Two Lady Scoundrels and a Duke - Tessa Candle Page 0,35

me Katherine.” It was a little too soon for Kat.

The servants who were keeping Dog company in the vehicle behind them, opened the carriage door, and he came vaulting toward them, his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth.

Katherine stopped to give him pets and scratches after their long separation, but Dog only smiled at her as he sped off to scamper between the long legs of Rutherford, running a circle around him and emitting a howl of joy.

Rutherford blinked in disbelief. “Good Lord! Where did you find him?!” He embraced the hound and kissed his head. “Mack, my old friend, you are returned to us!”

Katherine gasped. Could this be a mistake? But no, Dog clearly knew Rutherford and was deliriously happy to be with him.

After a few moments, Rutherford looked up at Foxleigh, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. “How can I ever thank you, Foxleigh? I do not know how you managed to retrieve him, but I shall forever be grateful to you, my dear, good man!”

Foxleigh was taken aback. He tilted his head. “Um, do you know Dog, then?”

“This is Mack! He was taken from us some time ago by a truly evil woman who was holding him hostage. I thought I should never see him again.”

Katherine’s heart sank. She had always known that Dog belonged to someone, but she never dreamed that she would ever be forced to return him. It was unjust. People who wanted to reclaim their dogs should be required by law to do so before someone else fell in love with them.

Foxleigh looked at her wistfully. They were only newly wed, but he could already read her feelings at a glance. “I should love to take the credit, but I am afraid you have my wife to thank.”

Rutherford turned to Katherine. He too seemed to detect the misery on her face. “Oh, I see. Has this long-eared fellow been sponging off of you?” His tone was apologetic, but she knew he was really asking forgiveness for taking his dog back. “Well, I am so glad he found himself a true friend. He has excellent taste.”

“I hope you realize…” She forced her emotions down. She would not start out her acquaintance with Fox’s friends by blubbering and making a great cake of herself. “He wandered up to my cottage one day and simply never left. I may not claim many virtues for myself, but I am not a dog-thief.”

“Oh I know!” Rutherford smiled reassuringly. “Mack would never stay with a dognapper. That is no doubt how he came to you. He must have escaped his captor.” He scratched his old friend affectionately. “Good lad. I hope you bit the witch.”

“Of course you did not steal Mack!” Tilly patted her on the shoulder. “Now, let us all go inside and have some wine and delicious small plates from the kitchen. I have managed to procure—through devious means which I may confess to you later—my sister-in-law’s mother’s French chef, and he is a true artist.”

Her sister-in-law’s mother’s French chef? Katherine began to feel she had stepped into a beehive of interrelationships.

Tilly continued, “Everything will work itself out to rights once we have all had a chance to get warm and pet and spoil Mack as much as he could like.”

“Oh yes!” Rutherford was overjoyed, still rubbing the ears of his beloved hound. “Foxleigh, you have probably not seen Delville for a long time, as he has only recently come back from the dead.”

Katherine gave Foxleigh a look of bewilderment.

He winked back, apparently quite amused. “Yes, I had heard something about that. And I suppose I shall meet his new wife.”

Tilly chimed in. “Yes, and Frobisher and Rosamond. There are so many old friends and new brides to meet! It shall be splendid.” Tilly looked at Katherine’s face and added, “Not to worry, they are all a great deal of fun—well, except Aldley, but he is a good sort after all, and they shall all adore you.”

Katherine was not so sure. Foxleigh came to claim her arm as soon as they were in the door and had their coats and bonnets removed. “Now stop listing them all off or she will think she is stepping into a mad menagerie of lords and ladies. But has Aldley made it all this way? And at Christmas time? He hasn’t even been to town for—well, far too long. I thought he would never quit his country estate.” He whispered in Katherine’s ear, “You may have something in