True Heart - Softcover

Lamb, Arnette

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0671882171 ISBN 13: 9780671882174

Publisher: Pocket, 1997

Synopsis

Arnette Lamb's rousing Highland romances have all been spectacular bestsellers. True Heart, her dazzling new novel set in Scotland and tidewater Virginia, brings the acclaimed Clan MacKenzie trilogy to a stunning conclusion... A MAIDEN'S PERILOUS VOYAGE Ten-year-old Virginia MacKenzie was determined to join Cameron Cunningham -- her beloved friend, and now, formally, her betrothed -- when he sailed to France. Arranging to join Cam's Highland Dream at sea, Virginia never suspected the captain of her ship would spirit her to America, selling her into vilest bondage... A HEART FULL OF REGRET Desperately, Cameron had searched for his betrothed for years, when even the great Lachlan MacKenzie had given up his daughter for dead. Now Cam's only memento of Virginia was a tattered silk handkerchief with a faded hallmark... A SOUL-STIRRING REUNION AND A DESPERATE VOW Virginia could scarce believe it when a near miracle finally brought Cam to her rescue. Longing to rush into his arms, yet afraid of losing him once more, she hid her past and retreated from Cam's sheltering embrace. Tenderly, Cam vowed to heal the wounds of the past, and win her heart once more...until she believed completely in the love that was their destiny....

About this title

About the Author:

Arnette Lamb's signature style -- fast-paced, witty, and deeply sensual -- has won her raves from critics, booksellers, and readers. Her wonderfully unique romances have all been bestsellers: from her sizzling, infamous Pocket Books debut with Highland Rogue; to her magnificent Maiden of Inverness; to "Hark! The Herald," a sparkling romance in the heartwarming collection titled A Holiday of Love, which put her on the New York Times bestseller list. In response to the huge fan acclaim for Highland Rogue, Arnette Lamb brings us the enthralling trilogy, featuring Lachlan MacKenzie's daughters, that began with Betrayed, and continues with Beguiled, and now concludes with True Heart.

Now a Houston suburbanite, Arnette lives in Kingwood with her husband, Ron. She loves to hear from readers; you can write to her at P.O. Box 6083, Kingwood, TX 77325.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

Chapter One

Glasgow Harbor
1789

Cameron swung a canvas bag onto his shoulder and stepped onto the quay in Glasgow Harbor. No one awaited him, only an elegant residence with loyal servants. When compared to his youthful expectations, his life was empty, and the realization saddened him.

Pain no longer accompanied memories of Virginia. Only a deep sense of loss. Hours after his departure on that first trip to China almost ten years ago, Virginia had disappeared without a trace. Thinking she might have sailed with Cameron, her father had sent a ship after the Highland Dream. Upon learning of her disappearance, Cameron had wanted to turn back and look for her, but the duke of Ross had forbidden him to cancel the costly voyage. The duke had been certain that he could find his missing daughter.

They'd failed of course, and Cameron had learned to live with a soul full of regret.

"I'll wager a quid Agnes has another son," said his companion, MacAdoo, speaking of Lachlan MacKenzie's firstborn daughter, who had married the earl of Cathcart five years before.

They walked side by side, same as they had in ports throughout the world. Six years older than Cameron, MacAdoo Dundas was his oldest friend and best confidant. They'd been raised together at Roward Castle, the ancestral home of Cameron's mother's people, the Lochiel Camerons. They'd spent a year at the English court. They'd wenched and adventured together. They'd grieved over the loss of Virginia. They gambled on almost everything.

Cameron was ahead in the wagers. "My quid says she'll give Cathcart a lass this time."

MacAdoo hefted his own seaman's sack, which contained his prized possession: bagpipes. With a skill even the old Highlanders envied, he could woo a hesitant lass or bring tears to the eyes of the crustiest seaman.

Grinning, MacAdoo said, "That"s because you let that comely shopgirl in Calais talk you into a pretty doll rather than a set of soldiers."

The gift was stored in Cameron's bag along with his own special keepsake: the silk scarf Virginia had given him so many years ago. Other than constant regret, it was his only remembrance of her. The cloth had yellowed and frayed with age, but Cameron's memories of the girl were still fresh.

The image of Virginia's brooch rose in his mind as vivid as the day he'd first seen the delicate ring of hearts with an arrow running through.

Cameron stopped in his tracks and blinked. The picture became real. Before him loomed a wall of hogsheads. Burned into the wood of one of the barrels was the symbol created almost a decade ago by Virginia MacKenzie.

His heart pounded, and the ale he'd drunk with his crew just moments ago turned sour in his belly. No one else had seen the hallmark before Virginia's disappearance. She said it had been her secret gift in honor of their betrothal. By candlelight, she'd embroidered the scarf for him. After her disappearance, when Cameron had relayed to her father the details of that last meeting in the stables at Rosshaven, the duke of Ross confessed to being in the loft at the time. He had overheard their argument, but he had not seen Virginia's hallmark.

Cameron had thought never to see her symbol again.

"What's amiss?" MacAdoo said.

With a shaking hand, Cameron pointed to the design.

"Sweet Saint Ninian," MacAdoo whispered. "Isn't that a match to your scarf?"

Cameron put down his burden and peered closer at the design. With only a slight variance, a common heraldic crown over the top, the symbol was the same. The hearts were more perfectly drawn, as if a woman rather than a lass had fashioned them.

From the ashes of certainty, a spark of hope flickered to life.

Virginia could be alive.

The thought staggered him.

MacAdoo grasped Cameron's arm. "What's wrong? Have you gone light in the head?"

Mouth dry, hands shaking, Cameron leaned against the stack of tobacco casks. Past disappointments warned him to take caution. But what were the odds of another person combining the arrow of Clan Cameron, his mother's Highland family, with the heart of love in this exact fashion? No coincidence appeared before him; Virginia was alive and this drawing was proof. Or was it a cry for help?

"Stay here," he ordered.

Stuffing the hogshead under his arm, he located Quinten Brown, captain of the merchantman.

"From where did this hallmark come?"

Brown swept off his three-cornered hat and tucked it under his arm. His hair reeked of the fragrance of pine, a favorite scent among seamen. "Why would you be asking, Cunningham?" he said in his clipped English speech. "Ain't the brandy trade enough for you?"

In his place, Cameron would also be protective of his livelihood; any businessman would. To allay the man's worry and loosen his tongue, Cameron fished a sack of coins from his waistcoat. "I've seen this design, and it's very important to me. I've no intention of heeling in on your tobacco trade."

Satisfied, Brown pocketed the gold. "'Course you ain't. What would you want with my trade when you got all them friends at court. Rumor has it you've talked the Cholmondeleys out of their daughter."

The Lady Adrienne Cholmondeley had never been farther from Cameron's mind. "Tell me what you know about this cask."

"I know all of the tidewater plantations."

The cask had come from Virginia. How ironic. "What about the plantation where this cask originated?"

"I'll tell you what I know o' the matter. The cooper at Poplar Knoll -- Rafferty's his name -- always favored the plain crown, even after the colonies was lost to us." He traced the design. "This girlish mark, the hearts 'n' arrow on that barrel, I ain't seen it afore now."

"Then how do you know this tobacco came from there?"

"The new mistress herself come aboard to pay her respects to me." Rocking back on the heels of his bucket top boots, the seaman clutched his lapels. "Her husband, Mr. Parker-Jones, bought the plantation more'n a year ago. I tell you true, Cunningham, the slaves 'n' servants o' that place are praising God. The old owner and his wife were devils and more."

Cameron had scoured every port in the British Isles, the Baltic, Europe, and even the slave markets of Byzantine. He'd searched Boston, the cities on Chesapeake Bay, and even the Spanish-held New Orleans. "Where is this plantation?"

"Poplar Knoll? The tidewaters of Virginia."

Cameron had sailed those waters but not in many years. With his father serving in the House of Commons, Cameron now favored the shorter European trade routes. "On the York River?"

"No. The James, just west of Charles City."

"The south or the north shore?"

"South if I'm remembered of it. Fine dock with lovey doves carved into the moorings. Yes, south side."

At the least, the person who'd crafted this hallmark had some knowledge of Virginia. If she were on an isolated plantation, that would explain why he hadn't found her. For years after her disappearance, the lost war with the colonies had limited shipping traffic, and little news traveled out of tidewater Virginia.

Anticipation thrumming through him, he thanked the captain.

"Keep the cask, Cunningham. You paid good coin for it."

Rejoining MacAdoo, Cameron made his way to Napier House, home of Virginia's sister, Agnes. Now the countess of Cathcart, Agnes was the only family member who still believed that Virginia was alive.

Dear God, he prayed, let it be so.

Copyright © 1997 by Arnette Lamb

About this edition

• Publisher: Pocket
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0671882171
• ISBN 13: 9780671882174
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 307