Beauty and the Werewolf Read Online Free PDF Page A

spinster, and he was a handsome man. Some would look at the situation and be sure that she had gone running after him, then made up the story out of revenge for being rebuffed. Genevieve would certainly wash her hands of the situation, and Bella’s reputation would suffer in some quarters.
    And what would she gain if she won against him? The worst that would happen to him would be that he would be publicly reprimanded and perhaps ordered to apologize just as publicly. He might be watched carefully for a time, but no one could dismiss him from his post except the King and his master. It didn’t sound likely that Duke Sebastian would dismiss someone he relied on so heavily, and this was no matter for the King to get involved in.
    â€œBother!” she said aloud, crossly, knowing that Granny had already come to the same conclusion
    Granny nodded, her gray eyes full of sympathy. “Now, what can you do?” she asked. Her expression turned sly and knowing. “Now might be the time to make use of the busy mouths of those twin stepsisters of yours.”
    Bella blinked, taken aback. “I never thought of that—” Suddenly, given a new direction, her mind hummed. “Now, that is an interesting thought.” She could actually count on their discretion not to use her name—because they wouldn’t want any sort of shadow to fall on their own reputations. But this was too good a scandalous story not to share.
    She could tell them what had happened to her at the Wool Guild Ball—and what had happened in the woods—and let their indignation do the rest. She could almost hear it now. “I can’t tell you who it was, of course, because the poor thing would be mortified, but did you hear what that horrible Gamekeeper Eric Teller tried to do to a girl in the middle of the Wool Guild Ball?” Pearl could even add, with absolute truth, “My sister Bella saw it with her own eyes!” That would be even better for everyone’s purposes; Genevieve wouldn’t care that Bella was at an open Ball, it would deflect any suspicion that she had been the one so insulted and there would be no suspicion that the twins had been at the Ball without Genevieve knowing.
    Oh, the scandal! Everyone loved scandal. It would spread like wildfire. It would certainly reach the ears of the Sheriff a lot faster than her complaint would—
    Now, what that would bring was not a reprimand, but a great deal of scrutiny. Scrutiny was better for her purposes. Someone would probably be set to watch Eric and see if the rumors were true. Eric was in the employ of Duke Sebastian, and the Duke would be called to answer for anything he did.
    That someone would almost certainly be a member of the City Guard. And a quiet word in Ragnar’s ear about Eric… Again, she could count on his discretion, although he would probably let a fewpeople know that she was the one who had been accosted and insulted. But they would all be friends of hers, and she could count on them to keep it to themselves. So when the City Guard was told to watch Eric, they would already be primed.
    If he knew he was being watched, he would have to mend his ways. If he didn’t realize it, he would be caught.
    Granny smiled. “I can almost hear the thoughts buzzing in your brain,” she said.
    She smiled. “It is exceedingly manipulative,” she pointed out.
    Granny laughed. “What’s magic but manipulation?” she pointed out. “Or politics, or diplomacy for that matter?”
    â€œA point.” Bella mulled it over. “It will be more effective than anything else I could do.”
    â€œNow, you know this can backfire if you are just looking for revenge for what really was a petty insult,” Granny warned.
    Bella shook her head. “You’ve told me that before, and while I might have lost my temper with him out in the woods, I’ve got it under control now. And I just can’t bear