The Lord’s Highland Temptation
A soldier burdened by guilt… …to the future Earl of Foxgrove? Captain Lucas Johns-Ives is injured in the same battle that killed his brother. Haunted by loss, Lucas’s life is saved by Mairi Wallace. In this Highland idyll, masquerading as her family’s butler, Lucas can avoid the responsibilities of becoming the new Earl. He’s tempted by Mairi’s sweetness – but to win her hand, he must face his demons and claim his noble birth right…
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A soldier burdened by guilt...
...to the future Earl of Foxgrove?
Captain Lucas Johns-Ives is injured in the same battle that killed his brother. Haunted by loss, Lucas is saved by Mairi Wallace. In this Highland idyll, masquerading as her family’s butler, Lucas can avoid the responsibilities of becoming the new earl. He’s tempted by Mairi’s sweetness—but to win her hand, he must face his demons and claim his noble birthright...
DIANE GASTON’s dream job was always to write romance novels. One day she dared to pursue that dream, and has never looked back. Her books have won romance’s highest honours: the RITA® Award, the National Readers’ Choice Award, the Holt Medallion, Golden Quill and Golden Heart®. She lives in Virginia, USA, with her husband and three very ordinary house cats. Diane loves to hear from readers and friends. Visit her website at: dianegaston.com.
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Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.
ISBN: 978-1-474-08931-9
THE LORD’S HIGHLAND TEMPTATION
© 2019 Diane Perkins
Published in Great Britain 2019
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
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To Henriette and Liz,
my wonderful friends and former coworkers.
Contents
Note to Readers
Scotland—September 1816
The thundering of a thousand horses’ hooves, the roar of the charge, the screams of the injured pounded across Lucas Johns-Ives’s brain. He slashed at the French soldiers, so many caught off guard by the British cavalry, easy prey for their sabres. The charge had begun in glory, but now it was slaughter—blood everywhere, men crying out in agony, horses falling.
Dimly, the sound of a bugle reached Lucas’s ears. Ta-ta-ta. Ta-ta-ta. Over and over. The signal to retreat. They’d ridden far enough. Done enough. Killed enough. Time to retreat.
Where was Bradleigh?
Lucas searched for his brother and spied him still waving his sword, his eyes bulging, a maniacal grimace on his face. He’d been so angry at Bradleigh, angry enough to refuse to ride next to him. Let his brother fight on his own for once.
But now Lucas shouted in a voice thick with panic, ‘Bradleigh! Bradleigh! Retreat! We’ve ridden too far. Bradleigh!’
From the corner of his eye, Lucas saw a thousand French cavalry on fresh horses galloping closer, swords drawn.
His brother took no heed.
‘Bradleigh! Bradleigh!’
Bradleigh impaled a blue-coated French soldier through the neck, pulled back his sword, dripping with the man’s blood. He laughed like a madman.
