“She did not run them off their land. She rescued the pup and brought them home, placing not only Connor and Sissy on the back of her horse but the dog and that infernal cat too.” Wolfe bit his tongue to keep from describing her scandalous clothing. After all, it was important to Connor that the lady not be outed to her brother or anyone else.
Strath grinned and waggled a bushy blond brow. “My Sarah will be inviting her over for tea when I tell her this tale. Which sister are we speaking of? ’Tis my understanding Broadmere Manor possesses a bevy of them. Although I think two are married now, with homes of their own.”
“I doubt this one is married. She was…” Wolfe clenched his teeth again, frustrated at the inexplicable hope in his heart that Lady Grace wasnotmarried. Why the devil would he even wander down that path?
“She waswhat?” Mischief danced in Strath’s eyes. “Ye said she was sharp-tongued. Did the lass get the better of ye, then?”
“No one gets the better of me,” Wolfe said. “No one.” But this woman had—in a way he couldn’t get out of his mind. “But Lady Grace did win Connor’s heart. He swears he is going to marry her.”
Strath shook his head and held up his glass as if offering a toast. “Dinna do that to the lad. Look at the misery your father wrought on ye with such an arrangement.”
“I would never put Connor through such misery. Although I doubt it would be in the case of Lady Grace.”
“Really now?” Strath grinned. “Sounds as if she not only got the better of ye but caught yer eye as well.”
Wolfe snorted but didn’t acknowledge that remark with a response. He sipped his drink and held the rich liquid on his tongue before sending the burn down his gullet, along with his regret at not being free. His little brother had no idea howfortunate he was. Not only could Connor go his own way in life, he could choose the woman he wished to take along with him.
Chapter Four
“You don’t feelthe slightest bit guilty about leaving Merry and Felicity behind to deal with Seri’s impossible state? Her planning of the annual Broadmere picnic borders on the irrational. You know that.”
Grace couldn’t resist giving her sister Joy a wicked smile. “Do you feel any guilt?”
Joy returned an equally mischievous grin. “Well, no. Now that you mention it. I do not possess the slightest twinge.”
“It is a glorious day for a stroll to the village,” Grace said. “Besides, Seri mentioned we needed to find a few extra trinkets for the nursery. We can take that worry from her long list of tasks yet to be done. After all, we can’t have little Rorie and Quill thinking we’ve forgotten them in the flurry of the picnic festivities.”
“Blessing and Fortuity have already accused us of overindulging our little niece and nephew.” Joy twirled her bright yellow parasol that rested on her shoulder. “But with Rorie just over a year old and Quill barely two months of age, I find that accusation unfounded. Don’t you?”
“Most definitely.” Grace swung her parasol at her side, tapping the ground with its tip as though it were a cane. She hated the silly thing and adored the warmth of the sun on her face. Who cared if she got freckles? Sunshine made her feel alive.
“If you’re not going to use your parasol, you had better pull your bonnet forward to shade your face,” Joy said. “Seri nearlyhad an attack of apoplexy when you came in from your ride the other day with your face red as a beetroot.”
Her face had been red as a beetroot because of her encounter with the Duke of Wolfebourne, but Grace wasn’t about to share that bit ofon ditwith Joy. None of her sisters could keep a secret. But Joy, in particular, tended to use any delicate information as leverage to force her sisters to cover for her so she could enjoy the gaming tables during parties instead of looking for a husband, as Chance had ordered them all to do.
Grace tugged the brim of her cornflower-blue bonnet forward. It matched the embroidered flowers bordering the empire waist of her white muslin, the trim around her sleeves, and the wrists of her gloves. Her parasol and reticule were also the same shade as freshly bloomed cornflowers. Serendipity had informed her that the ensemble brought out the blue in her eyes and complemented her golden hair.
Grace snorted. What a load of stuff and nonsense. She looked the way she looked and no shade of blue or amount of frippery would change that.
“There. I am quite shaded now. Happy?”
“Don’t be fractious with me.” Joy ran her hand across the tops of the wild forget-me-nots blooming alongside the hard-packed dirt road. “These are so pretty. We should pick some on the way back for the entry hall vases.”
“Are you forgetting dear Seri’s orders as we walked out the door?”
“Ah, yes.” Joy tucked her hand away from the flowers. “Do not stain your gloves,” she said, mimicking their eldest sister perfectly.
“It must be so tiring to be Serendipity.” Grace almost felt sorry for her sister. She realized Serendipity’s mother-henning came from a place of love and a deathbed promise to theirmother. But sometimes the eldest sister carried it a bit too far. “She needs to realize that perfection is often not worth the cost.”
“She will,” Joy said. “Someday.” As they reached the village, she perked like one of Grace’s foxhounds. “Look there. It appears our neighbors decided to visit the shops today too, but they brought their carriage. I wonder if we’ll catch sight of the duke’s affianced. That is the Wolfebourne crest, isn’t it? Maybe we shall finally set eyes on the Duke of Wolfebourne too. It is said he is quite the beast—both in size and temperament.”
“Really?” Grace said after swallowing hard to ensure her voice remained steady. “I had not heard that about the man.” Heaven help her if it was the duke and not his houseguests.
The insignia of a silver shield with a pair of wolves—one black, one red, facing each other with their noses pointed up to the heavens in what appeared to be a mutual howl—was most definitely the Wolfebourne crest.
Another gut-wrenching surge of irritation, dread, and inexplicable excitement flashed through Grace with a fury, threatening to render her speechless.
“You’ve gone all red in the face again,” Joy told her. “Are you feeling unwell?”
