A small but defiant shriek coming from the doorway caused all eyes in the room to look in that direction. Smiling, already on her feet and holding out her arms, Margaret was astonished to see a hint of a smile on the duke’s face as the newest addition to the family entered in his papa’s arms. Donald Walter Cameron was just six weeks old. Earlier that day he had tolerated being handed from pillar to post around his many relatives, enduring the outpouring of cooing and cuddles and kisses with remarkable equanimity.

With a thatch of dark-brown hair and brown eyes, Margaret’s son was the image of his doting papa. “I had to rescue him from your Mrs. Mack,” Donald explained as he carefully handed the precious bundle over. “She was most reluctant to let him go. It seems his only flaw is that his hair is not the same colour as yours. It’s long past his bedtime.”

“We’ll take him up in a minute, but there’s something we need to do first.”

Snuggling her son on her shoulder, Margaret took Donald by the hand, leading him out to the entrance hall where the tree stood. The baby snuffled then sighed, his eyes heavy.

“See here, this is the first ornament your mama ever made,” she said, pointing out the emerald one. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a tiny little gold star. “And this is your first star, which Papa will hang on the tree for you.” Margaret planted a kiss on his downy-soft hair, drinking in the special newborn baby scent of him. “Then next year, little one, you can help Papa and Mama make the first star of many to hang in our own tree in Achnacarry.”

Author’s Note

Author’s Note

Dear Reader,

Her Heart for a Compass has been fifteen years in the making. It interweaves two journeys through life: Lady Margaret’s and my own.

It was when I began to research my own ancestry, discovering to my astonishment that my great-great-great-grandparents were the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, that I first encountered their second daughter, Lady Margaret Montagu Douglas Scott. She and I share a given name, our birthdays are within a few days of each other, and we are both redheads. I felt an immediate affinity with her and wanted to know more about her. When very little could be found, my imagination began to take over. Lady Margaret, the heroine of this book, is a courageous woman who fights for her voice to be heard and has the confidence to follow her heart. She is strong and resilient, determined to live her life on her own terms, to empower herself against all odds.