April Moon by Susan King, Merline Lovelace, MIRANDA JARRETT Page B

here, Jock.”
    “Nor horse thievery, either. Find who blamed me for their own crime, and I…well, I might forgive you what you did.” Jock lifted one brow.
    Simon smiled faintly. “That’s a devil’s bargain. What is the second thing you want of me?”
    Jock leaned close. “Keep away from my daughter.”
    “Ah.” His heart slammed hard. “So your forgiveness does not extend to that matter.”
    “Nor ever will. I willna forget that I found you both in a loft, and you loving her like a rascal. And I willna forget that you asked me for her hand, and I said nay.”
    “I remember it very well,” Simon murmured.
    “Jenny was brought up educated and refined, like her mother. She isna for a rogue like you, Lockhart, nor ever was.”
    “I’m no longer in the free trade, Jock.”
    “You’re still a rogue in blood and bone.”
    “So are you,” Simon pointed out.
    “And I wasna good enough for my sweetheart, either, though she loved me for my sins. Now, thanks to you, Jenny willna wed anyone ever, so she says. She thought to be a help to her da…until this. But I know my kinsmen will look after my lass, though they be a band o’ rogues themselves.” Jock sighed, and glanced through the tiny window. “Full moon, Lockhart. No rogues will be about on such a bright night as this.”
    “I will be out there,” Simon murmured. “If you do have false accusers, Jock, I will find them.” Still, he knew very well that Colvin might be guilty. Little could be done to save Jock now, but Simon would try his utmost for his old friend—no matter what the man thought of him. “You have my word.”
    “You gave me your word years back.”
    Simon frowned. “I will guarantee you one thing more, Jock Colvin. I promise you that Jenny will always be safe and happy. Always,” he added in a growl.
    “Good,” Jock said. “Then she willna be wi’ ye.”

CHAPTER ONE
    April 17, 1803
Scotland, the Solway Coast
    T HE RIDER PURSUED HER , moving swiftly over the moor through moonlight and shadows. Jenny glanced anxiously over her shoulder, gripping the reins tightly as her horse and cart hurtled onward. The man was gaining ground behind her—now she saw his dark silhouette clearly in the purple twilight, and realized that there were three others riding behind him.
    The leader was a tall man, broad-shouldered and long-legged. His greatcoat and boots were as black as his horse, and his hair was that black, too, thick and whipping in the wind, hatless, for she had set him a mad pace. He rode with ease and seemed so close to catching her that she leaned forward to urge the bay faster.
    “Halt!” the man called. “Stop, you! Preventive officer!”
    She felt a sudden spike of fear. Excise officerswould not only keep her from her task, but they often delighted in searching women on suspicion of smuggling. Her father never allowed her out alone on the moors or near the coast after dark.
    But tonight she had no choice, nor was Jock Colvin there to prevent his daughter from this errand. In fact, he had sent her in his place, for he sat in a cell in the Tolbooth, accused of horse thievery, and awaiting a sentence of hanging.
    She had but one more chance to prove his innocence, but she could not risk delay. If the excise men caught her and realized that she was Jock Colvin’s lass, they would not be inclined to let her go.
    Snapping the reins, she sensed the bay mare surge as the cart hurtled over the moorland. In the distance, Jenny glimpsed the glittering sweep of the Solway Firth. Like a pearl riding on lavender velvet, the moon rose in the twilight sky.
    A full moon revealed too much, and smugglers stayed home on such nights, she knew. But Jenny had no choice but to see to this task tonight. If she did not, her father’s imminent death by hanging would weigh heavily on her heart and in her soul.
    Her father had sent her out to find a cache of goods stolen from him, and she needed secrecy for that mission. Darkness had eluded her in the