"The story takes place in the 1500s Scotland. Regan, a 17 year old orphan girl, has been raised by the clan of MacLaren. It is decided that she must now marry one of the young men in the clan, Roddy. Roddy is her best friend, so Regan has no objections. They are wed, but on the wedding night Roddy gets drunk, which scares Regan; she has never seen him so rough before. She runs away to sleep outside. Roddy passes out, and when he awakes and sees that his new wife has left, he feels sorry and wants to make it up to her. He decides to go steal some cattle from the neighboring clan of Campbells and give it to her. On the next day, Regan finds out that Roddy is murdered. His brother Walter says that Iain Campbell had captured and killed him.
Walter rides out to avenge his brother's death; knowing that the Cambbell's clan is too strong to be openly confronted, he wants to kidnap Iain, bring him to the MacLaren castle and kill him there. Regan worries, so she follows the group. Thunderstorm scares her horse, and she has a bad accident that results, among other things, into memory loss. She is found and picked up by the Campbell's people. Iain, the very man who was said to have killed her husband, welcomes Regan as a guest in the castle and makes sure she is well taken care of until she recovers. Iain, it turns out, is not only a handsome but also a kind, generous, honest man. Regan is drawn to him, and they fall in love.
Their relationship progresses until Regan's memory returns. Her loyalty to her clan and her dead husband wins, and she accuses Iain of murdering Roddy. It so happens that Queen Mary is visiting the area, so the accusation has all the chances of being attended to – and acted upon – by the highest authority in the land. The truth comes out in the end: it is revealed that the villain is Walter, not Iain. Knowing that Regan is a rich heiress, he had been plotting from the start to get her for himself. Iain's name is cleared, and now Regan can follow her heart."
Laura Southcombe, Resident Scholar
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