Abducted Heiress by Amanda Scott

Author:Amanda Scott
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Highland
Publisher: 0
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

394

Amanda Scott

look forward to reading the adventures of Molly’s little sister, Bess, when she meets Sir Patrick MacRae. Hidden Heiress will arrive at your favorite bookstore in summer 2002. In the meantime, happy reading!

Sincerely,

Return to the misty isle of Scotland, where Bess Gordon’s story unfolds in a magical world of romance, fairies, and intrigue. . . .

The Secret Clan

HIDDEN HEIRESS

8

by Amanda Scott

Available from Warner Books

in Summer 2002

For a sneak preview of Hidden Heiress,

please turn the page.

Hidden Heiress

The Scottish Borders, March 1541

“Elspeth!” The feminine shriek rang through the sun-dappled woods.

Silence followed. Not even a bird twittered.

“Elspeth, where are you? Her ladyship wants you, and if I have to search for you, be sure that you will regret it. Come home at once!”

More silence. No breeze stirred, no leaf twitched.

It was as if every living thing in the woods held its breath, so quiet that one could hear the rushing of a burn some distance away.

Minutes passed without a sound, but no more shrieks shattered the silence; and at last a small cot-tontail rabbit hopped out from beneath a bush, paused, and looked about. Apparently satisfied that the offensive intruder had departed, it turned its attention to a nearby patch of new grass.

When the chip-chip-chwee of a chaffinch sounded 398

AN EXCERPT FROM HIDDEN HEIRESS

from a treetop, echoed immediately by the chattering of a squirrel, a certain thick clump of shrubbery slowly parted in front of what looked like a rock slab, and a face appeared.

It was a lovely face, oval with high cheekbones, black-fringed gray-green eyes, a tip-tilted, freckled little nose, and full, rosy lips. The slim, arched eyebrows were considerably lighter than the lashes but many shades darker than the flaxen hair that fell in a long silken sheet, framing the pretty face. The eyes were wide and watchful. The head turned cautiously, looking to the right and to the left.

The bunny continued to graze, the birds to sing.

One small, rawhide-shod foot stepped forth from the shrubbery, followed by the other, whereupon the slender figure of a young woman, seventeen or eighteen years of age, was revealed. She wore a simple faded blue gown with a plain white apron, and if she had earlier worn the customary white coif and ruffled cap that most females wore in daytime she had mislaid both elsewhere.

Free of the shrubbery, she paused and listened, and one could see that her fine, straight hair reached all the way to her hips. Apparently realizing that it required some sort of confinement, she reached back over one shoulder with both hands and gathered it, flipping it forward to plait it with quick, experienced fingers.

The birds continued to sing, and although the lit-AN EXCERPT FROM HIDDEN HEIRESS

399

tle rabbit had stopped grazing and seemed alert to possible danger, it did not dart away.

The plait finished, albeit loosely and showing little indication that it would remain so for long, Elspeth Douglas drew a deep breath and exhaled. She would have to go home now, and on the way, she would have to think of an acceptable excuse for her tardiness.

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