Free The Heir of the Castle (Harlequin Romance) by Scarlet Wilson

something much smaller.’
    He gave a nod and a smile. ‘Some people don’t even know it exists. The castle grounds are sheltered and on an incline. It means that you have to walk down steps at each level.’ They walked closer to the edge of the pond. It was the size of around four football pitches and Laurie could see a few white swans bobbing in the middle.
    ‘What’s that over there?’ There was an elegant glass and white metal gazebo on the other side of the pond. ‘It looks as if you lifted it straight out of The Sound of Music and put it there.’
    Callan nodded. ‘What if I told you it had a bench that ran all the way around the inside?’
    ‘Really?’ Her stomach gave a little flutter. Her mind instantly had her inside the gazebo with Callan twirling her around in his arms. The chemistry between them seemed to increase the more time she spent with him; it was getting hard not to acknowledge it. Did Callan think so too?
    She wasn’t sure. He nodded and gave her a half-smile. ‘Really. It’s just coincidence. It’s more than a hundred years old. Angus’s parents had it built. The swan pond was his mother’s favourite spot, but she didn’t like sitting in the sun.’
    ‘It’s gorgeous. Can we go around?’
    He glanced at his watch. ‘Maybe later. We’ve still got a lot of ground to cover.’
    Laurie glanced down at her footwear. If she was going to visit the castle’s own Sound of Music gazebo she didn’t really want to do it in red wellies. It kind of spoiled the mood. ‘Okay, then, where to next?’
    Callan led her up another set of steps that took them around the other side of the castle. They passed outbuildings that looked a little worse for wear. A set of unused stables and a round stone building that was almost falling down.
    The stonework on this side of the castle wasn’t as clean as the front and there were a number of slates on the ground. Were they from the roof?
    The round building was fascinating and she couldn’t help but go and peer through the doorway. ‘What was this?’
    ‘It was one of the old icehouses on the estate. They used to cut ice from the swan pond and store it here for use in the house. The old icehouses were the forerunners of refrigeration. And watch out—you probably need a hard hat to go in there.’
    ‘Wow. What other buildings are there?’
    ‘As well as the gazebo at the swan pond, there is an orangery. It was built in 1818. It was used later as a camellia house and had one-inch-thick glass, a dome top and a furnace at the back of the building to supply under-floor heating. They used to think that delicate flowers needed to be grown in hothouses. There also used to be a pagoda overlooking the swan pond, but it fell into ruins—only the foundations are left now.’
    This place was truly amazing—she didn’t even know the half of it. No wonder Callan loved it so much. ‘What was that for?’
    ‘The lower level was the swan house and aviary with the gazebo or teahouse above. During its time the aviary housed specimens of gold and silver pheasants, pigeons of fancy varieties, kites and hunting hawk. It’s also thought that one time a monkey was housed here, giving the pagoda its local nickname of the “monkey house”.’
    She shook her head. ‘I had no idea the estate was so big.’ She was also astounded at Callan’s knowledge and the way everything just tripped off his tongue. ‘Did you ever see it?’
    He wrinkled his brow. ‘It was partially standing when I was a boy. There was still some glass and stone remaining. And there’s more. There are old gatehouses, a water house and a gas house all around the grounds of the estate. There’s an old dairy, a stonemason’s and another set of stables.’
    Laurie had no idea about any of this. When she’d done the Internet search for Annick Castle, she’d only really looked at the pictures of the actual castle. She hadn’t read up on how big the estate was or what it contained.
    They’d reached