The Beautiful One Read Online Free

a pleasure to see you again, Uncle, after all these years,” she said.
    The hard lines of his mouth seemed to slacken for a heartbeat as his head tipped slightly in acknowledgment of her words.
    â€œElizabeth. I did not expect to see you here.”
    She looked taken aback at the cool bluntness of his greeting, but she managed a smile. “I was so young when last I saw you that I couldn’t remember very much about you. Do I look familiar to you?”
    His mouth tightened, as if her harmless question was objectionable. Clearly he didn’t want to reminisce.
    Anna reached into her pocket for the note Miss Brickle had given her. “I’ve been sent by the Rosewood School to accompany your ward on her journey here. Miss Brickle thought it best she come to you.”
    She held out the note. “She has written to you.” It was a brief, polite note, giving no particulars of the reason for the girl’s departure; Miss Brickle had told Anna so when she explained that Anna was not to reveal what had happened. The midnight kissing in the garden had only been, apparently, the last straw as far as Miss Tarryton’s behavior.
    He ignored the proffered note, his lifeless eyes resting on her. Cold-as-the-grave blue eyes in a handsome, strong face. “I’m sure you can explain succinctly why my ward is here. Clearly there has been some problem.”
    Anna felt a spurt of pity for the beautiful, proud Miss Tarryton. “Miss Brickle felt that Rosewood could no longer provide the right environment for her.”
    â€œElizabeth,” he said, “ why have you been sent away?”
    Miss Tarryton blinked at his abrupt question, then gave a tentative smile that acknowledged the awkwardness of the situation. “Oh, my lord, it was nothing serious.” When his eyebrow slashed upward, she said, “Perhaps I had a few…disagreements with Miss Brickle.”
    â€œYou must apologize to the headmistress then, and see that nothing like this happens again.”
    â€œI’m afraid,” Anna said firmly, “that the school has made the decision it considers to be best and must now entrust Miss Tarryton’s care to you.” Miss Brickle had specified that under no circumstances could the girl return.
    Some emotion traveled over the viscount’s face—it almost looked like anguish, as though, strangely, his ward’s arrival was a blow he could not absorb. He opened his mouth, closed it, pressed his lips into a hard line. Finally, he said, “Well, Elizabeth, if you can’t return to Rosewood, you will have to go to some other school.”
    His words were clearly a surprise to his niece, who’d obviously been anticipating a warmer welcome from him, but she didn’t crumple, and Anna liked her the better for it.
    â€œPlease, Uncle,” Miss Tarryton said with a nakedly eager-to-please look that struck at Anna’s heart. “I’d rather stay with you. I won’t take up much room. You’ll hardly know I’m here. And I can play the pianoforte when you want to hear it, and do needlepoint, and…” Her voice trailed off as she saw that the viscount’s commanding gaze had returned to Anna, the one who’d brought this problem into his drawing room.
    He crossed his arms, and Anna’s eyes were momentarily drawn to his hands. He had long, lean fingers that seemed perfect for an aristocrat used to holding nothing more than a quill or a brandy glass, but they were covered in nicks and scratches. He’d been dressed as a laborer on the road, and the tale his hands told was of hard use. Odd. And yet perhaps not, for someone who seemed so bitter. Perhaps he’d been boxing, as gentlemen loved to do. Though his battered hands made him look as if he’d been boxing with a tree.
    â€œI’m afraid there is nothing at Stillwell for Miss Tarryton,” he said.
    â€œOf course you weren’t expecting her to