Brandon couldn’t fault them for their enthusiasm. He felt much the same at seeing her. For a wild moment, he wondered what his hard-hearted countess would do were he to rush toward her as well.
Instead of giving in to such a maudlin flight of fancy, however, he offered her a bow, remaining where he stood by the mantel and its steadily ticking clock. “Lady Grenfell, you are looking remarkably lovely this afternoon.”
“Thank you, Your Grace,” she said softly, with equal formality.
Pandy bounded into her, throwing her arms around Lottie’s skirts and nearly sending her to the floor. Cat, who had been remarkably well-behaved in recent days when it came to attempts at eating gowns, took a mouthful of her hems and began tugging.
“Cat,” he scolded. “You are to leave Lady Grenfell’s skirts alone.”
Cat pulled again, gleefully ignoring him.
His house resembled nothing so much as a wayward menagerie at the moment. He hastened forward as Lottie laughed, returning Pandy’s embrace.
“I’ve missed you, Pandy,” she told his daughter.
Her patience and acceptance made him love her even more.
“Cat,” he said sternly as he reached the trio, pointing a finger at the naughty beast. “Stop. Bad dog.”
“Cat, no,” Pandy added, frowning down at her hound. “No eating Missus Lady Grenspell’s dress.”
“Perhaps this is Cat’s way of saying she’s happy to see me.” Smiling, Lottie reached into her reticule, extracting what appeared to be a small hunk of cheese that had been wrapped in a cloth. “Or perhaps she knows I’ve brought a treat for her.”
Cat’s ears twitched, and she immediately released her mouthful of silk, retreating to her bottom, her dark-brown gaze rapt.
“Would you like some cheese, Cat?” Lottie asked.
The dog barked.
“Then you must have manners,” Lottie informed the spaniel.
Brandon felt a keen kinship with the dog in that moment. He wondered if he watched her with the same longing expression of undivided adoration. Likely so.
Lottie gave Cat a small bite of cheese, which the dog didn’t even bother to chew. Then she turned to Pandy. “Would you like to give Cat some cheese as well?”
“Oh yes!” Pandy grinned. “Please.”
Manners? Brandon was astounded. Perhaps some of Miss Bennington’s edicts had worn off on the child after all, despite the furniture climbing.
“Here you are.” Lottie placed the remainder of the cheese in his daughter’s outstretched hand. “But you must command her first. Tell her to sit. Let her know that you are in charge and she must behave.”
Pandy’s fingers closed around the cheese, and she turned her attention to Cat, who had risen at the first bite of cheese, her entire body wiggling with the movement of her tail. “Are you bein’ have?”
“Behaving,” he corrected gently. “The word isbehaving, Pandy girl.”
“Sit, Cat,” Pandy ordered the dog.
Miraculously, Cat sat, eyes firmly pinned to Pandy’s hand and the promise of more cheese.
“Good Cat,” his daughter praised, then opened her fingers, allowing the cheese to fall.
The spaniel caught it effortlessly and swallowed it down, licking her chops.
“Excellent work, Pandy,” Lottie said, smiling down at her. “You see? You can persuade Cat to learn her manners by offering her a reward.”
“What is my reward for displaying manners?” he couldn’t resist asking, clasping his hands behind his back to keep from reaching for her.
Lottie smiled at him, and it was as if he’d been hit in the gut, the force of it. “I’m afraid I’m out of cheese, and besides, I’m not certain I would call you mannerly.”
