Taming the Beast

“You’re being idiotic, Cateline. He’s just busy, like me.” She yawned theatrically. “I haven’t been to bed yet.”

“But it’s 8 in the morning.”

She shrugged, her shoulders delicate in her off-the-shoulder gown. “Yes, I just got home a half hour ago. If you are so worried, go out there and search for Father.” She put her napkin on the left side of her plate and stood. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go to bed. I don’t have time for your stupid prattle.” She went up the stairs to her room.

I shut up. I knew that Melisende was a lot nicer than Aalis, so I couldn’t try my luck. Roul didn’t live with the rest of the family. When he reached the age of majority, he had moved to Paris. He spent most of his time with his friends, spending his inheritance like water. He was one of the richest earls in France. He was doing his best to spend everything he had, though, the wealth accumulated through generations to disappear now.

My heart felt like a stone as I walked out of the breakfast room without eating. I climbed the small tower where we kept our pigeons. I went there every day to feed them and care for any sick ones. There was a man who took care of the sick ones if I noticed any that were off their feed. The pigeons loved me, and I loved them. I longed to fly free, even though I loved the coziness of my home.

It was from the tower that I saw the carriage that had followed my father on his journey weeks before approach our gate. I ran down the tower stairs at a reckless pace.

“Father!” I screamed, not caring that my sisters would tease me later for being so exuberant. “Father!”

I waved cheerfully at his companion, who brought the carriage to a stop. “Miss, wait a moment.” His tone was carefully even.

“What’s the matter?”

“Your father is a little ill.”

“Ill?”

When I opened the carriage, I saw what he meant. My father was as pale as salt. His hair was disheveled. His clothing looked like he hadn’t pressed it for months. He also smelled a little. My father was fastidious, always saying that “the habit makes the monk.” He needed to look prosperous for people to take him seriously. The sick man in the carriage couldn’t have sold a potato to a starving family.

“What on earth happened, Papa?”

“Cateline?”

“Yes, I’m here.” I motioned to the footman at the door to help me bring my father into the house.

Physician

Cateline

Once the footman brought my father inside and put him in the parlor, I said, “Please get a physician.”

“Right away,” he said, bowing. He moved quickly out of the room, as if he might be afraid that he would catch what my father had.

I went to the couch and held my father’s hand. His eyes were closed and his breathing was very shallow.

“What happened?”

My father’s voice was breathy and weak. “Caught in a rainstorm. Horse shied. Fell down and hurt my ankle.”

“Oh no! Did you go into a village without a physician?”

“Worse,” he said in his raspy whisper. “He put me in the carriage and took me to the nearest castle. I am the father of Earl Roul, after all. I thought that I could trade on his name.”

“You’re acting as if you couldn’t.”

“He imprisoned me.” The statement was so short, so quiet, that I thought I had misheard him.

“What?”

“He imprisoned me,” my father told me, his voice a little stronger. “He locked me in his library.”

“Father!” Lady Melisende and Lady Aalis must have noticed the commotion out in front of our manor, because they knelt at his bedside, displacing me. They might have been vain and catty, but they did love him. Aalis began to weep.

The footman must have caught a physician who was already near our house, because the door sprang open. A man carrying a large black bag walked into the room.