Page 43 of Taken By the Duke of Stone

Then she turned those big, brilliant green eyes at him, "Help me."

He was embarrassed at how eager he was to do her bidding when she looked at him in that way.

As the dog disappeared in a blur of white fur, the Duke took off after it and she followed after them, holding her dress up and trying not to trip over the end of her skirt.

"Lavvie!" Her mother called as she jumped into action but she ignored her, too focused on the ball of white dashing through the park.

Andrew made a sharp turn just before Victor could get his hands on him and the dog disappeared into a neat row of hedges to the side.

Oh goodness, he was going to get stuck in one of the thorny bushes and get seriously hurt. Did the stupid dog have no sense of self-preservation whatsoever?

Lavinia followed after dog and man into the hedges. When she came out of the other side of the fence of shrubs, she found that the both of them had disappeared in the maze like structure of vegetation.

Paths stretched out from every direction and she immediately continued forward, deciding that she had the least penchant for getting lost if she just continued to move straight ahead.

"Your Grace!" She called, then, "Andrew."

The dog probably wasn't familiar with the name, "Your Grace!" She called louder, pushing through the network of plants.

She heard a bark in the distance and picking up her skirts she immediately began to race forward. Until she found herself at a dead end. Narrowing her eyes in annoyance, she retraced her steps back to where she assumed she had come from only to meet another dead end.

Oh no, she thought miserably. She could have just waited at the tree for the Duke to get the dog.

He might not even know she had followed him in and when he managed to catch the dog, he would leave her all by herself in this confusing maze.

"Victor!" She yelled, "Victor! I'm here!"

When that didn't work, she decided to keep on trying her luck and after a few more dead ends and frustrated groans, her work paid off and she emerged at the other side of the maze.

There was a clear pond on the side and the dog was racing towards it.

"Andrew, no! You cannot swim," she could not swim either, but she felt confident that she could get to the dog before he made it into the water.

Andrew paused at the edge of the pond and for a second, she was relieved, "Good boy, Andrew."

The dog turned its head to stare at her with its big puppy eyes. The next second Andrew leaped into the water.

"Miss Proctor, don't you dare!" The Duke's voice roared.

The dog began to whimper, and Victor was a fair distance away. She bit her lip in indecision, glancing between the drowning dog and the approaching Duke.

Lavinia didn't think. She leaped in after the dog.

"Blasted woman! Why do you have ears when you never listen?"

"Victor," she screamed, water rushing into her mouth, "I cannot swim."

When she turned around, she found Andrew barking from the river bank. It seemed the little demon could swim after all.

The mild current of the stream began to push her downstream and she flailed her hands, all while her dress weighed her down.

There was the sound of splashing water and then large arms wrapped around her waist and began to pull her out of the water.

She clung to the large man desperately, terrified and relieved at the same time.

"What were you thinking?" He snapped at her as he dropped her down on the grass and knelt before her.

"Andrew was drowning," she defended.

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