Page 9 of Laird of Secrets
“A what?”
“An amateur fossilist. I study rocks for imprints of ancient life forms.”
“Interesting.” He did not sound interested at all as he pulled her along. “Come this way. It is a shorter distance to the road. Is there a carriage waiting to take you to Auchnashee?”
“Auchnashee? No.” The man had the manners of a beast, she thought, unlike any privileged landowner she had ever met. “You claim to own this glen, Mr. MacGregor? Are you an earl or a viscount, to possess so much land?”
“I do not own it outright. In Scotland, the land, but for certain regions, is owned by the Crown and deeded back to the Scots. I hold the inheritable rights to Glen Kinloch. But I have no fancy title such as you are used to in the Lowlands.”
“I am used to no such thing. You are hurting me.” She pulled against his grip.
“Your father must be someone of note to have a fine lady for a daughter,” he continued.
“My father and my mother died when I was small. My grandfather was a viscount, and that passed to my brother. Why are you curious about it? It is not a great inheritance.”
“It is enough, and your family is fortunate for it.”
“I—well, I suppose we are,” she admitted.
He looked at her keenly, head tilted. His irises were a clear hazel green, framed in thick lashes and straight black brows; striking, beautiful eyes for a man, especially a brusque and roguish one, she thought. He nodded thoughtfully.
“An orphan, despite your fine upbringing. My parents also died when I was a boy. My sympathies to you and yours.”
“Thank you,” she said, surprised at his gentle tone.
“My father left me a simple lairdship with a house and some land. I am a farmer, as are most of my tenants and my kin. Kinloch is a small glen far from the main roads and civilization. Earls and such—few of that sort would live here.”
“I know some who would like it very much. An earl of my acquaintance has purchased a hotel at Auchnashee.” She did not add that he was her cousin.
“Then that is where you should be staying. I know of him. He is one of those who buy up Scottish land to put up shooting lodges and sheep runs, or to attract tourists who come to stare at our homes and our hills. None of them belong here and I will not sell my lands. So if you mean to tell your friends about this place, so that they can press me to sell, do not. Now come ahead, and hurry.”
“I have no such intention. Why such a hurry? Is someone after you?” She glanced over her shoulder.
“Bogles, ghosts, and the Fey,” he answered wryly. “Or perhaps smugglers.”
“Your own ilk?” She dug in her heels, forcing him to stop. “Sir. Enough. Give me my things and I will trouble you no further.” She pulled back, but he held her arm. “There are rogues about, so I understand, led by the laird of the smugglers, or some such. I suspect you are one of them.”
“If I was, would I say? Certainly not. But have no fear. I mean only to warn you to leave this place for your own safety. People, especially tourists, should not venture through these hills or through my glen without good reason.”
“Why are you here, if it is not safe?”
“I have the right of it. And I like to keep others, like you, off my lands.”
“I said I am not a tourist. I am here to search for fossils,” she said. “The imprint of ancient flora and fauna left in masses of rock. They provide a geological record of the earth.”
“I know what fossils are,” he said impatiently. “You can study them elsewhere in Scotland, not here, not now. Come.”
Tugged along by his strength, hurrying in his wake, Fiona concentrated on her footsteps along the rugged terrain. Thin, drifting mist obscured the way as they rushed along.
MacGregor stopped short, fingers tightening on her wrist. Fiona stopped too. Hearing the clop of horse hooves and the rattle of a cart, she moved her head, trying to determine the direction of the sound through the fog.
“A pony cart?” she asked.
“Aye, coming along the drover’s track that runs to the road and the loch. This way,” he said, pulling her along. Her booted toe hit a rock and she stumbled.
MacGregor caught her around the waist, and she fell against him, off balance. He felt so solid and sure that for an instant she leaned against him, breathing hard. Then she straightened quickly. Once again he pulled her along again over hillocks and stones, stopping quickly once more. This time she bumped into his back. He put out a hand to stop her from falling on the incline.
“Hush now.” He looked around warily, his fingers finding and tightening on her wrist. Sensing danger, she moved closer to him, feeling blinded in the deeper fog on this part of the hill.
