Bride Of The Isle
Get Out, Ye Bloodthirsty Half-Breed!Since the infamous Battle of Falkirk, Cristiane MacDhiubh had these words–and worse–hurled at her in the village streets. Half Scot, half English, she could claim no place as home–until the Lord of Bitterlee, as gallant a knight as any could dream, came in search of a bride…!Marriage had been naught but sadness for Adam Sutton, yet duty demanded he wed again. Cristiane MacDhiubh, as fey and wild as his own island fiefdom, might rouse his forgotten passions. But brave of heart though she might be, could Cristiane ever heal his sorrowing soul?
Читать Bride Of The Isle онлайн беплатно
Adam could not recall seeing anything quite as grand as Cristiane MacDhiubh
enjoying her first sunrise on Bitterlee. Her eyes were wide, framed by gold-tipped lashes. Her lips were full and moist, and entirely too alluring.
His heart began to pound. The rushing surf was naught compared to the roaring in his own ears.
In the growing light he saw that she was covered from neck to toe by a thin linen kirtle, yet her enticing form would never be hidden from him again, no matter how well covered it might be. Burned into his memory was the way she’d looked in the firelight the morning he’d seen her undressed.
’Twould take only the slightest movement of his hand to pull her close, a trifling tip of his head to bring his lips into contact with hers.
And every fiber of his being demanded that he do so…!
Acclaim for Margo Maguire’s latest titles
Celtic Bride
“Margo Maguire’s heart-rending and colorful tale of star-crossed lovers is sure to win readers’ hearts.”
—Romantic Times
Dryden’s Bride
“Exquisitely detailed…and entrancing tale that will enchant and envelop you as love conquers all.”
—Rendezvous
The Bride of Windermere
“Packed with action…fast, humorous, and familiar…THE BRIDE OF WINDERMERE will fit into your weekend just right.”
—Romantic Times
#607 HER DEAREST SIN
Gayle Wilson
#608 NAVAJO SUNRISE
Elizabeth Lane
#610 CHASE WHEELER’S WOMAN
Charlene Sands
Available from Harlequin Historicals and
MARGO MAGUIRE
The Bride of Windermere #453
Dryden’s Bride #529
Celtic Bride #572
His Lady Fair #596
Bride of the Isle #609
This book is dedicated to Amy Ho, enthusiastic backpacker, avid reader, daring volunteer and student extraordinaire. May all your dreams and wishes come true.
Contents
Prologue
Isle of Bitterlee, in the North Sea
Autumn, 1299
“Nay, Penyngton,” said Adam Sutton as he restlessly paced the length of the tower room. “I’ll not marry again. And certainly not a Scot.”
“But, my lord,” Sir Charles Penyngton protested. He had license to speak to his lord in this manner, only because of his long term as seneschal here at Bitterlee. “You are still a young man. Merely one and thirty. And you have no heir. As Earl of Bitterlee, ’tis your duty to provide…”
Distractedly, Adam stopped at one of the long arrow loops in the wall of his solar and gazed out at the sea beyond. Bitterlee was a bleak, isolated place. According to legend, it had been named the “Isle of Bitter Life” by one of his ancient ancestors after his wife had ended her life here. ’Twas said that the name had changed over the years—been corrupted—to Bitterlee.
“This Scotswoman is perfect,” Charles said. “Cristiane of St. Oln. She is accustomed to a harsh climate such as ours, and is said to be a hearty lass.”
“Unlike Rosamund,” Adam said starkly. He knew what Charles and the others assumed. That he still mourned the death of his wife, Rosamund. And that was true, to a point.
What they did not understand was that he had never cared for Rosamund the way he should have, nor did he mourn her loss. Oh, true enough, he mourned her death, as he would have mourned anyone in his household.
But Rosamund had never been part of his heart or his being. Adam did not care to think how he would feel if she had been more to him than she was.
Even now he did not understand how Rosamund’s father could have given her to him in marriage. Surely the man had known Bitterlee’s characteristics, its isolation, its harsh winters…its fierce beauty. Rosamund had been a delicate young lady who should have married a southern lord. She’d have fared so much better wed to a man with connections in London, a man with aspirations at court.
Instead, she’d come to this godforsaken isle. And languished here for nearly five years. She had despised it.
“My lord,” Charles began again, but his words were cut off by a spate of coughing. When Adam would have seen to him, the seneschal waved him off, insisting he needed no help. “There are other considerations,” he said, once he’d caught his breath. “Your daughter, my lord…she is in need of…”
Adam frowned and speared Charles with his steely gray gaze.
“Er…that is, Margaret needs…I mean to say Lady Margaret does not seem to—to adjust, my lord.”
Adam had to admit that much was true. Though everyone at Bitterlee had kept secret Rosamund’s cause of death, Margaret was clearly traumatized by the loss of her mother. The child was a wraith. She looked nothing at all like a Sutton, and was as frail and wispy as her mother had been. Since Rosamund’s death, Margaret had closed herself off. She never spoke, and she showed little interest in anything that would normally hold a child’s attention.
And if Adam did not do something about Margaret’s impassivity, she would not survive the year.
