"MacAllister - 04 - Midsummer's Knight" - читать интересную книгу автора (MacGregor Kinley)

If only he were Stryder. Then he could court her. Propose to her.
But as Simon of Ravenswood, he could do nothing more than pine away for his
star, knowing that the day would never come when they could be together.
He had found her only so that he could lose her.
Fate was often unmerciful.
Sighing, he took his letter and headed for his tent. At least there, for a
little while, he could pretend to be someone else.
Someone who could offer his troth to his lady love.



Chapter 1
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England
Eleven months later
"Congratulations, Lord Stryder. I never thought to see the day when you would
take a bride."
Stryder looked up as the older nobleman's words rang in his ears. He'd just sat
down no more than five minutes before to break his fast after a morning spent
training in the list.
He was hot and sweaty, and not quite sure he had heard the man correctly.
"A bride?" Stryder repeated skeptically.
The old man's wizened face beamed at him, and his faded brown eyes were bright
with well wishes. "And a Scots heiress, no less. A fine match you've made, my
boy. Fine indeed." He clapped Stryder on the back and ambled off.
Stupefied, Stryder frowned and returned to his food. No doubt the nobleman had
gone daft with his old age.
Or so he thought.
That was the first of several such encounters, and as the morning wore on while
he went about his duties, Stryder could think of only one person who would
spread such unfounded gossip regarding him.
Simon of Ravenswood.
He smiled to himself. Simon had promised him peace while they were in England
for the yearly show of arms at Stantington. Every nobleman in England, as well
as the king, was here for the event.
Along with the men had come their numerous unmarried daughters who were all
eagerly seeking husbands with rich purses.
In other words, they were all seeking him.
Normally, he would have been hounded and mobbed by the wealth-hungry women who
coveted his lands, his prowess in bed, and his body.
In that order.
Simon had promised him that if he would return home for this spectacle, Simon
would keep the women and their scheming mothers far away.
Stryder still didn't know why his returning to England had been so important to
Simon. After all, the man didn't owe him anything and was quite free to leave
his service at any time.
Still, Simon had wanted them to come home, and so Stryder had humored him even
though he hated to be in England, where the past haunted him all too vividly.
A fortnight in England, my friend. 'Tis all I ask of you. Have no fear, I shall
keep the eager wenches far away.