Highlander Unmasked Read Online Free PDF Page A

of her mysterious warrior to distract her from her duty any longer.
    “You have that far-off look in your eyes.” Elizabeth spoke, startling Meg from her reverie. “Daydreaming about your handsome rescuer again?”
    Her cheeks heated. Not for the first time, she wished she hadn’t confided quite so many details about the man who’d rescued her. She covered her embarrassment with a frown. “I don’t daydream.”
    “But you were thinking of him?”
    Meg gave her friend a sharp look. Elizabeth was not easily put off. “Very well. Yes. I was thinking about him.”
    “It’s so romantic,” Elizabeth said, sighing dreamily.
    Meg rolled her eyes. “You sound like my mother. But I assure you, there was nothing romantic about it.” She couldn’t quite repress the shiver as her thoughts flew back to the melee in the forest. “It was awful. We were very lucky to escape with our lives, and Mother with only a knot on her head. So many others weren’t as fortunate,” she said, thinking of Ruadh and the other Mackinnon warriors who’d lost their lives that day.
    “I’m s-s-sorry, Meg. I didn’t m-m-mean to s-s-sound insen-n-nsitive. I can’t im-m-magine what you w-w-went through.”
    Meg heard her friend’s stammer and felt horrible for making her anxious. Elizabeth rarely stammered around her, as she did when in company with others she felt less comfortable with. She took Elizabeth’s hands and forced a bright smile on her face. “What happened is in the past, and I must look to the future. And an outlaw, no matter how heroic, is not the man for me.”
    If only she knew who was.
    Finding a suitable husband shouldn’t be so difficult. A warrior her clansmen would follow into battle. A skilled negotiator to pacify the Privy Council. A man of integrity and loyalty to support her brother. But it was difficult. With each day that passed, it had become more and more clear that there was only one man who might be suitable: Jamie Campbell, her best friend’s brother.
    Elizabeth gave her hands a little squeeze. “Don’t worry, Meg. You will find the right man. Or perhaps you already have?” she asked hopefully. It was no secret that Elizabeth wished Meg to marry her brother.
    “Perhaps,” Meg replied with an encouraging smile.
    In many ways, Jamie Campbell epitomized the type of man her father entrusted her to find. Cousin to Archibald “the Grim” Campbell, Earl of Argyll, Jamie could not be better connected. The Campbells were the most powerful clan in the Highlands, thanks in large part to Argyll’s influence with the king. Jamie had something of his wily cousin in him, and Meg knew that Argyll was becoming increasingly reliant on his young cousin both to exert his influence at court and to enforce his authority in the Highlands.
    By virtue of his extraordinary height and natural command, Jamie also had the makings of a great leader. Only two years older than Meg at four and twenty, Jamie still possessed a young man’s build. But in a few years’ time, when he added girth to his frame, he would be a formidable man. A strong, powerful man who would be more than capable of defending Dunakin.
    And most important, Jamie was a man of integrity, honor, and unswerving loyalty.
    He seemed the perfect choice.
    But something still held her back. His youth, perhaps? And his connection to Argyll would be viewed by many Highlanders as a black mark against him. In some quarters, the name Argyll was as reviled as the devil. Clan Campbell’s power in the Highlands had not come without dispute or the shedding of blood. MacGregor blood in particular.
    All of a sudden, she felt Elizabeth’s elbow jabbing her ribs. “Hold on a minute. I think I’ve found him for you. The perfect man.”
    Meg muffled an unladylike snort and followed the direction of Elizabeth’s dreamy gaze. At first she thought Elizabeth was talking about Jamie, but then another man moved into her view. He had his back to her, though she had to admit, it was