An Untamed Heart Read Online Free PDF

and half dip of the head, then looked to his mother. “I need to get changed before supper.” Then back to his aunt. “Will you be joining us?”
    “Nei, I must leave soon. Be a dear boy and ask Mrs. Skogen to call for my carriage.”
    “I’m sorry to hear you won’t be joining us. I always enjoy your company.”
    “Another time. Will you be at the soirée later?”
    “If at all possible. I’m planning on it.”
    “Good. I hear there is a young lady coming whom I would love to introduce you to.”
    “Now, seriously, why would you want to do that? I have another year of school and then must concentrate on learning the business, all before I can think of the ladies, including—” he paused—“Ingra Grunewald.”
    The tante clucked. “Cheeky boy. You know she and that Lund lad are seeing each other.”
    “Not seriously, of course.” Another of his mother’s dreams, a union between the two houses of Aarvidson LMT and Grunewald, their closest competitor. A union of the two would create a possible monopoly in the lumber shipping trade from Norway, a longtime dream of both of his parents. While he found Ingra to be lovely and a talented pianist, she lacked seriously in the love of outdoors, much preferring drawing rooms to mountain meadows and rocky trails.
    “Ah yes. Unless you are publicly committed, there is always room for hope.” The tante tapped her folded fan on his arm. “We must make time for a good visit one of these days.”
    “We must, but let’s not discuss my future love life, please.” He gave a vague imitation of a bow and left the room. Why did every woman over the age of thirty set about matchmaking? He and his tante used to play chess. Sometimes she even let him win. She was also quite a horsewoman, and they had spent many hours in the saddle at Laughing Creek, thesummer home of her and her husband, the uncle for whom Nils was named, now deceased. That had been a sad day for all of them, as Onkel and Tante were favorites of all three of the Aarvidson children.
    Nils took the curving walnut staircase two at a time and hurried down the hall to his rooms. Being late to the table was another way to irritate his far, one he was careful not to trespass upon. He shut the door behind him and sighed. A fire danced in the fireplace, and his evening attire was laid out on the bed, waiting for him. Bless Janssen for looking ahead and making sure his young man was properly dressed. Open-necked shirts with full sleeves and tightly woven wool pants that resisted wind and water were much more Nils’s style, along with hiking boots and a leather vest. Riding boots too were much preferred to the fine leather shoes waiting in front of the chair. The temptation to hide out in the wing-back chair in front of the fire was hard to resist, but resist he did and donned the evening’s wear, including the cravat draped on the back of the chair. He paused to clasp the walnut mantel in both hands and lean his forehead on them to stare into the dancing fire.
    A campfire on the edge of a crystal blue high mountain lake slipped into his mind. If his plan worked, that would become an actuality instead of a memory. Give him trout from the lake, sizzling in a frying pan, with the hoot of an owl for music, and he was purely content.
    “You better hurry, young sir,” Janssen said from the doorway. “They are already gathering.”
    “Thank you.” Nils slipped his arms into the waistcoat Janssen held out for him, then the dinner coat. “Will I do?”
    “Yes, you’ll do. You’ll more than do.” Janssen stepped back. “Will you be late tonight?”
    “Most likely, unless I can beg off early. I have a good excuse though—more reading in my so delightful philosophy book, sure to put one to sleep in short order.”
    “Is that why you often read it standing in front of the fire?”
    “Only way I can stay awake.”
    Janssen smiled, showing his gold tooth. “You’ll do fine.”
    “Thank you.” Nils followed him out,