Taming the Beast Read Online Free PDF Page A

all—”
    Elizabeth suddenly broke free from her father and threw her slender arms around Michaela’s waist, nearly toppling them both.
    â€œOh, my!” Michaela laughed and squeezed the pretty girl, partly out of affection, and partly to keep the pair of them upright. Elizabeth continued to cling and so Michaela let her be. It was nice to be embraced.
    â€œShe seems to have taken to you rather quickly,” Lord Tornfield observed. “How long were the two of you hidden away?”
    â€œNot long,” Michaela rushed to assure him, and wondered if the little girl was not clinging to her in order to avoid punishment. “I do hope you’ll forgive Lady Elizabeth for disobeying you, my lord.”
    â€œI beg your pardon?”
    Beneath Michaela’s forearms, Elizabeth’s shoulders shook.
    â€œI shall…I shall forfeit my boon if it will prevent her from being reprimanded.”
    â€œWhy on earth would I reprimand Elizabeth?”
    Michaela felt her face heat. Must she always feel the fool?
    â€œFor…ah, attending the feast without your permission?”
    Elizabeth drew away slightly and Michaela saw that the girl was laughing .
    Alan Tornfield frowned at Michaela for a moment and then burst out in his own merry chuckle. “Lady Michaela, it has been my fondest wish for some time now that Elizabeth join the festivities of Tornfield. I assure you, she was hiding away of her own accord. Verily, this is the first time she has shown herself to anyone other than myself or the household staff since her mother passed.”
    Michaela knew she must look like a stunned ninny, but there was nothing for it. “Oh,” was all she could think to say for a moment. “Oh. Well, then, I am pleased that she decided to appear, as well.”
    Elizabeth returned to her father’s side and Alan Tornfield smiled as he drew his arm around the girl’s shoulders. “Now, as for your boon—”
    â€œMy lord, if you please,” Michaela interrupted. “I would request that my father’s hold be granted some sort of small reprieve. Our harvest was scant last year—our village seems to be shrinking. I’d not ask the whole of our debt be forgiven, of course, but perhaps a small portion? Or an extension for payment in full?”
    Lord Tornfield looked at her thoughtfully. “I am well aware of the state of your parents’ distress, Lady Michaela. Indeed, all the land felt the pinch of Magnus Cherbon’s rule, myself included. We were granted an unexpected reprieve by his passing, but now that Lord Roderick has returned, I do wonder for how long.”
    â€œI see,” Michaela said, hearing the man’s answer in his tone, if not his words.
    â€œBut perhaps we can reach some sort of arrangement,” Lord Tornfield said suddenly, his thoughtful gaze flicking to his daughter. He looked back to Michaela’s face and his eyes sparkled. “I am not an unreasonable man, after all.”
    Michaela didn’t know what to say, so she said nothing. After a moment, Lord Tornfield spoke again.
    â€œPerhaps you would consider taking a position in my household, in lieu of your parents’ debt,” he suggested slowly, and Michaela thought she might have seen Alan Tornfield’s eyes take a quick appraisal of her body. Her stomach fluttered. “As Elizabeth’s companion, of course,” he added quickly. “I would not wish your reputation harmed.”
    Michaela wanted to laugh. Her reputation could be no further tarnished were she to walk through the streets of London stark naked. But then the essence of Lord Tornfield’s suggestion struck home.
    â€œMy lord, are you proposing that the whole of my parents’ debt would be forgiven, only for my companionship for Elizabeth?”
    â€œI think…I think, yes. Yes.” His words grew surer. “Lady Michaela, my daughter’s happiness is most important to me. If