Heart of Gold (45 page)

Greenwich Palace, 1533

Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, snuggled the red-haired infant closer to her and, taking a deep breath, nodded to the physicians and the Lord Chamberlain. The massive door to her quarters swung open, and the king led his Privy Council into the room.

Wordlessly, Henry strode over to the bed and sat beside the mother and child. His corpulent face folded into a wry smile as he poked a fleshy finger into the folds of the baby’s soft covering.

The king did not look up into Anne’s face, but she hardly expected him to, considering his disappointment.

“Well, Annie,” he growled. “I suppose the wind must have been from the south, eh?”

“She’s a healthy girl, Henry.”

“Aye. She has my mother’s coloring.”

“Perhaps next time—”

Anne’s comment was left unfinished as King Henry rose abruptly from the bed.

“We’ve a country to provide for,” the king stated shortly. “We’ll look in on you later.”

As the king reached the door, a thought struck him and he turned back toward the bed, his entourage scattering before him.

“If you have a name you want considered, Anne, let us know.” Without another word, the monarch swept out the door.

Anne watched, her face a mask, as the room cleared. Nodding to the Lord Chamberlain as he turned to go, Anne looked down at the infant in her arms. Gazing at the wisps of red hair, the round little face, and the nearly translucent skin, the mother wondered at the sleeping child, so peaceful and unaware of the world she had just entered.

Huddling her even closer, the queen glanced up defiantly at the closed door.

“A south wind, indeed,” she whispered bitterly. Anne’s eyes lowered again to her baby. “Listen to me, little one, and learn this now. They will tell you it’s a man’s world. But take heart, fear nothing. You will carry the name of a great woman. You will carry her spirit.”

In 1558, Elizabeth I, resplendent in her gown of cloth of gold, ascended the throne of Britain. For the next half century, she was to forge the glorious era of Sidney and Spenser, Jonson and Shakespeare, and in the end give her name to England’s golden age.

Our 16th Century books...

In
The Thistle and the Rose
, Colin Campbell and Celia Muir are introduced...

And we also introduce Alec Macpherson, who is the hero of our second book,
Angel of Skye
...

Alec has two brothers, Ambrose and John, who are the heroes of
Heart of Gold
and
The Beauty of the Mist
, respectively...

In
Angel of Skye
, we also introduce a little boy, Malcolm MacLeod, and in
Heart of Gold
we introduce a little girl, Jaime...

When Malcolm MacLeod and Jaime grow up, they are the hero and heroine of
The Intended
...

In
Heart of Gold
, we also introduce Gavin Kerr, who becomes the hero of
Flame.
..

In
Flame
, we introduce a number of characters who show up in
The Dreamer, The Enchantress,
and
The Firebrand
(the
Highland Treasure Trilogy
), including John Stewart, the earl of Athol and a number of villains...

The Highland Treasure Trilogy
is the story of three sisters...Catherine Percy of
The Dreamer
, Laura Percy of
The Enchantress
, and Adrianne Percy of
The Firebrand
...

In
The Enchantress
, we introduce Sir Wyntoun MacLean, who also appears in
The Firebrand
...

In
The Firebrand
, we also introduce Gillie the Fairie-Borne, who may just have a story of his own one day...

Colin Campbell and Celia (from The Thistle and the Rose) also make a 'cameo' appearance in The Firebrand...

Alec Macpherson and Fiona (from Angel of Skye) have three sons. The youngest, Colin Macpherson, is the hero of
Tess and the Highlander
(a young adult novel published by HarperCollins in November 2002)...

Our 18th Century Books

In The Promise, Samuel Wakefield, the earl of Stanmore, and Rebecca Neville/Ford are the hero and heroine...

In that book we also introduce Stanmore's friend, Sir Nicholas Spencer, who becomes the hero of The Rebel, which is set in Ireland...

Stanmore and Rebecca also appear in The Rebel...

In The Promise, we also introduce Rebecca's friend, Millicent Wentworth, who becomes the heroine of Borrowed Dreams...

Borrowed Dreams is the start of a new trilogy about three Scottish brothers, starting with Lyon Pennington, earl of Aytoun. We also meet a new cast of characters who show up in the trilogy. Violet, from The Promise, plays a big role in this book, too. She will show up again in the third book in the trilogy, Dreams of Destiny.

In Captured Dreams, we see Lyon and Millicent and the entire household of Baronsford in Scotland, along with wonderful heroes and villains that David Pennington meets in colonial Boston.

In Dreams of Destiny, the mystery of Emma's death is solved...

Ghost of the Thames…a Dickensian novel.

Visit us at www.JanCoffey.com and on May McGoldrick, facebook page for discount offers of our other ebooks.

About the Author

Nikoo & Jim McGoldrick have spent their lives gathering material for their novels. Nikoo, a mechanical engineer, and Jim, who has a Ph.D. in sixteenth-century British literature, wrote their first May McGoldrick novel in 1994. Since then, they have taken their readers from the Highlands of Scotland to the mountains of Kurdistan in bestselling, award-winning historical romance and contemporary suspense novels under the names May McGoldrick, Nicole Cody, and Jan Coffey.

You can contact us at [email protected]

Please like May McGoldrick author page on facebook to receive the latest updates.

Complete Book List as of 2012

Writing As May McGoldrick:

Made In Heaven

Ghost of the Thames

Scottish Dream Trilogy

Dreams Of Destiny

Captured Dreams

Borrowed Dreams

The Rebel

Tess and The Highlander (A YA Novel)

The Promise

Highland Treasure Trilogy

The Firebrand

The Enchantress

The Dreamer

Flame

The Intended

Macpherson Trilogy

Beauty Of The Mist

Heart Of Gold

Angel Of Skye

Thistle and The Rose

Writing As Nicole Cody & May McGoldrick:

Love and Mayhem (reissued as Arsenic and Old Armor)

Writing As Jan Coffey:

Aquarian (A YA Novel)

Blind Eye

The Puppet Master

The Deadliest Strain

The Project

Silent Waters

Five in a Row

Tropical Kiss (A YA Novel)

Fourth Victim

Triple Threat

Twice Burned

Trust Me Once

Here's an excerpt from the next book in Macpherson family saga

by

May McGoldrick

The Isle of Skye, Scotland

April 1539

As brilliant as they were, the jewels of the wedding gown could not match the sparkle of the bride’s eyes.

Servants bustled about the room amid unpacked trunks, but Jaime Macpherson remained—silent and still—beside her bed, unable to lift her gaze from the magnificent white gown. Unable to shake from her mind the glorious dream. She had waited a lifetime for him and now the waiting was at an end. Finally, she was back where she belonged. Finally, they were to wed.

The tap on the open door and then the barely subdued voice of her maid, Caddy, brought Jaime back to the tasks at hand—and to the chaos that surrounded her.

“You’ll miss your wedding if we don’t hurry, m’lady,” the elder woman said breathlessly, her red face proof of the speed exerted in bringing her mistress the news.

“Can it be today?” Jaime tried to contain her excitement. “We’ve only just arrived. How did Malcolm know that we would get here in time? How...”

Caddy waved a hand in agitation to get her young mistress’s attention. “There is no time, m’lady. Lord Malcolm has already gone off to the Priory...Everyone has!”

Jaime felt her stomach jump in excitement as she watched Caddy take charge of the room. The time had come. Malcolm had been true to his promise and was taking her as a wife. She reached down, took the gown into her arms, and whirled excitedly about the room, but then she came to a sudden stop. “How am I to get there? With everyone there...”

“You are the bride. They saw our ship coming,” the older woman scolded as she started ordering the other servants about. “The steward told me the wedding is set for vespers. There will be an escort of Lord Malcolm’s men leaving Dunvegan in a short time, so we must make haste. Their job is to take you to your intended. We must hurry, m’lady.”

“Aye, we must,” Jaime whispered excitedly.

Malcolm MacLeod, the laird of the clan MacLeod and lord of the Isle of Skye and the Hebrides, glanced in the direction of the newly opened door. Stepping away from the group of men gathered in the large hall, he motioned his messenger to approach.

“Her ship has docked, m’lord!” the young man announced.

“Did you meet with Mistress Jaime?” Malcolm asked, impatience evident in his tone. “Did you give her the news?”

The man shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. “Aye, m’lord. I mean, nay, m’lord...not face to face. But I did see your steward, David, speaking with Mistress Jaime’s woman. He was telling her, m’lord...and...and...”

Malcolm's gaze took in the messenger’s embarrassed face and averted eyes. This was too much to put on the young man, he had to admit. He should have gone back himself, but with all that still needed to be resolved here—there just hadn’t been enough time.

“Very well. I’ll see to it...” Malcolm stopped as the MacDonald clan chief’s approach drew his attention back to the matters at hand.

“I am so excited, Caddy,” she said. “I feel giddy.”

“Well, I’m certainly happy to hear that, mistress,” the maid replied tartly. “But if you swoon before we get you into this dress...”

At the sound of someone crying out, they both turned in time to see pearls scattering everywhere on the rush-covered floor. The serving girl was looking on in horror as the white beads bounced and rolled into every shadowy corner and crevice. The young lass’s gaze snapped up to Jaime’s face as she folded to her knees and burst into tears. “I am so sorry, mistress. The string...”

Jaime came to her feet at once and moved across the chamber to the woman sobbing on the floor. “The string was too old, lass. I could have done that myself.”

“But...m’lady...”

“Think no more of it,” Jaime whispered reassuringly. “Let’s gather up these beads together, why don’t we?”

The young servant looked up gratefully with the tears still on her cheeks.

“Then you can help weave these flowers into my hair. I think they will be much more becoming with my dress than those pearls, don’t you?”

From the confines of the small cemetery where Malcolm had only moments ago knelt at his mother’s grave, the warrior chief emerged and faced the joyous tidings of the gathered throng. The sounds of bagpipes filled the air, and the villagers and the gathered clansfolk, dressed in their finest clothes, crowded in the Priory yard.

The young laird looked around proudly at the happiness that surrounded him. This was surely as it was meant to be, he thought, walking toward the chapel.

A hush fell over the crowd, and the pipers ceased their tunes as the bride and the escorting warriors entered the gates of the Priory. Everyone stared approvingly as the young woman was helped from her magnificent bay horse by an armed knight before the steps of the chapel.

Then, as they started for the open doors, she staggered at the top step. The crowd surged around her.

“Mistress, are you well?” the knight asked, concern evident in his voice.

“Aye,” the bride whispered. “It is just the excitement. Take me in.”

Blades of golden light from the small slits of windows cut brightly through swirling clouds of incense. At the altar of the Priory chapel, in the sight of a congregation filled with islanders and family, the bride and groom exchanged expectant glances, and listened to the ancient priest who stood at the altar with his back to them.

They made a magnificent pair. She, young and beautiful, her pale skin glowing—the light gleaming off the golden threads that were woven with the white flowers into her dark hair. In her hands, gilded branches of rosemary—symbols of love and fidelity—were intertwined with prayer beads, while her white gown shimmered in the golden shafts of light.

And he, too, radiated the magnificence of the moment. A ribbon of gold bound his long brown hair at the nape of his neck, and the ornate broach that designated his position as chief of the powerful MacLeod clan held in place the tartan that crossed the flawless white of his silk shirt. As he turned slightly to look at his bride, the dark plaid of his kilts moved over high, soft boots. Seeing her blush slightly at his glance, Malcolm smiled what he hoped was a reassuring smile and turned back to the priest.

Behind them, the gathered throng stirred restlessly in the little chapel, waiting in anticipation for the exchange of vows. The people of Skye were well represented, with members of both MacLeod and MacDonald clans, all decked out in their most colorful finery, constituting most of the assembled crowd. But the Macpherson clan also stood out prominently among the group in the chapel. Alec Macpherson, former laird of these lands, stood beside Malcolm and looked on with a fatherly affection at the young man he and his wife Fiona had raised as their own.