Louisa heard a dog bark and turned around to see her brother’s dog leap into Bonnie’s arms. The little girl squealed with delight, and the other girls gathered around them, giggling and screaming with joy, too, as they pushed and shoved to get their hands on the dog.
The duke flinched from the hysterical sounds, and his face twisted into a frown. “Good Lord… night—what’s all the commotion about?”
“It’s Saint,” Louisa whispered, almost not believing her eyes. She looked up at the duke. “It’s Nathan’s dog.”
Chapter 8
Fetter strong madness in a silken thread.
—Much Ado About Nothing,act 5, scene 1
Bray had shuddered when Miss Bonnie’s shrill scream came out of nowhere and for no reason. When the other girls joined in, it became madness for a few moments.
“I know who the dog is,” Bray answered Miss Prim noticing that the spaniel’s coat was very much the color of the girls’ hair.
The high-pitched squealing and laughter along with the barking rattled his eardrums. How could such sweet-looking females make such ear-piercing, inhuman sounds?
All Bray saw was a blur of blond hair, blue eyes, and sprigged muslin dresses falling to the floor in a tumble of happiness. Saint was tangled among them, barking, jumping from one sister to the other, licking their faces as the girls fought to pet, stroke, and hug him. Clearly the dog knew and loved the sisters, too.
Without warning, Miss Prim rounded on him, a glare blazing in her eyes. “You are a beast!”
Her words were almost a hiss, but Bray remained calm even though there was no denying the gorgeous blonde standing in front of him looked as if she were ready to put a dagger in his heart.
“I suppose I’ve been called worse,” he remarked, wondering what in the hell he could have said this time that offended her so drastically.
She advanced on him. If it was possible for a beautiful lady to look menacing, she did. “Why did you keep him from us?”
Bray gave her a questioning look. “What? The dog? Saint?”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t keep him from you.”
“You did!” she said earnestly. “You knew we wanted our brother’s dog.”
There was no mistaking the anger in her voice or her expression. He was beginning to get an idea where her fury was coming from, but he didn’t understand it.
And he didn’t like it.
“How could I have known that, Miss Prim?”
She inched even closer to him, her eyes fixed solidly on his. “After Nathan’s death, our uncle tried to find Saint for us. He searched the streets and the parks. He asked everyone, which would have included you and your friends, and no one knew what had happened to Nathan’s dog.”
So now he understood the full extent and reason behind her anger.
Bray had always been good at hiding his emotion, until he met Miss Prim. She could get under his skin and rile him faster than the most skillful card cheat.
This time he stepped closer to her, placing his body and his face near hers. “Your brother asked me to take care of him.”
“For us, until you could get him to us.”
“That’s not what he said,” Bray answered tightly.
“He shouldn’t have had to tell you that’s what he expected. You should have known he would want his little sisters to have his dog.”
“I didn’t.”
“Then that doesn’t make you a beast—it makes you a monster.”
