This is another great story from Speas set in the Scottish Highlands
in the late 17th century during the time when
the Scots fell under Cromwell’s cruel hand and King Charles lived
in exile in France. The Catholic Royalists, such as our hero, Lord Monleigh, faced
opposition from both the English and the Covenanters (Scottish Presbyterians).
The story has a melancholy
feel that persists as 23-year-old spinster, Anne Lindsey, who lost her parents
and then her relatives with whom she was living, is forced to live with staunch
Covenanters who treat her like a servant. As the tale begins, Simon, the Earl
of Monleigh, who Anne knows, is in prison in Edinburgh awaiting death while Anne’s
benefactors look forward to his execution. As the story proceeds, Anne looks back at her memories of
Lord Monleigh, beginning with the night she met him on the moors high above the
ocean.
Monleigh is man who can be a
wise, though at times hard, a leader of his clan fighting to restore his king, but
at the same time a charismatic charmer of the lasses. When he focuses his
attentions on innocent and beautiful Anne, she has no will to resist. He
exposes her to adventure, music and passion she has not known, but has longed
for. He believes he has rescued her from a dismal life, but he has also exposed
her to danger, and he offers her no future. He is hunted by the English for his
raiding and smuggling, something he does to pay the high English fees levied on
the Scots, yet all the while knows the noose is tightening about his neck.
In Anne’s own words: “He had enthralled me, bewitched and
enraptured me; and I knew I played a dangerous and deadly game by so giving myself
into his keeping. He was no god, in truth, or even godly. He was only a man, a
mere mortal, who went in leather breeks and a dark cloak lined with scarlet,
wearing a long sword at his side and a wicked blue dirk in his belt—who felt
anger, boredom, indifference, who loved and hated as other men; who stood taller
than most and held his dark head with a greater pride.” (Magnificent writing in my opinion.)
The story is told through
Anne’s perspective and in the first person, and somehow that seemed to fit. It
is beautifully written with near magical dialog and tender emotions on every
page. I cannot recommend it highly enough to those who love the deep
historicals from Scotland. It’s a keeper.
Should you wish to acquire
it, at the moment you will have to buy it used and in paperback, but trust me,
it will be worth it. And while you’re at it, I recommend getting Bride of the MacHugh, also by Speas, and
equally as good (see my review).
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