Loretta felt as if the sun had suddenly popped above the horizon and lit the entire sky with a bright light. He wanted them to part on a friendly note and not with strained tensions between them. She felt as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. It made her so happy she wanted to reach up and hug him, and might have done it, if Paxton hadn’t been standing right beside her.
“No,” she answered with a smile that she hoped wasn’t as sad as she suddenly felt at leaving this man and his home. “But she could be. She’s one of the kindest young ladies I’ve ever met.”
His eyes caressed her face and he nodded, then turned to Paxton. “So now that you and Lady Adele have met, I’ll talk with her and then see you in London later in the week to confirm whether or not we’ll go forward?”
“Yes. I’ll send you word when I’ve arrived,” her brother answered.
“Pardon the interruption, miss.”
Loretta turned to see Mrs. Huddleston hurrying up beside her. She looked almost frightened with her eyes wide and clutching her hands together tightly in front of her.
“It’s not a problem. What can I do for you?”
“I need you to come with me to see about something. I think you’ll want to take care of this yourself.”
Loretta looked down the lane to where the servants’ coach was being packed. Bitsy and her brother’s valet were standing by the carriage, and Farley stood off to the sideand away from the house. “All right,” she told her housekeeper. “I’ll be right there.”
The woman hurried away and Loretta looked at Hawk, not knowing when she might see him again. “Thank you. For everything.”
She turned away before he could respond and before she jumped into his arms. She walked fast and hard following Mrs. Huddleston. As her travel boots crunched on the gravel lane, she wished Hawk would follow her, catch her up in his strong embrace, and kiss her one more time before they parted.
Loretta sucked in a cold breath and shook away those foolish notions as she walked up to Farley and Mrs. Huddleston. “Now tell me, what’s the problem here?”
“Show her what you have in your satchel,” Mrs. Huddleston said in a rattled tone that surprised Loretta. She was never in a quarrelsome mood.
Farley gave the woman a fierce, angry stare and didn’t move an inch.
“Go on,” she said, harshly. “You heard me. Show her right now, or I’ll take it away from you and show her myself.”
Farley took a step toward Loretta, held up his satchel, and jerked it open. She peered inside and gasped. For a moment she felt so light-headed she thought she might faint. And she had never fainted! Lady Adele’s puppy, Cocoa, was squirming around on top of Farley’s clothing.
“That’s Lady Adele’s puppy! You were hiding it—in your clothing to take home with you? You sto—” She bit off the word before she completed it, then gasped again. “By all the stars in the heavens, Farley! What were you thinking?”
“It’s not for me,” he said, cutting his big brown eyes around to Mrs. Huddleston again before locking his glaringgaze on Loretta. “I don’t want it. I did it for ye. I ’eard ye tell her ye wanted one of ’em. I thought ye’d be ’appy I got it for ye.”
Loretta’s heart was beating so fast she didn’t know if she could speak. “What? For me?” She splayed her hand on her chest. “I’m touched you wanted to do something for me, but I can’t be happy you took something that didn’t belong to you! That’s not right.”
“She didn’t need it,” he said without a hint of regret in his tone. “She’s got two more of ’em just like this one. I wanted to be nice to ye ’cause nobody’s been as good to me as ye are since my mama died.”
What could she say to make him see how wrong this action was no matter the reason? She knew he had nothing to call his own to give her, and she understood his wanting to repay her in some way, but… “Farley, this is stealing, and it’s wrong. You can’t be nice to me by being unkind to someone else. By taking something that’s not yours to take. Do you understand that?”
His expression hadn’t changed, so she added, “I’m touched here in my heart that you wanted to do something for me, but what you did is not acceptable behavior. All I needed was a thank-you, a hug, a flower from the garden when it blooms.”
Loretta needed a moment to catch her breath, to calm the disappointment that was so great she felt she might drown in it. Had she ever said or done anything that made him think she wanted him to give her something in return for taking care of him? Was she somehow at fault for this behavior? She looked down at the puppy. She would have to figure out all those feelings later. There was no time now.
She reached down into the satchel and took Cocoa. “Thank you, Mrs. Huddleston. I’m so glad you saw her before we left. I’ll take her back inside the house before anyone knows she’s missing. No one will be the wiser.” She turned to look at Farley, who finally seemed as if he was sad rather than angry. “We’ll talk more about this when we get back to Mammoth House.”
“What’s going on? Do you need some help?”
By the heavens and all the saints who lived there! It was the duke behind her. She looked down at the warm, squirming little dog in her hands and wanted to cry. What was she going to do? What could she say? The evidence of what Farley did was in her hands and no chance to hide it now.
She whirled and thrust the puppy at the duke’s chest and said, “Here, Your Grace.”
Startled, he grabbed hold of it.
“Thank Lady Adele for letting us say good-bye to her.” Loretta spun back to an astonished Mrs. Huddleston and to Farley. “Both of you get in the carriage,” she ordered. “We’re ready to leave. Don’t tarry. Go now.”
Mrs. Huddleston took hold of Farley’s shoulder and tried to direct him toward the coach but he shrugged away from her and turned back to Loretta. He threw his arms around her waist, laid his head on her midriff, and hugged her tightly for a second or two. He let go of her without saying a word and ran toward the coach, coughing as he went. Mrs. Huddleston was right behind him. It happened so quickly and Loretta was so surprised she didn’t have time to react.
