Kitty opened the door to the outside so Sillikin could relieve herself. The air was still cold, so she’d need cloak and gloves to go far.
“Come, Sillikin.”
The dog drooped like a disappointed child.
Kitty scooped her up. “Unlike you, milady, I don’t have a fur coat on. Once I’m warmly dressed we’ll have some fun.”
She’d entered the front hall speaking, and only just suppressed a curse at the thought that people could hear. Their hearing a curse echoing through the house would be even worse. She’d said she couldn’t act a part, but could she ever be herself here?
Henry dressed her in cloak and gloves and would have handed her a bonnet, but Kitty declined.
“I can walk in the garden without,” she said, “even if the garden is acres large.” She found Sillikin’s leather ball and they headed out, using that convenient back door.
Braydon’s door, straight ahead, was closed.
They crossed a small courtyard to emerge into formal gardens. Beyond lay the grass cropped by deer. The animals were in the distance, and she hoped they stayed there. They looked delicate and gentle, but they were wild animals and the males had large antlers.
Sillikin was looking at her expectantly.
“Yes, I remembered,” Kitty said, taking the leather ball out of her pocket. She threw it over the garden onto the grass, and Sillikin raced to follow. A movement made Kitty aware of someone watching. Over to her right she saw a gardener peering over a bush. She wanted to wave, but what should Lady Dauntry do in such a situation? What would the servant think of Lady Dauntry romping with her dog?Never mind.That was exactly what Kitty intended to do.
She followed Sillikin, meeting her halfway and engaging in the obligatory tussle for possession of the ball. When Sillikin surrendered it, Kitty threw again, but parallel with the house. She’d like to venture farther, but not with those untrustworthy animals around, some of them watching her.
The estate was probably called a park, but it was unlike any park she’d known before. Hyde Park was large and untamed in places, but it pushed up against a million people, and they could be heard, even if only as a kind of hum. Here, in winter, her surroundings were almost silent, and in the distance she saw only trees. The rolling grass was dotted with specimen trees, statues, and deer. It seemed a great waste of space. Cateril Manor had only modest gardens because most of the land was put usefully to agriculture. She remembered that here beyond the dense woodland, the estate was walled. She couldn’t see the high wall, but it was there, keeping the world out, and perhaps keeping things in.The deer,she reminded herself.The people are free to come and go.
Who knew what lived in those woods? She didn’t think there were wolves in England anymore, but were there still wild boar? What of wildcats? Even a fox could attack Sillikin, who’d never had to fight anything. Kitty resolved to stay close to the house until she knew it was safe to wander—for her dog and herself. She was sure it was ridiculous to worry about actual danger, but she felt a creeping worry. She looked back at the house and caught movement at a window in the upper floor.
A face. The dowager or Isabella, looking down with a sneer at the romping, hatless interloper who dared claim to be Viscountess Dauntry.
Then she’d romp! She wouldn’t be intimidated by shadows. Kitty ran with the ball, Sillikin running alongside delighting in the chase.
***
Braydon watched his wife playing with her dog. He’d never owned a dog and never regretted it. Some officers in the army had kept one or two, or even a small pack of hounds to indulge in the occasional hunt. He had no objection to dogs, but he’d never felt the need for one. Would he benefit from a canine companion? Not if he came to talk to it.
“My lord?”
Braydon turned to Worseley. “Yes?”
“I have those documents prepared, if you have a moment.”
Dauntry read and signed the papers, then asked, “What do we know about the fifth viscount’s wife since she left?”
“Nothing so far, sir.”
“Her family home must be in the records, for I’m told two portraits of her were returned there. Find out. If she’s in distant parts, she might not know she’s a widow.”
Worseley left, but Dauntry realized the secretary’swindow faced the same way as his. What did Worseley think of the Viscountess Dauntry romping hatless with her pet? What would anyone else think?
Of Kit Kat.
He now knew that’s how his wife was known to a host of enthusiastic officers. After his offer of marriage had been accepted, he’d traveled to Town, mostly to avoid Isabella. Her efforts to tempt him had been merely annoying, but word of his intent to marry might have pushed her and the dowager into drastic action. Her visit to Kitty had been a weak ploy, but it showed he’d been right.
The prospect of Town had delighted his valet, Johns, who would probably abandon him if obliged to spend much more time in the country. That would be an inconvenience. He was a fashionable valet of the highest sort, and tempting him from his previous employer had almost led to a duel.
He’d traveled post chaise rather than in the curricle, which had pleased his groom, Baker. Baker liked the countryside and had set up a flirtation with a farmer’s daughter, who seemed very willing to flirt back, so he’d been happy to be left behind.
Such a natural business, billing and cooing, but one that came no more naturally to him than a jovial night of drinking at a local tavern. He could flirt, but as sophisticated play with a certain sort of woman. He could even protest devotion as long as he knew the woman in question was playing the same game.
