“I did.” Alaric shrugged as he scooped Daisy into his arms and handed her back to Oliver.
“Why?”
“I did not know if she would survive. I wanted to spare Oliver the heartbreak of her loss.” Alaric gestured to the small dog.
“Not many men would invite the chaos of a puppy into the house voluntarily.”
“Oliver asked me for a dog, and well, within days, I found her. Who am I to stand in the way of destiny?”
Catherine rubbed a hand across her chest, swallowing around a lump in her throat.Why do I feel like this?
As the conversation went on, Catherine let it wash over her. Alaric was the embodiment of charm and good humor. He was curious and complimentary. He even succeeded in making Fiona laugh.
She felt a tension she had not realized was there leave her body. Catherine glanced at Oliver, curling her finger into her palm to avoid ruffling his hair as he drew on his slate. She saw him hesitate as he finished, and moved to sit beside him, gently taking his hand in hers.
“Would you like to play hide and seek, Oliver?” Harriet had moved to sit beside them, her voice gentle and quiet. “It is a lovely day.”
Oliver looked at Catherine and then toward the doorway. He grabbed his slate and drew several rectangles.
“I have told Mrs. Langley that you may have a break from lessons today.” Catherine smiled at him.
“Did someone say hide and seek?” Fiona looked toward them.
“We were just suggesting that Oliver might like to play.” Catherine gestured to the outside.
“I could use a reason to stretch my legs.” Louisa stood up and stretched. “Shall we play in teams? We can have two seekers, and the rest can hide?”
Oliver nodded, then gestured to himself and, cautiously, to Fiona, tilting his head.
“Would you like to be on a team, Oliver?” Fiona smiled at him. “You and I finding everyone else? And of course, Daisy, too.”
Oliver’s eyes brightened, and he stood up, looking around the room expectantly. Catherine’s eyes drifted to Alaric. Would he join in the fun?
“And what will you do, Your Grace?”
“I thought I would join you,” Alaric replied as though it was obvious. “Though I suspect you will have a rather difficult time trying to find me.”
“That sounds suspiciously like a challenge, Your Grace.” Fiona’s eyes danced. “And I think Oliver and I are up to the task.”
Beside her, Oliver nodded, and Catherine felt her heart soar.“We should, at the very least, set boundaries. I think everything from here until the maze should give us plenty of space.”
“Excellent.” Fiona clapped her hands together. “Do you know how to count, Oliver?”
He nodded and held up ten fingers, opening and closing them ten times. Catherine added, “I think counting to a hundred is plenty of time for us all to hide.”
Oliver slipped his hand inside Fiona’s, and Daisy began barking excitedly. Catherine waited for them to turn around, and then she raced away.
She saw Louisa and Harriet turn left and head into the gardens toward the orangery. Catherine knew from experience that it would be Oliver’s first place to look, mostly because Daisy loved it.
“The maze? No, that is too obvious.” Catherine muttered, briskly walking through the gardens. “The e astern glasshouse will be a horrid temperature, and I do not fancy climbing a tree.”
She looked up and spotted a familiar ivy-covered wall. It was at the outer boundaries and had collapsed in parts, providing perfect places to hide. She ran toward it, slipping behind the wall and tucking herself into an ivy-covered corner.
She was just congratulating herself on a job well done when she heard footsteps. They were too heavy to be either Oliver’s or Fiona’s.
A moment later, Alaric appeared. His head was turned so that he was looking over his shoulder. He took a step toward Catherine, and she cleared her throat.
“It seems we both had the same thought.” Alaric gestured toward the small space where Catherine was hiding.
