But he was, at least, thorough about pretending.
CHAPTER 10
“Quiet down, Biscuit,” Temperance shushed the canine, peering towards the door. The last thing she wanted was to be caught red-handed by the duke, doing something he had so sternly forbidden her from.
The dogs were not supposed to be in the house. The animals were to be housed in the stables, which the duke had state were ‘comfortable enough’ as they had been prepared with every reasonable consideration for the animals’ welfare. There was, as far as Harper was concerned, no argument to be made.
But Temperance felt as though there was always a compromise that could be reached.
Even if that meant that the duke would have to be kept unaware of it.
“When do you think he will be returning?” Albina replied, a knowing smile on her face. She was in on the job, and encouraged it.
“Oh, his usual time,” Temperance replied, petting Peabody who had now gathered at her feet. “Trust me, Mother. I have his scheduled memorized at this point. In the mornings, he is away to review the estate or whatever it is that his work requires. In the evenings, sometimes he will stop to meet a friend and it is only in the very late evening or night that he returns.”
“That gives us a reasonable window to get away with it,” Albina laughed. Soot
The system was straightforward. When Harper was out, the dogs came in through the kitchen door. It was working very well this particular afternoon, and Temperance and Albina were in the sitting room with all three dogs and the cat.
Albina was doing something with embroidery and Temperance was reading.
“I think,” Albina said, holding her embroidery up and examining it, “that this is not going well.”
“You’ve been fighting that French knot for twenty minutes,” Temperance said, without looking up.
She wavered her hand dismissively at her daughter.
“Harper,” Albina said, in the tone she used when she was about to say something she had been thinking for a while, “is slowly becoming a more interesting man than I initially gave him credit for. But he is still wrong about the dogs.”
“Don’t tell him you think he’s interesting,” Temperance turned a page, “He’ll take it as permission to have opinions about more things.”
“He already has opinions about everything,” Albina smiled. “At least some of them are improving. Has he said anything more about the next…”
The sitting room door opened suddenly and Joseph stood in the doorway. He took in the room and his expression went through several rapid changes before arriving at something that was attempting to be disapproval.
“The dogs,” he said, “are supposed to be in the stables.”
“Yes,” Temperance said pleasantly, and turned a page. As long as it wasn’t the duke, Temperance knew that she had nothing to be afraid of. Joseph was just a child, and she could handle him.
Joseph looked at the dogs, and frowned.
“But that's what my father said, in fact he disallowed it expressly…”
“Your father is not here,” Albina said. “He went out this morning with Mr. Davies and he won’t be back until after four. It is currently half past two.”
“This is against the rules,” he said. “My father will be very displeased if he finds out.”
“It is,” Temperance agreed, “and I suppose, yes. I don’t expect him to be very happy about it, either.”
“I should…” He stopped. Midge had stood up and was now crossing the room toward him. She sat down at his feet, and looked up at him with an expression that could move the coldest of hearts.
Temperance could only smirk at the exchange, feeling a strange pride in her pet even though she had nothing to do with it. She could see that Joseph was beginning to change his mind.
“You could tell him, of course. You are free to do so,” Temperance said diplomatically, from behind her book. “Or you could sit down, which in my opinion would be the less boring option.”
Joseph took a moment to compose his thoughts before he sat down on the end of the settee, at the far end from Biscuit. His posture was straight as ever, and Temperance knew that it was going to take some time to him to settle in.
The boy had been trained as if he had been in the military, and he was not even eleven years old yet.
