Keeley was convinced that the birth of Mairin’s child was not only a blessed event in the McCabe clan but in heaven as well. In January, when winter was usually at its harshest, what could only be considered mild weather settled in just a fortnight before Lady McCabe’s birthing time.

　　It was as if the whole of the highlands waited with held breath for the appearance of the heir to Neamh álainn.

　　Oh the weather was still cold to be sure, but the snows hadn’t fallen in weeks and the wind hadn’t howled. The sun seemed to shine brighter for the short period of the day it rose, and the...