the king’s 10th child and 7th son. He never had a duchess since he married against the Royal Marriage Act by wedding the actress daughter of one of Westminster’s servants. His wife wasn’t entitled as duchess and would later refer to herself as Mrs. FitzGeorge. Nor were their children able to inherit their father�
��s title, so the duchy of Cambridge was vacant from Prince George’s death in 1904 until Queen Elizabeth bestowed it on William and Kate in 2011.

  On a more fictional note, Harry Brudenall always knew Abby long before he would meet Moira and then Fiona years later. I didn’t just think recently to put him here, rather it was the other way. I always liked him and was glad to find a place for him in those future stories. Perhaps one day soon, he’ll have a story of his own.

  A Question of Love

  I’ve long been fascinated by the Victorian Era, when life moved pretty fast and changed constantly, with new inventions and innovations being offered every day. We can look back from where we are and see the things we have now in their infant state, from magazines to books to the theater and more practically, the light bulb and recognizable plumbing.

  But at that point life hadn’t changed much for women. They were still subject to men when it came to their rights and money, and divorce was a difficult undertaking that could ruin a woman in the public eye. That is where I began, though it took me many other places.

  Eve and her sister Kitty are both women who suffered under marriage with little recourse but who finally fight to stand for themselves. As a fan of Edith Wharton, I place them first in New York, in that Knickerbocker Society that included the Vanderbilts, Oelrichs, Goelets and Rockefellers and, with Kitty’s story, also in beautiful Newport, Rhode Island, home of some of the most amazing homes in America.

  I’d like to also point out, given some questions I received, that earls were always referred to the Earl of Glenrothes in full title, rather than the shorten Earl Glenrothes that I use from time to time in conversation. Documents in the 19th century history shows earls using the shortened title and is used regularly, from former Prime Minister (and namesake of tea) Earl Grey, to the 5th Earl Russell and right up to Princess Diana’s father and now brother, Earl Spencer.

  The sinking of the SS Utopia did take place as described, sinking off the coast of Gibraltar in March of 1891. The survivors bound for New York were carried on the SS Anglia and relatives of passengers in some cases did wait until the ship had docked to find out the fate of their loved ones.

  Ravenscraig Castle (though I refer to it in my story as Raven’s Craig) still stands today on the northern coast of the Firth of Forth though it is largely in ruin, having been passed through many hands. Since 1971, it has been open to the public by its owner, Historic Scotland. It’s such a spectacular piece of medieval architecture that I wanted to bring it to life for Francis and Eve, imagining what it might have been. As Francis predicted, the nearby towns of Dysart and Kirkaldy have crept right up the drawbridge of the castle.

  I have used many actual sights and locations in Scotland and Edinburgh as settings in my books, tweaking them to fit my story lines including St. Andrews. The Old Course at St. Andrews has been played since about 1400. The New Course was opened in 1895. Today St. Andrew’s consists of 7 courses while The Royal and Ancient Golf Club governs the rules of golf everywhere but in the US.

  A Question of Trust

  In my opinion, Charles Worth was probably one of the greatest dress designers ever. Each one was a stunning work of art in a time when bigger was definitely better. Monsieur Bonhomme did have his shop on the Rue de la Paix in Paris. When he was at the peak of his fame it was no small thing to have him personally design for you. Most would have considered it an honor, much like having Versace make a gown just for you today.

  I have used many actual sights and locations in Scotland and Edinburgh as settings in my books, tweaking them to fit my story lines, including the Royal Botanic Garden, which has grown significantly over the past two hundred years, Carlton Terrace, Moray Place and all the parks in Edinburgh.

  The décor missing from the great hall of Glen Sannox House is modeled from the main reception room and ballroom of the Governor’s Palace at Colonial Williamsburg. I always loved that room, with all the lavish armament covering the walls and ceilings, and I translate it here to Scotland where an ancestral home might have been decorated in tribute to times past.

  The train accident in which I involved Kitty takes its details from an actual incident near Armaugh in Ireland in the late 1800s. Fierce competition between the different railroads forced them to keep tight schedules and push the trains faster than they were meant to go. There are dozens of incidents of derailments, some crashes, and this one, where the cars of the train ahead did detach and roll back on the next train as I described.

  JP Morgan did invest in the merger of Edison’s Electric Company of New Jersey and Houston-Thomas Electric of Massachusetts into General Electric. It was completed in 1892. In 1893 the U.S. economy crashed due to an overinvestment in construction, including that of railroad lines and shipbuilding, bringing on a recession/near depression that drew the fortunes of many to a halt almost 40 years before the Great Depression.

  I’ve modeled Kilberry Manor on the Breakers, the famous home in Newport, Rhode Island that was originally built by the Vanderbilts, though it wasn’t completed until long after my story ends. It is a spectacular mansion, a true testament of the wealth that abounded in New York in the late 19th century. I remember the Cliff Walk just as I’ve described it and can’t wait to visit it again.

  A Question of Lust

  I hope you enjoyed this story of Moira winning her long-lost love who was, in turn, lost inside a tortured soul. In the 19th century, of course, there was no acknowledgement of the troubles soldiers brought home with them from war; the battles or sights that haunted them. The nightmares for the friends they left behind. Today we call it PTSD or post-traumatic stress disorder. I tried to keep Vin’s troubles as close to the actual symptoms as possible but it was difficult to write. I didn’t want Vin to seem weak when most of the people who suffer from PTSD are some of the bravest our country has ever seen! Coping with what they’ve seen or done is the hardest part for most of them and, as I’ve written, the love and understanding of family and friends can be the best medicine.

  The late 19th century was also a great time for the theater and opera. Some of the greatest had their beginnings in the years surrounding the turn of the century. Not only Oscar Wilde who had written and lectures for years before turning to writing plays like his first, Lady Windermere’s Fan in 1892. Great composers like Puccini, Verdi, Tchaikovsky and even Gilbert and Sullivan delivered some of the greatest operas ever written during that time.

  Of course, like any other time, there was war. England fought in many smaller rebellions and uprisings in the last decade of the 1800’s including suppressing the Urabi Rebellion in Egypt and the insurgency in Upper Burma as well as the second Boer War. In using details from those conflicts, I tried to keep the facts and dates as accurate as possible, but of course, this is fiction and occasionally the truth needs to be stretched to fit our stories!

  To those who have served and still do, this is for you.

  I hope you enjoyed these tales as much as I enjoyed writing them.

  Angeline

  About the Author

  Author of historical and time-travel romance, Angeline Fortin picked up her first romance novel in college and has never been able to put them down since. A life-long lover of history, she holds a BA degree in History from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and has worked at Colonial Williamsburg as a historical interpreter. Blending her two favorite things, she began writing her own romances for the enjoyment of herself and her friends ten years ago.

  Angeline is a native Minnesotan, a fan of the Vikings and the Twins. As a former military wife, she has lived in many places but recently moved ‘back home’ to her home state.

  Your comments are always welcome! Please send Angeline an email to fortin.angeline@gmail.com or leave a comment on her website at www.angelinefortin. For updates regarding new releases, be sure to LIKE her and the Questions for a Highlander series on Facebook or follow her on Twitter @angelinefortin.

  Questions for a Highlander