20
A BEAUTIFUL PATH
Hair red, nose pert, eyes set farther apart so she seemed not simply innocent but naïve.Diana no longer looked like herself.She could likely walk through Hyde Park and no one would recognize her.Not even Apollo.She could change her appearance all she wanted to, though, and it would not change her name.
Although… shecouldmake herself a bit mysterious.Tell everyone that she only acknowledged her husband’s last name because life had not started until she’d married him.
No.She did not think she could do that.But she had to do something to soothe Temple’s fears.Or she was soothing her own fears.She knew it was time to leave their little Bloomsbury haven, but that didn’t make it easy.
She let the glamour fall and slumped onto the bed.“Be clever, Diana.”No idea supplied itself.“Be cleverer!”
The dog started barking, and she gave up entirely.It was too late to be clever, and the day had been longer.And the dog too loud.And… the barking sounded closer this time, as if someone had let the beast outside.
She opened the window and stuck half of her body out.“Oh, do be quiet,” she hissed into the night.
The barking only intensified, and she heard scratching at the wall below her.She peered into the dark beneath the window.What sort of dog made those giant bellowing noises?It had not been so loud or so deep earlier in the day.She’d have imagined a small sort of dog, the kind that sat on laps.But hearing it now, it must be a big dog.
“Please, love, do quit barking and I’ll leave a nice piece of meat for you outside our door.”
“In my experience a slab of meat is the only thing this animal answers to.”
She knew that voice, the silky exasperation that seemed a part of the night.“Temple!Is that you?Of course it’s you.”She knew her husband’s voice as much from the anticipation racing up her spine and the warmth of the ring on her finger as she did from the tenor and tone of it.
“Yes, it’s me.And I brought you a present.”
“You’re rather late.I expected you hours ago.I was considering laying siege to his majesty’s residences.”
A dark chuckle.“Glad you remained safely abed.Come downstairs and open the door.The damn dog won’t leave the window now that he’s seen you.But if he hears you around the corner, he’ll follow your voice.”
The air must have changed into molasses.It was that difficult to move through.Or her limbs had become stone, and they were more difficult to move.As she made her slow way down the stairs, she had that sticky, dream feeling she always hated that made her glad to wake up.The one where she could barely move no matter how hard she tried.But somehow she made it downstairs, opened the front door, and stepped outside.
“Doggy,” she said, then louder, “Doggy!”
She heard the scuff of claws across the ground, then the faster scrape of running paws.And then she was knocked flat on her backside.She screamed, and a wet tongue dragged up the length of her face.In the pale light of the nearby fairy lamp, a shadow approached.
Through gritted teeth and barely moving lips, she called out for Temple.“I’m being attacked!Oh God, his tongue is everywhere!”
But the dog did not appear to be mauling her.He was simply overly excited to meet her.
“Merlin,” Temple said with a stern voice.“Sit.”
The dog did not sit, but he did stop slobbering over her, wagging his tail with wild abandon.
Had Temple said… Merlin?
Diana had enough space to sit upright, and she clutched at the dog’s furry neck.“Is that really you, Merlin?”
The dog licked her lips.
“Yuck.”She dragged her hand across the back of her mouth.
Temple’s hand appeared in her vision, and she took it, letting him tug her to standing.
“Where did you find him?”she asked, resting her hand on Merlin’s head.
“I stole him.”Said as if he were denoting the time of day.
Diana sank back down to pet his big bony head and to hug his big furry neck and to hide her tears in that warm fur.“But how?”
