Tamed by a Laird Read Online Free PDF Page A

Phaeline had been unable to attend their wedding. It had been a small
     one, because Ella had been shy and Hugh disliked the pomp and circumstance his father would have demanded for the marriage
     of his heir, despite his lordship’s disapproval of Hugh’s chosen bride.
    The only thing about Ella that had pleased the late laird was her portion. As the only daughter of a wealthy Lothian baron,
     her tocher had added significantly to Thorn-hill’s coffers. Even so, the laird had thought her nobbut a wee dab of a lass.
    But Hugh had loved Ella dearly. She had been sweet and quiet, and believed he could do no wrong. Although shy with others,
     she had never been shy with him.
    She had been a gentle lass who never thought ill of anyone, and when she died, it seemed to him that most of what was soft
     and gentle in him had died with her. The rest had died with her wee bairn a sennight later.
    He had stopped feeling any strong emotions then and doubted that he would ever feel such things again. Now, watching the moonlight
     on the water, he felt only lingering sorrow and the familiar, ever-present sense of loss.

    Although Mairi and Fiona had offered to go with Jenny to her room, she had disclaimed any need for their protection. “Faith,
     Mairi,” she said on the first landing. “Even if Reid were sober enough to find my chamber, my door has a strong bolt.”
    “I thought you might like some company,” Mairi said, unpinning and pulling off her caul to reveal a long tumble of silky,
     sand-colored hair.
    “Forbye, it will be easier to send him away if we are all there,” Fiona said.
    “Right now, all I want is my bed,” Jenny told them. “Goodnight now, both of you. I’ll see you in the morning.”
    Turning away, she hurried upstairs, trying to ignore the gloomy mood that threatened to overcome her. She had known from childhood
     that she would marry one day, but it had never occurred to her that anyone could make her marry a man for whom she had no
     respect or liking. Her father had talked to her of marriage, but he had envisioned a comfortable and loving union such as
     he had enjoyed. He had certainly never imagined a man like Reid Douglas as his only child’s husband.
    Entering her chamber, she found her maidservant laying out her night things.
    “Och, mistress, ’tis glad I am to see ye,” Peg said, trying without success to straighten her cap over her un-tamed riot of
     red curls. “If ye dinna mind, I’m hoping to walk a short way wi’ me brother Bryan and them, so I can talk wi’ him.”
    “You mean to leave Annan House with the minstrels?” Jenny raised her eyebrows. “Will the lady Phaeline allow such a thing?”
    “I dinna mean to ask her,” Peg said. “ ’Tis more than a year since I’ve seen our Bryan, and I saw nowt o’ him today long enough
     for speaking.”
    “Then you
should
go,” Jenny said. “What’s more, if you’ll help me change out of this gown into a plain one, I will go with you.”
    “Nay, then, ye mustna do any such thing!” Peg exclaimed. “ ’Tisna fitting for a lady to be traipsing about wi’ a lot o’ such
     common folk!”
    “I’ve been longing for an adventure before I must wed, even a wee one,” Jenny said. “If I take off my caul and veil and don
     my old blue kirtle and a cloak, people will just think I am another maid bearing you company whilst you meet with Bryan. And
     if anyone does catch us, I will bear the blame,” she added. “My lord and my lady will assume that I succumbed to impulse and
     you went along to look after me.”
    Peg hesitated, visibly moved by the latter argument.
    “Hurry,” Jenny said, feeling a surge of excitement that she had not felt since childhood. “Oh, Peg, this will be fun!”
    Peg looked askance at Jenny’s stout walking boots. “Them boots be too fine to belong to any maidservant.”
    “Well, there is still snow on the ground, and I haven’t any others,” Jenny said. “If anyone asks about them, just tell