Frontières, Tome 1 : La Mariée des frontières

Résumé

Mariez-vous ou soyez pendu !

Pour sir Walter Scott, surpris à voler son propre bétail pour le récupérer chez son voisin chapardeur, la mort est presque préférable au mariage avec la fille aînée de son geôlier. Néanmoins, pour sauver ses fidèles compagnons, Wat échange le noeud du pendu contre une femme qu’il connaît à peine, lady Margaret Murray, dont la réputation la présente comme l’une des femmes au physique le plus ingrat aux frontières. Pour Meg, le mariage signifie la promesse d’une vie qu’elle croyait hors de sa portée. Elle s’offre sans réserve à cet homme fier, éveillant son désir grâce à son innocence et à un corps auquel il a du mal à résister…

Mais, leur union a aussi transformé Meg en pion dans la joute violente opposant sans fin l’Angleterre et l’Écosse. Sous peu, avec la trahison omniprésente, Meg doit choisir : affronter ses frères sans scrupules… ou trahir le mari dont elle tombe profondément, passionnément et dangereusement amoureuse.

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Description en VO :

Captured in 1388 in the act of stealing back his own cattle, young Sir William Scott faces hanging, then gets one other choice--to marry immediately his captor's eldest daughter, the lady Margaret Murray, known by all as Muckle-Mouth Meggie. With the line between England and Scotland shifting daily, the Earl of Douglas wants to win back every inch of Scotland that the English have claimed; whereas the equally powerful English Percies (under Hotspur) want to win back the land between Northumberland and Edinburgh; and the Murray family is caught in the middle, shifting its alliances to try to survive. Uncertain whether she is English or Scottish and abruptly married to Sir William who is staunchly loyal to the cause of Scottish independence but who also has promised he'll never take up arms against her family, Meg Murray learns two things: first, Will's word is his bond; second, her favorite brother is spying on Douglas for Hotspur. As Sir Will faces the dilemma of honoring his word to the unscrupulous Murray without betraying Douglas, Meg must choose between betraying the husband with whom she is rapidly falling in love, or betraying her own family and best-loved brother.

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Marry or hang! For Sir Walter Scott, caught stealing back his own cattle from his thieving neighbour, death is almost preferable to wedding his captor's eldest daughter. Yet to save his loyal men, Wat trades the hangman's noose for a woman he barely knows, Lady Margaret Murray - reputed to be one of the homeliest women in the Borders. For Meg, marriage means the promise of a life she thought beyond her grasp, but their union has also made Meg a pawn in the endless violence between England and Scotland. She must choose between standing up to her brothers - or betraying her husband.