because of the technicality of a single day?
Surely her sorceress-ancestress could not condone her curse preventing the happiness of another pair of true lovers. Harriet looked outside the cave opening, peering solemnly at the glowering sky, high above the dark rolling clouds, where all the mysteries of the universe lurked and said aloud in a voice strong and clear, “Guide me, spirit of the Macquairs, maidens who came before me. Send me a sign, some indication of the course that I should follow.”
A flash of lightning severed the sky, illuminating the whole of the mountain peak. A moment later, a vision of Tristan appeared before her.
It was all the answer she needed.
“Harriet, thank God. Where in the hell have you—”
Tristan never finished his thought. Harriet stood and crossed the distance to meet him, throwing her arms around his neck and pulling his mouth to hers in a kiss that sealed their fates forever.
He didn’t speak. He didn’t have to. He only took Harriet up in his arms, looking deeply into those gray-green eyes he knew and loved so completely, and carried her back inside the cave. He laid her on the blanket and kept on kissing her until the two of them were naked and wrapped in one another’s arms. The rain outside fell harder, the wind building and howling with each kiss they shared. Inside that cave, a destiny written centuries earlier was finally realized.
Lightning flashed against the darkness of the sky and thunder that rivaled the trembling of the earth crashed above them the moment Tristan joined their bodies as one. Harriet no longer cared for she was at the very place she belonged. A deluge could unleash its fury on the rest of the world outside that cave, but nothing was going to prevent her from loving this man for the rest of her life. She twined her fingers through his hair. She nestled further into the circle of his arms. Forever after, the sounds of the storm would be their own passionate serenade.
A tempest the likes of which Edinburgh hadn’t seen in decades rocked the Scottish capital city throughout the night. Streets flooded, trees were felled, while in a cave high above the turmoil, two lovers endured another fury ...
. . . that most beautiful fury of all.
Chapter Nine
There is one thing . . . which a man can always do,
if he chooses, and that is, his duty;
not by maneuvering and finessing,
but by vigour and resolution.
—Emma,
Jane Austen
When morning dawned, Harriet awoke in the arms of the man she knew she was destined to love. The sun was shining, birds trilled in the trees. Peace and harmony reigned over the land. The world had not ceased its spinning overnight. The oceans had not risen up in protest. Everything was precisely as it should be.
They dressed slowly, undressed again, and then dressed again an hour later. Together they descended the heights of that incredible mountain and walked hand in hand through the city streets all the way to Charlotte Square. A tender peace filled Harriet, a complete and utter happiness with all that her world had become. No longer did she question her future, no longer did she struggle in search of her destiny. Her destiny, she knew, stood right beside her.
The peace and the calm, however, were to be shattered the moment they walked through the front door.
“Harriet!”
Geoffrey’s booming voice, coupled with that of her father rose up to greet them. Harriet and Tristan looked at one another before they stepped into the doorway to the parlor where it seemed all of Edinburgh society had converged.
Sir Hugh, Geoffrey, and Devorgilla took up the far corner, while Sir Duncan and Lady Harrington, complete with her cat, huddled on the settee. Tristan’s godfather, Mr. Scott, stood at the window and had no doubt seen them approaching off the square. All the party lacked was the presence of Miss Flavia Blum to make it complete.
“I expect you will do the honorable thing, Ravenshall,” Sir Hugh said before Harriet could
Surely her sorceress-ancestress could not condone her curse preventing the happiness of another pair of true lovers. Harriet looked outside the cave opening, peering solemnly at the glowering sky, high above the dark rolling clouds, where all the mysteries of the universe lurked and said aloud in a voice strong and clear, “Guide me, spirit of the Macquairs, maidens who came before me. Send me a sign, some indication of the course that I should follow.”
A flash of lightning severed the sky, illuminating the whole of the mountain peak. A moment later, a vision of Tristan appeared before her.
It was all the answer she needed.
“Harriet, thank God. Where in the hell have you—”
Tristan never finished his thought. Harriet stood and crossed the distance to meet him, throwing her arms around his neck and pulling his mouth to hers in a kiss that sealed their fates forever.
He didn’t speak. He didn’t have to. He only took Harriet up in his arms, looking deeply into those gray-green eyes he knew and loved so completely, and carried her back inside the cave. He laid her on the blanket and kept on kissing her until the two of them were naked and wrapped in one another’s arms. The rain outside fell harder, the wind building and howling with each kiss they shared. Inside that cave, a destiny written centuries earlier was finally realized.
Lightning flashed against the darkness of the sky and thunder that rivaled the trembling of the earth crashed above them the moment Tristan joined their bodies as one. Harriet no longer cared for she was at the very place she belonged. A deluge could unleash its fury on the rest of the world outside that cave, but nothing was going to prevent her from loving this man for the rest of her life. She twined her fingers through his hair. She nestled further into the circle of his arms. Forever after, the sounds of the storm would be their own passionate serenade.
A tempest the likes of which Edinburgh hadn’t seen in decades rocked the Scottish capital city throughout the night. Streets flooded, trees were felled, while in a cave high above the turmoil, two lovers endured another fury ...
. . . that most beautiful fury of all.
Chapter Nine
There is one thing . . . which a man can always do,
if he chooses, and that is, his duty;
not by maneuvering and finessing,
but by vigour and resolution.
—Emma,
Jane Austen
When morning dawned, Harriet awoke in the arms of the man she knew she was destined to love. The sun was shining, birds trilled in the trees. Peace and harmony reigned over the land. The world had not ceased its spinning overnight. The oceans had not risen up in protest. Everything was precisely as it should be.
They dressed slowly, undressed again, and then dressed again an hour later. Together they descended the heights of that incredible mountain and walked hand in hand through the city streets all the way to Charlotte Square. A tender peace filled Harriet, a complete and utter happiness with all that her world had become. No longer did she question her future, no longer did she struggle in search of her destiny. Her destiny, she knew, stood right beside her.
The peace and the calm, however, were to be shattered the moment they walked through the front door.
“Harriet!”
Geoffrey’s booming voice, coupled with that of her father rose up to greet them. Harriet and Tristan looked at one another before they stepped into the doorway to the parlor where it seemed all of Edinburgh society had converged.
Sir Hugh, Geoffrey, and Devorgilla took up the far corner, while Sir Duncan and Lady Harrington, complete with her cat, huddled on the settee. Tristan’s godfather, Mr. Scott, stood at the window and had no doubt seen them approaching off the square. All the party lacked was the presence of Miss Flavia Blum to make it complete.
“I expect you will do the honorable thing, Ravenshall,” Sir Hugh said before Harriet could
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