Page 1 of The Heir's Fortune
CHAPTER 1
“Come on out, now, no need to be shy.”
Gideon stretched his hand as far as he could while using the other to try to inch himself forward, but it was no use – he wasn’t going to fit in the hollowed-out tree trunk that lay across the path of the ruins before him.
The dog at the other end whimpered and shrunk away from him, still shivering. Gideon sighed as he let his arm go limp, wishing he had an enticing piece of food on him to draw the dog out, for alas, the dog found him as unremarkable as everyone else did.
“I promise if you come with me, I will take you to the kitchen, and the Cook will give you all of the scrap meat you’d like. I cannot say it will be particularly well-prepared, but you do not have high standards, do you now?”
The dog — either a pup or a small breed — Gideon couldn’t tell from where he was, tilted its head to the side, one ear flopping over as though he was listening to him and considering his words.
“I cannot leave you out here but I am becoming rather chilled,” Gideon said, holding his hand out again, palm up, and the dog leaned its head forward, sniffing. “There we go?—”
“What are you doing?”
Gideon jumped, the voice startling him, causing him to hit his head on the top of the log.
“Damn it,” he said, lifting a hand to the sore spot as the dog whimpered and drew away from him once more.
Gideon shuffled backward, squinting up to see the figure towering over him in front of the now-setting sun, arms crossed over her chest as her cloak billowed in the cold wind behind her.
He knew that shape. It was one of his sister’s friends — her closest friend, if he was correct, and the one he tried the hardest to avoid.
“Lady Madeline?” he said, trying to contain his groan as he rubbed his head. “You startled me.”
“Clearly,” she said, looking around. “I almost passed by you, but I must admit that my curiosity as to why a future duke was on his belly, his bottom in the air as he crawled into a log in the middle of the forest was just too overwhelming to continue on without learning more. Please, you must explain.”
“So that you can tell this story to our friends for your amusement?” he snorted. “I think not.”
“I shall be telling it one way or another, so you might as well provide me with your side of things.”
“Fine,” he said, opening his mouth to explain his dilemma, but just as he did, a whine resounded.
“What was that?” Lady Madeline asked, looking from one side to the other, her silky dark hair that had fallen out of most of its pins floating around her face.
“That,” Gideon said with exasperation, “is what I am trying to save.”
She arched an eyebrow but instead of demanding more information or retreating at the idea of a wild animal as most women would, she rounded the other side of the log, crouching down without care that her knee was resting on the dampground before standing with the puppy in her arms, its dirty and matted fur spoiling her cloak and gown underneath.
“Is this who you were trying so hard to catch?” she asked as she nuzzled her face against the dog’s fur.
“Yes,” Gideon said, unable to mask his annoyance as he stood, brushing dirt and dried leaves off his breeches. “Two people being here clearly made it much easier to convince the pup to come out.”
“Or maybe he just likes me better,” Madeline said with a grin before lifting the puppy in front of her to inspect him. “Who is he?”
“I am not sure,” Gideon said, lifting his hands to the side. “I was walking around the ruins and heard a noise so I came to investigate. That’s when I found him.”
“Poor thing,” she said. “My best guess is that he is a couple of months old, which means he is old enough to have left his mama but I wouldn’t say he could survive long on his own.”
“I doubt it,” Gideon agreed, stepping toward Lady Madeline and the dog. She was his sister’s closest friend and had spent a great deal of time at Castleton, and yet, he didn’t know her very well. She was so forward and apt to say the most unlikely comments that he always avoided her if he could, for she put him on edge.
He reached out a hand and hesitantly ran it down the dog’s back, surprised when the puppy leaned into his touch with a whimper.
Lady Madeline looked up at him in surprise, and a tremble ran down Gideon’s spine at her proximity. A tremble from… uneasiness? He never knew what to expect from this woman – and he did not like surprises.
“Maybe he doesn’t mind you so much after all,” she said with a laugh as the puppy licked his hand. “What were you doing out here, anyway?”
“Seeing to my lands,” he said guardedly, uncertain why he needed to have an excuse to wander his own property.
