When she laughed, it wasn’t an old lady’s laugh—it was the one he remembered from his childhood. Nurse Etta may have been stern when it was required, but most times she had been kindly and good-natured.
“Then don’t call me Nurse Etta.” She came close and took over tying the cravat. “My word, that makes me feel as though I’m still responsible for you three young hellions.” She smiled up at him, looking much like the younger woman he remembered, despite the smallpox scars. “I’ve been plain Etta for years.”
“How did that happen?”
“Why so disapproving?” Finished, she patted his chest and stepped back. “When Margery grew into a young lady, I faced the choice of finding another household with small children elsewhere, or taking a different position here. Your father was kind enough to let me stay on.”
He’d never expected to hear the words your father and kind in the same sentence, and his expression must have shown it.
“Circumstances change, Randal,” she added in that old Nurse Etta tone of voice. “It’s up to us to accept them and move on.”
He suspected those words were directed to him and his current situation, but he didn’t want to hear them right now. “I’m looking for Lady Lily.”
“A lovely young woman.” She bustled over to the bed and began straightening a coverlet that didn’t need to be straightened. “She’s outside playing with the dogs.”
“What dogs? You cannot mean…no…”
She plumped a pillow, then looked up. “Yes. The marquess’s dogs.”
That was worse than learning Lily was with his father. His heart pounding, Rand headed outside at a run.
But when he reached the enclosure, he told himself he should have known better. He stood for a moment just watching. Lily was fine, if covered in dog slobber. In fact, she seemed to be in her element.
She had a fawn-colored dog fetching a short stick and a brindle dog playing tug-of-war with a longer one. Two more dogs seemed, miraculously, to be waiting their turns for attention. Another few were simply ignoring her, but that in itself was a wonder.
Some of the hounds stood as tall as her shoulder, and they were all trained to fight, bred mainly for their fierceness. Except the marquess, everyone on the estate was wary of the beasts, Rand included.
Thinking it might be more dangerous than running into a burning barn, he climbed into the enclosure and wove his way through the excited animals to Lily.
She glanced over at his approach, then focused on the brindle dog. “Let go,” she commanded. The canine dropped his end of the stick, ending the playful tug-of-war.
Rand was unsurprised. Animals always listened to Lily. “Thank you for your patience,” he said, drawing near.
She shrugged, clearly unhappy that he’d run off. But she seemed unwilling to make trouble, either. She tossed the shorter stick and watched the fawn-colored dog chase after it. “I understand,” she said quietly.
Hurrying back with the wood, the mastiff sideswiped Rand and made him stagger. The mass of these beasts was amazing; not a one of them weighed less than he did. “This isn’t really safe,” he told her. “They’re very aggressive.”
“Balderdash. They were starving for attention.” With a swipe of its huge pink tongue, the hound licked her smack on the face. She tossed the stick again. “You should put some thick, knotted rope in here. They’d enjoy playing with it, chewing on it. And that tree is a hazard.” She waved toward one corner. “Those apples are exactly the right size to get lodged in their throats. I’m surprised none of them have choked.”
He shifted on his feet. “I’m sure my father knows what he’s about. He’s been breeding the monsters for years.”
“Monsters? I thought you said you were a dog person.”
He felt himself turning red. “These don’t count. I prefer the small, fluffy sort.”
Reclaiming the stick from between the dog’s big teeth, she appeared to be suppressing a laugh. “Have you ever had a small, fluffy dog?”
“No. But I used to look at these and wish for one.”
“They can be meaner than these. We shall have to try to locate a sweet one for you.” She dropped the wood to the ground and finally met his gaze. “So tell me the rest.”
“Can we get out of here first?”
“I suppose.” She patted a couple of hounds on their heads before bunching her skirts in a hand. As she climbed the fence, the dogs began howling. When Rand went to follow, one beast whacked him with its tail, a stinging blow he half suspected was deliberate.
He supposed he deserved it.
When they were safely beyond the fence, he took Lily’s face in both hands and kissed her, relieved when he felt her melt against his body. “I’m sorry for running off,” he told her. “It’s a bad habit.”
Apparently having forgiven him, she smiled. “I hope it’s your worst.”
“Oh, it is, I assure you. Other than this one oddity, I’m a perfect companion.”
“Those are perfect companions.” She gestured toward the dogs. But she was still smiling. “Tell me everything.”
Feeling better than he had in hours, he slipped an arm around her waist and walked her into the gardens. “I don’t care what my father wants, Lily. I won’t give you up for anything. Anything.”
She snuggled closer against him. “Tell me the rest. Your father has pledged to marry Margery to his heir, and now you are his heir. What else?”
“Margery’s a commoner, but an heiress. She inherited a vast estate. Land that my father has been managing for twenty years.”
“And?”
“He claims that Hawkridge will bankrupt without the income from that land. He contends he was close to losing everything when Margery came along. He said he mortgaged Hawkridge to the hilt to support Charles during the war.”
“Would he have?”
“What?”
“Risked his estate for the king?”
He blinked. “Of course. Did your father not do the same?”
“It was my grandfather at the time. And no.” Her father’s daughter, she plucked dead leaves off the hedges as they walked.
