Ryleigh stormed over, and the next thing she knew, the brute had landed on his arse. Low snickers rippled throughout the crowd.
Ryleigh straightened his waistcoat, brushed a hand over each shoulder, then addressed her. “I believe it's time for us to depart, Lady Rebecca.” He spoke calmly, nonchalantly, as if he hadn’t knocked a beast almost twice his size in the mud for the second time.
She stifled her astonishment, unprepared to leave just yet. “Who does this dog belong to?” she directed at the surrounding bystanders. No one answered. She glared at the boy holding the other, struggling, twin. The boys truly were indistinguishable.
“Let me go, you bugger.” Ah, Oliver. He threw an elbow into his captor’s ribs. The older boy grunted and loosened his hold, allowing Oliver to escape. He dashed over to Rebecca as if she ruled the world.
Rebecca leaned down to assist Owen to his feet, but he shook off her hands, hugging the dog.
“Come along, darling. The dog can come with us.” Then she realized just what she’d promised, and her gaze flew once more to the duke.
His face shuttered in resignation. He wasn’t happy, but she could see he wouldn’t disappoint the boys. She thought she heard the sound of a crack.Nother heart, of course, but… something.
“You’ve seen enough,” he told the crowd with unsuppressed arrogance.
They responded to him as if he were the king, quickly dispersing in all directions.
Ryleigh’s gaze ran over Oliver, Owen, the dog, then her, respectively. “Shall we proceed, Lady Rebecca? I find the Flower’s Bottom Inn is not up to my normally impeccable standards.”
She held her hand out to Owen “Shall we…Percy?”
Owen’s eyes moved from her to the duke, to the mongrel.
He let out a sigh. “Yes, the dog may accompany us,” Ryleigh said. “Lady Rebecca, have your maid see to having a basket prepared for our journey. Make sure they include something for”—he flicked his hand in the direction of the animal—“that.”
“Of course, Your Grace.”
“Blimey! Did you see that, my la—” Oliver’s gaze shot to the duke then to Rebecca “—Mama? You sent them tucking their tails and running, sir. How’d you do that?”
“Enough,Peter,” Rebecca said sharply. “Find Serena and give her His Grace’s instructions.”
Owen came to his feet. He went to pick up the dog and it let out a pathetic yelp. Owen shot her a tearful look of pure anguish.
To Rebecca’s surprise, the duke went down on one knee and checked the dog over from head to foot then addressed Owen directly. “I don’t feel any cuts or broken bones,” he said. “But he could have bruised ribs.” Or worse, he didn’t say, Rebecca thought. The duke didn’t talk down to Owen as she’d expected him to do. Her respect for Ryleigh rose another degree or two. “We shall have to treat him gently.”
Owen nodded.
“Do you mind if I pick him up?” the duke asked him. “I’ll be careful.”
Owen shook his head and, as Ryleigh lifted the dog in his large capable hands, she heard another significant crack. This one definitely in the vicinity of her heart.
~~~
Sebastian managed to get his entourage on the road, though it had taken another two hours. What with Rebecca and the children having to change out of their muddy clothes, not to mention his own. The woman had no respect for a time schedule. By his estimation they would be forced to spend another night on the road and not make it to Ryleigh Hall until the next day. He’d also been tempted to hire a horse and ride alongside the carriage, rather than inside. The decision surprised him. But he’d been unable to resist the hero-worship he saw in Percy’s face. Even while the maid, two young boys, and a hurt dog made things overcrowded.
After an hour, he was calling himself all kinds of a fool. Confined with Lady Rebecca, he found he could hardly breathe with her presence confiscating all the available oxygen. He told himself it was for the best, so he could make certain the boys didn’t jostle the poor dog. They were young after all. They mightn’t be aware of possibly hurting the animal, even inadvertently. That was his argument, and he would stick by it.
Two hours later, the sound of someone’s stomach rumbled loudly. Percy’s eyes widened, while Peter let out a guffaw worthy of a child twice his size.
Sebastian found himself hiding a grin, watching Lady Rebecca’s cheeks turn a brilliant pink. “You didn’t have enough breakfast, my lady?”
“Certainly,” she returned haughtily.
But the look her maid shot her said much. Rebecca hadn’t eaten the breakfast he’d sent up to her chamber. How did this woman manage to take care of children when she could hardly take care of herself?
The maid’s look also said she didn’t care much for the new addition to their party. She was clearly petrified of dogs.
Sebastian studied Rebecca from a hooded gaze, seeing her from a whole other angle. There was a depth to her that he hadn’t realized. As angry as he’d been at her taking on a huge libertine with no thought to her personal safety, he also found himself full of… admiration. How many women of his acquaintance would throw themselves between a boy with a cowering dog and a rogue who could smash her into the ground like pulp? The question was rhetorical.
