Beloved Stranger

Table of Contents

 

 

“Ms. Potter has given us another thrilling drama. Every page proves the reason for her award-winning success . . .
Beloved Impostor
travels at a fast pace with outstanding characters and an expertly developed plot.”
—Rendezvous

 
“A wonderful Scottish tale wrought with emotion, tender in its telling and heart-wrenching in its beauty. Ms. Potter captures our hearts and gifts us with another beautiful story.”
—The Best Reviews

 
“[A] superb romance . . . It’s Potter’s unique gift for creating unforgettable characters and delving into the deepest parts of their hearts that endears her to readers. This is another masterpiece from a writer who always delivers what romance readers want: a love story to always remember.”

 
“The story was riveting, the execution and the telling of it and the characters involved showed spirit, courage, chemistry, and mostly they had a heart and held on to hope. It held my interest and kept it.”
—Pink Heart Reviews

 
“Ms. Potter is a very talented storyteller, taking a much-used theme, lovers from warring families, and manipulating it, adding plenty of new ideas and twists, until the end result is the original, highly satisfying
Beloved Impostor
. . . Ms. Potter very adeptly whetted this reader’s appetite for more about these two Maclean brothers, but for now, there is
Beloved Impostor
, which I highly recommend.”

“Once again, Potter . . . proves that she’s adept at penning both enthralling historicals and captivating contemporary novels.”—
Booklist
(starred review)

 
“Gabriel and Merry are a delightful pair . . . Patricia Potter has provided a character-driven story that her audience will enjoy.”—
Midwest Book Review

 
“An entirely engrossing novel by this talented and versatile author.”—
Romance Reviews Today

 
“Interesting and fresh.”—
Affaire de Coeur

 
The Diamond King

“The story line is loaded with action yet enables the audience to understand what drives both lead characters and several key secondary players . . . a robust romantic adventure . . . [a] powerful tale.”—
BookBrowser

“This is a book that is difficult to put down for any reason. Simply enjoy.”—
Rendezvous

 
“Exciting... powerful . . . charming . . . [a] pleasant page-turner.” —
Midwest Book Review

 
“Potter is a very talented author . . . if you are craving excitement, danger, and a hero to die for, you won’t want to miss this one.”—
All About Romance

 
More praise for Patricia Potter and her bestselling novels

 
“A master storyteller.”—Mary Jo Putney

 
“Pat Potter proves herself a gifted writer-as-artisan, creating a rich fabric of strong characters whose wit and intellect will enthrall even as their adventures entertain.”

—
BookPage

 
“Patricia Potter has a special gift for giving an audience a first-class romantic story line.”—
Affaire de Coeur

 
“When a historical romance [gets] the Potter treatment, the story line is pure action and excitement, and the characters are wonderful.”—
BookBrowser

STARCATCHER
THE BLACK KNAVE
THE PERFECT FAMILY
THE HEART QUEEN
THE DIAMOND KING
DANCING WITH A ROGUE
BELOVED IMPOSTOR
BELOVED STRANGER

THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

 
BELOVED STRANGER

 
A Berkley Sensation Book / published by arrangement with the author

 
PRINTING HISTORY
Berkley Sensation edition / February 2006

 
Copyright © 2006 by Patricia Potter.

 
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form
without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation
of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
For information address: The Berkley Publishing Group,
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375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

eISBN : 978-0-425-20742-0

 
BERKLEY SENSATION®
Berkley Sensation Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
BERKLEY SENSATION is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
The “B” design is a trademark belonging to Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

 

 

With gratitude to Carolyn McSparren, Phyllis Appleby, Kenlyn Spence, and Barbara Christopher for all their support, advice—sometimes painful but always on target—and, most of all, their friendship. I love you all.

 
The promise of redemption had turned into a descent into hell.

Lachlan Maclean moved his mount closer to his liege, King James IV of Scotland, and watched disaster unfold beneath him.

This battle, this invasion by King James into England, was to have been Lachlan’s final redemption, the act that might somehow undo the fact he had caused his father’s death years earlier. In taking the Macleans into battle, he’d hoped to spare his older brother their father’s fate.

He’d never forgotten the look on his father’s face as he died. He’d died because Lachlan, who’d wanted to be a priest, could not raise his sword to fight off the Campbells. Despite his training since early childhood, he had frozen, and his father died protecting him.

His clan had considered him a coward.

He wondered even now whether he could take a life, whether he would freeze again . . .

The cannon roared again, and the scene below was worse than any vision of the underworld. Horses screamed as they fell, their cries mixing with the more guttural shouts of wounded and dying men. Acrid, lung-blistering smoke turned the afternoon mist dark, and its bitter smell commingled with the sickening sweet odor of blood.

The view below was chaos. And a disaster that never should have happened. Superior English cannon destroyed Scottish cannon, then turned to fire on the rows of Scottish pikemen waiting to attack. Hector, Lachlan’s second-in-command and a man as close to him as a father, was on foot with the pikemen.

Lachlan exchanged somber glances with Jamie Campbell who also accompanied the king. In the past two years Jamie had become his best friend, and the two of them had often visited King James’s Court. Now, Jamie led his contingent of loyal Campbells, while Lachlan led the Macleans.

Jamie’s cocky grin was gone. Until an hour ago, his eyes had shone with anticipation. He’d left his bonny wife behind, but he was a man called to adventure. Now adventure turned to horror.

They’d all thought the battle won. The Scots held the high ground. They had the larger numbers. They would force the English to approach from below. At one point, aides told James he should attack the English as they gathered in disarray beneath them.

“There is no honor in that,” James said. And waited.

Waited too long.

In the name of honor, James had been surrounded, giving up the advantage he once had.

Honor always bore a price, and this time Lachlan wondered whether it was worth it.

Still, he waited at his liege’s side, his spirits sinking as the English fired their cannon with an accuracy the Scots couldn’t meet.

A messenger galloped to James’s side and delivered a message. The king frowned as he read it, then told the men around him. “Lord Home has disobeyed orders and started down the ridge toward the English.”

Lachlan knew what that meant. King James and Lord Home were close friends. To keep his friend from dying, James, too, would surrender the superior position to attack the enemy.

“For Scotland!” James roared and started down the hill.

Lachlan’s heart sank. He knew the main army was still above. James was leaving them without a leader.

He and Jamie followed James as he charged down the hill. Spurred by the sight of their liege fighting like a man possessed, Lachlan thrust and hacked his way toward Surrey, who led the English in the battle. A cannon ball exploded just in front of him, and his horse shied away as the smell of death and blood grew denser, and the level of noise crescendoed.

With that one thought in mind, he rode beside Jamie and his king. Honor. Honor and duty were what mattered. He had failed once. He would not fail again.

The horsemen met the enemy. Lachlan leveled his pike at an Englishman. The jolt jarred his body as it hit the man’s shield, tearing it away. He thrust again, and this time the pike entered the enemy’s body. He’d learned well as a lad how to kill. And kill well. He’d hated every moment of the training.

Now he welcomed those hard-earned skills.
Thrust, pull out, thrust again.

“English,” cried one of his companions. “At our rear.”

He turned around. English horsemen were approaching from the south.

“To me,” cried James.

Lachlan fought his way to the king’s side. Then he was surrounded, his pike forced from his hand. He reached for his sword. He was fighting now for his king, his honor, for Scotland, and, aye, his life. Masses of men on horseback and on foot enveloped them.

He looked for Jamie Campbell and saw him on the ground, overwhelmed by men on foot. He started toward him, when he heard an anguished cry, “The king is down!”

Before Lachlan could turn, pain sheared through his leg, and a lance hit his chain armor. His horse screamed and went to its knees.

He tried to jump free, but he had no strength left. His horse, which he’d raised from a colt, fell on his leg, and Lachlan lay there helpless next to his king, as the English swarmed around them, plunging their swords into James, then turning on him.

Honor was not all it was said to be, he thought, before pain turned into nothingness.

 
Kimbra Charlton steeled her resolve as she accompanied the women who combed the fields of dead. Dressed in her mourning gown, she huddled against the side of the pony cart with other reiver women.