In Liz Curtis Higgs’ third installment, Whence Came a Prince, Leana discovers she is once again with Jamie’s child. Though the babe was conceived when she and Jamie believed they were husband and wife, ‘tis no easy task for an unmarried woman to bear a child or the gossip it ensues in 18^th century Scotland.

When she decides to return home from Aunt Meg’s, Leana is surprised to find that Jamie and Rose are still at Auchengray, having put off their travels to Glentrool until Lammas when the lambs will be sold.

Leana, ever full of grace, keeps her secret to herself when she sees that her dearest Rose is also with child. The two women mend their friendship and sisterly love, but Jamie loses patience with his trickster uncle, Lachlan McBride, when he discovers Lachlan was behind the theft of his lambs.

To add to their shame, Lachlan names his new bride’s sons as his heirs, leaving out his nephew Jamie, his daughters Rose and Leana, and his grandchildren. He demands that Jamie must care for his “bystart” (Leana’s unborn child) by staying at Auchengray, or he will throw Leana out of the house to fend for herself.

Utterly confused about which way to turn, Jamie is relieved when God presents the answer in a dream. Together, he and the McBride sisters plan their escape from Auchengray to include their maidservants and Jamie’s stolen lambs. But Rose does the unthinkable and steals her father’s most important treasure—his thrifite full of silver and gold.

Once the journey has begun, however, Rose regrets her decision and secretly deposits the bag of coins in the offering box of each kirk along the way. Lachlan indeed follows the travelers in an effort to retrieve his stolen property, but is met by an indignant Jamie and no coins are to be found.

Whether the tedious travel or the distress of her burdensome secret, Rose, in her fourth month, can no longer carry the twins and loses them. In one of the most heart wrenching scenes I have ever read, Leana and Jamie watch their loved-one lose her life as well. But we know this must happen since the story loosely follows Jacob, Leah and Rachel of the Bible. For the same reason, Jamie will not see his mother when he finally returns to become Laird of Glentrool.  The novel ends as it should with Leana, whom God meant to be Jamie’s rightful wife, remarry before their child is born.

If you’re the type that gets a little down after you’ve finished a novel simply because you can’t spend any more time with the characters you love, then I invite you to read all three books in this series. In Higgs’ historical saga, the research alone is to be applauded. Add to that the lyrical writing and the deep inspirational message, and you have a timeless tale.