The Pursuit by Johanna Lindsey Read Free Book Online

enough. He’d been told to follow it as it wound through the countryside like a river. It was huge. And Castle Kregora sat on a high bluff that overlooked it and the mountains beyond.
    He thought it odd indeed that Melissa would travel so far from home to swim in a tiny water hole, when she had such a magnificent lake in her own backyard, as it were. He could be glad that she’d done so yesterday, though, for whatever reason. He’d never have met her otherwise.
    Just the mere prospect of seeing her again stirred up more excitement than Lincoln had felt in a very long time. One of the things he hadn’t been looking forward to this season was the fact that his aunt and cousin would find out that he’d become rather jaded. The endless rounds of socializing, gambling, and other entertainments the ton immersed themselves in had never held muchinterest for him to begin with, and after ten years of partaking from that cup he had finally concluded he must be a country boy at heart. Which was yet another reason he’d agreed it was time he marry.
    Kregora certainly wasn’t what one would expect of a centuries-old castle. It was in excellent repair for one thing, including all the outer defense walls. The inner courtyard they surrounded likely bore no resemblance to what it once was, today filled with numerous workshops—carpenter shop, smithy, bakery, and the like—but also stone cottages, very much a little village.
    Melissa probably lived in one of those cottages, or at least nearby. He asked at the stable where he might find her. He was directed inside the main keep to do his asking of the laird, who was home. And there was his next surprise. You simply couldn’t tell from outside that going inside the castle would be like walking into a country manor, replete with all the many rooms one would expect to find in a manor house.
    He was asked to wait in an empty parlor. It didn’t take long for Lachlan MacGregor himself to show up, owner of Kregora and current head of this small branch of the MacGregors.
    Lincoln was tall, but the MacGregor was taller. Somewhere in his mid-forties, barrel-chested, thick-legged, he might be likened to a giant by most people. He was handsome for all of that, and he wore a very friendly look as he held out his hand and introduced himself. Lincoln didlikewise, though he didn’t include his title, viewing it more as armor, which he didn’t need to don here.
    “What brings ye tae Kregora, Mr. Burnett?”
    “I’m looking for Melissa MacGregor. I was told you could direct me to her,” Lincoln replied.
    “And why would ye be looking for her?”
    “I’ve come to ask her to marry me.”
    He shouldn’t have chosen that reason, when any number of other reasons would have done, for why he was there. And he’d managed to surprise the MacGregor, though the older man masked it quickly enough. They were no one’s business, after all, his intentions, with the exception of Melissa and perhaps her parents. And stating them didn’t even get him pointed in the right direction sooner, as he’d hoped.
    “Let’s go tae m’office, where we’ll no’ be interrupted,” Lachlan suggested.
    “There’s no need for me to intrude on your time, sir. If you could just direct me to Melissa—”
    “In good time, lad. Ye’ll be telling me first why ye’ve decided ye want tae marry m’daughter.”
    “ Your daughter?”
    “Aye, and if ye werena aware o’ that, then ye dinna know enough about m’daughter tae be asking for her—yet. But be at ease, mon, I’m no’ denying yer suit. We’ve a need tae talk about it though, ye’ll agree.”
    Lincoln nodded with a good deal of embarrassment and followed Lachlan to his office. Of all the rotten luck. He’d thought the mention ofmarriage would cut short any delays, or at least point out the seriousness of his visit, which should have got him into Melissa’s presence more quickly, without any more detours along the way. But considering whom he’d