George MacKinnon was the Earl of Marne, and
the Laird of Balfurin Castle. He was also penniless. Years of
living beyond his means in London, not to mention his unfortunate habits
of too much wine, women, and gambling had stripped the family coffers
bare.
There was only one choice: to marry
for money.
Charlotte Haversham was the likely
candidate. The well-mannered, obedient daughter of a London
merchant, she had no choice but to agree to the wedding. Nor did she
mind being wed to George. After all, a woman had to marry, and he
was as acceptable a bridegroom as any. He had looks, and some sort
of charm. Love would come, her mother said, and if it didn't, then
she would simply have to find other diversions.
George and Charlotte wed, in a lavish
affair that cost her father a fortune. She was a lovely bride, if a
bit splotchy, since she was embarrassed to be the center of attention.
He was a handsome groom. The wedding night was not unbearable.
Neither was it particularly memorable for Charlotte or evidently, George,
since the new wife found the new husband with one of the maids a few
nights later.
That, too, could have been handled, if only
George hadn't simply disappeared.
Charlotte did take the precaution of
tallying all the maids before announcing George's disappearance to her
father. She wanted to ensure that George hadn't gone off with one of
them. But he hadn't. In fact, no one seems to have known where he
went. One day he was there, and the next he wasn't. He left no
note; he'd had no conversation with anyone; he simply vanished.
A month later, thoroughly annoyed,
Charlotte's father agrees to allow Charlotte to journey to Scotland.
Perhaps his idiot son-in-law has retreated to the wilds of the Highlands.
He, his wife, and Charlotte get in a coach and vow not to return to London
until the miscreant is found.
That, however, is not exactly what
happened...
During the entire journey to Balfurin,
Charlotte was uneasily aware of her father's irritation and her mother's
annoyance. The situation was not of her making, no matter how much
they wished to blame her. She had been as good a wife as she could -
after all, it was George who'd left her!
At Balfurin - a wreck of a castle - it was
all too obvious why George had married her. Just as obvious that he
hadn't spent any of her dowry on the place. Charlotte immediately
felt an odd kinship for the four hundred year old structure, even though
her parents were obviously unimpressed.
When George was nowhere to be found, her
father left instructions for them to begin the journey back to England the
next morning. Charlotte had visions of her future life. She
would forever be singled out as some sort of object lesson: poor
Charlotte, her husband left her after a week of marriage.
Something snapped, some long restrained
hint of rebellion and she refused to leave, decided to divorce George, and
live the rest of her life at Balfurin.
Of course you know that's not how it
ends...
Charlotte used her grandfather's legacy to
transform Balfurin into a school for girls. Five years later, during
the ceremony honoring the first graduating class, Charlotte received a
surprise - a rather horrid one, as it turned out.
Guess who showed up?
None other than her missing husband.
Or was he?
The man who appeared at the entrance to the
ballroom was announced as the Earl of Marne, but he was more handsome than
she remembered. He was also much kinder. In addition, he was
rumored to be fantastically wealthy.
Had George really changed so drastically in
five years?
And what on earth was she to do to prevent
herself from falling in love with him?
Dixon MacKinnon was annoyed to be mistaken
for his cousin George. All he wanted was to return home to Scotland
after a decade's absence, not be embroiled in a mystery. What had
happened to Balfurin? Where the hell was George? And why was
Dixon certain he was going to act dishonorably toward the Countess of Marne?
Autumn in Scotland
December 1, 2006
