Heart of Honor Read Online Free PDF Page A

suddenly felt exhausted. It was the feeling of hope, he knew. He had lost what little he had and now he didn’t think he could survive if she didn’t return.
    He sat down in the cage, the little monkey, Alfinn, climbing up on his shoulder. Together they would wait for the man called Snively and his helpers to come. The men would take him into a larger cage, feed him, water him like an animal, spray him down with freezing water to keep him clean, then return him to the smaller cage for the next performance.
    Leif’s chest squeezed. Mayhap tomorrow she would come.
    He thought of thick, golden-blond hair tied back in curls that framed a lovely face and lively green eyes, thought of a body fashioned by the gods, and prayed that she was more than just a beautiful woman.
    Prayed that Krista Hart was a woman of honor.

Four
    K rista rushed into her Mayfair town house, heading down the hall to her father’s study. Since they had come straightaway from the circus, Coralee flew along in her wake.
    Krista knocked, then shoved open the study door without waiting for permission. “Father! You won’t believe—”
    She stopped as Matthew Carlton rose from the chair in front of her father’s desk. She hadn’t expected to see him, though lately Matthew had been stopping by the house more and more often.
    Her father also came to his feet. “What is it, my dear? Not more trouble with the gazette?”
    She glanced at Matthew. He was openly courting her now, though Krista still wasn’t sure how she truly felt about him. But Matthew was intelligent and a good conversationalist, and with his light-brown hair, hazel eyes and well-defined features, he was attractive. He would make a good husband, her father believed. And Matthew also believed they would suit each other very well.
    Of course, there was every chance his interest was spurred by the size of Krista’s very substantial dowry and the inheritance she had received from her mother.
    “No, Father, this has nothing to do with Heart to Heart. ” She glanced again at Matthew, uncertain why she hesitated to speak in front of him. Coralee stood in the doorway, eager to hear what the professor would say when Krista told him about the man in the cage.
    “I am sorry,” Krista said, “but I need to speak to my father. In private.”
    “Of course.” Matthew kept his expression bland, though it was clear he didn’t like being dismissed. He was, after all, an associate professor and the second son of an earl. And he was becoming more and more proprietary where she was concerned.
    He bowed his head politely. “If you will excuse me…”
    “Perhaps Matthew and Miss Whitmore would care for some refreshment in the drawing room,” her father suggested diplomatically.
    “That would be nice.” From the doorway, Corrie gave Matthew an airy smile as she floated into the study and took his arm. Casting Krista a you-owe-me glance, she led him off down the hall.
    The moment the study door closed behind them, Krista launched into the tale of her adventure at the circus and the wild man she had seen in the cage.
    “It was amazing, Father. The man speaks Old Norse. That is the reason no one understands what he is saying. I didn’t figure it out myself, right away.” She tried not to blush as she recalled the big man’s bawdy remarks as she had bent over in front of the cage.
    The professor removed his spectacles, his curiosity piqued. “Did he say how he learned the language?”
    “That’s just it. He says he is from a place called Draugr Island. He says everyone there speaks Norse.”
    The professor’s eyes widened. “Draugr Island? Are you certain that is what he said?”
    “Why, yes. Do you know it?”
    “In Old Norse, draugr means ghost. There is a legend about Ghost Island. They say it is a place shrouded in fog, a rocky, fearsome bit of land, dangerous for an unwary sea captain and his ship. Most men say it doesn’t actually exist.”
    “What is the legend about