Highland Crown Read online

  He walked back toward her. “I left Lachlan, ready to go where you go, be there at your side, wherever our lives lead us.”

  Emotions choked her. Tears sprang to her eyes.

  “I love you, Isabella.” Taking her hand, he dropped down on one knee.

  “Cinaed—”

  “My life has changed. My future no longer lies across the sea. I belong here in Scotland, it appears. Here in the Highlands and, for a while at least, here at Dalmigavie. But I shall refuse all of it. I want none of that if I can’t have you.”

  She went down on her knees. His handsome face shone with an inner light.

  “Will you be my wife, Isabella, forever? Will you stay with me? Will you love me as I love you?”

  “I do love you, Cinaed Mackintosh, more than any person has ever loved another since the beginning of time. And I’ll stay by you and walk beside you wherever you go. I’m yours, now and forever, if you’ll have me.”

  His kiss was her answer.

  The clouds of uncertainty were gone, and the sun had once again risen high in the sky. A road lay before them. They both knew it was a road fraught with twists and turns, with unseen dangers, but they’d be facing those perils hand in hand, together.

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  One story comes to an end, only to begin the next.

  As you’ve already guessed, Highland Crown is the opening chapter of Cinaed and Isabella’s life together. They are hardly finished with their search to solve the mystery of his birth and find the role each of them will play in the future of a nation.

  In the next two novels, Highland Jewel and Highland Sword, we’ll also follow the adventures of Maisie and Morrigan as they become entangled in the social and political struggles of a nation searching for its identity.

  And as we continue this romantic adventure series, questions arise that must be answered. Who is Cinaed’s mother? Stay tuned. We promise to reveal it in Highland Jewel.

  In Highland Crown we’ve attempted to depict a place and a time in a way that mingles the real and the imagined. Much of the action in this novel is loosely based on real events.

  After the end of the Napoleonic wars, social unrest spread through England and Scotland due to economic disparity and unfair laws. The British government responded with heavy-handed measures and increasingly repressive laws that made public gatherings criminal and speaking out in protest sedition. The Cato Street conspiracy was an entrapment effort on the part of British authorities, and the notoriety of the case was used to justify laws that robbed citizens of their rights. Peterloo, which we refer to in the novel, was also an actual event. In Manchester, sixty thousand people were peacefully protesting when government forces attacked, killing and injuring hundreds of innocent citizens. The newspaper called it the “Peterloo Massacre” despite the government’s efforts to suppress information about the event.

  In the novels that follow, we’ll continue to weave fiction and history and try to entertain you. So stay with us.

  As authors, we love feedback. We write our stories for you. We’d love to hear what you liked, what you loved, and even what you didn’t like. We are constantly learning, so please help us write stories that you will cherish and recommend to your friends.

  Please visit us on our website at www.MayMcGoldrick.com for our latest news.

  Finally, if you enjoyed Highland Crown, please leave us a review … and recommend it to your friends. We greatly appreciate your support!

  Wishing you peace and health!

  Nikoo and Jim, writing as May McGoldrick

  ALSO BY MAY MCGOLDRICK

  THE SCOTTISH RELIC TRILOGY

  Much Ado About Highlanders

  Taming the Highlander

  Tempest in the Highlands

  “A Midsummer Wedding” (novella)

  THE PENNINGTON FAMILY SERIES

  “Sweet Home Highlands Christmas” (novella)

  Romancing the Scot

  It Happened in the Highlands

  Sleepless in Scotland

  THE ROYAL HIGHLANDER SERIES

  Highland Crown

  ABOUT THE AUTHORS

  USA Today bestselling authors Nikoo and Jim wrote their first May McGoldrick romance using historical figures that Jim researched while earning a Ph.D. in sixteenth-century Scottish and English literature. Nikoo, a mechanical engineer, is a born storyteller. She is all about characters and feeling. Jim is about action and sense of place. Together, they have crafted more than forty fast-paced, conflict-filled historical and contemporary novels and two works of nonfiction under the pseudonyms May McGoldrick and Jan Coffey. You can sign up for email updates here.

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  CONTENTS

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Author’s Note

  Also by May McGoldrick

  About the Authors

  Copyright

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  HIGHLAND CROWN

  Copyright © 2019 by May McGoldrick.

  All rights reserved.

  For information address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

  www.stmartins.com

  Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 978-1-250-31497-0

  eISBN: 9781250314970

  Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, ext. 5442, or by email at [email protected].

  St. Martin’s Paperbacks edition / April 2019

  St. Martin’s Paperbacks are published by St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.