Читать книгу No Holds Barred - Cara Summers - Страница 6

Glen Loch, New York, Summer, 1812

ELEANOR CAMPBELL MACPHERSON stood on the cliffs alone, except for her memories. And there were so many good ones. In a marriage that had lasted over fifty years, she and Angus had come here so often. The caves below in the cliff face had always been one of their secret places. They’d picnicked there often during the early years of their marriage, sometimes climbing up from the lake below and sometimes climbing down. And later, after the children and even the grandchildren had arrived, it had been one of their secret trysting places. Sneaking away to make love here with Angus had always made her feel wicked and wild and very like the young girl who had allowed him to sweep her away all those many years ago.

She missed him so much. How often had they walked together here on mornings just like this one?

The mists swirled over the lake, but the newly risen sun, a bright red ball, would burn them away quickly. To the west on a rocky promontory stood Castle MacPherson, the home that Angus had built for them. There it rose, three stories high, strong and graceful and as enduring as the life they’d built together. Beyond it she saw the gardens that gave her so much pleasure. And at the far edge, nestled at the foot of a sharply rising hillside, she could make out the top of the stone arch that Angus had built for her.

It was a replica of an older arch that had stood in the gardens of her family’s estate in Scotland and it had a legendary power from ancient times—the power to unite true lovers. The story had been passed down for years in the Campbell clan—the man or the woman you kissed beneath the stone arch would be your true love forever. Angus had even stolen some of the stones from the original arch so that this one would carry the same power.

With a smile, Eleanor let her mind drift back to that long ago night when she and Angus had met beneath those powerful stones on the Campbell estate for the last time. Her family had thrown a ball to celebrate her upcoming wedding, and she’d been wearing her future husband’s gift to her—a sapphire necklace and earrings that had been bestowed on his family for service to the Scottish court. Mary Stuart had worn the jewels at her coronation, and Eleanor’s husband-to-be had insisted that she wear them at their betrothal ball as proof of his love for her.

She’d snuck out of the ball to meet with Angus and to tell him that their secret meetings had to end. She’d practiced the speech for days. There was no future for them. Their families had been locked in a blood feud for years. She was promised to another man, a fine man from a prominent family. Then Angus had kissed her the moment she’d arrived—before she could say a word.

And that had been that.

Oh, she’d tried to talk some sense into him, but he wouldn’t listen. Impetuous, impatient, irresistible, Angus hadn’t taken no for an answer. He’d simply promised her everything and carried her away.

Thank God.

Eleanor let her gaze linger on the castle, with its lovely gardens and the stone arch. Angus had delivered on his promise. He’d given her everything. Going with him and settling here was the best decision she’d ever made. She only had one regret. And that was what had brought her to the cliffs this morning.

Slipping her hand into her pocket, she closed it over the leather pouches that held the Stuart Sapphires. Having them had always troubled her conscience. A man who’d loved her had given them to her. Not only had she betrayed that love, she’d also become a thief. Everything had happened so fast the night she’d fled with Angus, and any attempt at sending the jewels back later might have given her family some clue as to what she’d done, where she was. It was better that she just vanish.

But Angus had always known about her feelings. It was why he was visiting her now in her dreams, helping her to make things right. He’d always been so very good at making things right.

The latest dream had come this morning, and it had brought her here to the cliffs. She would tell no one what she was doing. Her sons and her daughters-in-law wouldn’t be pleased. They’d always assumed that the sapphire necklace and earrings she’d worn in her wedding portrait had been her dowry, the gift that her family had given to her when she’d married Angus.

The stone arch had played a part in the first dreams that Angus had sent her. In them she’d seen a young girl with reddish-gold curls finding one of the Stuart earrings in the stones. Angus had said her name was Adair. So Eleanor had hidden the first of the earrings there.

But the girl in her latest dream had long dark hair and she’d found the second earring in one of the inner chambers of the caves. Eleanor tightened her grip on the pouch in her pocket, and as she did, she heard Angus’s voice in her ear.

Her name is Piper. She believes in the power of the stone arch enough to bury her dreams and fantasies beneath them. And she knows about our secret cave. When she finds the second earring, the Stuart Sapphires will continue to find their way home. Trust me, Ellie … just as you did on the night we ran away.

The mists had cleared from the lake. With Angus’s words still clear in her mind, Eleanor began the short climb down the cliff face to the cave, just as she’d done so many times with her lover before. She would leave the second earring for Piper to find, and then she would wait for Angus to send her more dreams.