Page 101 of The Lyon Whisperer
She bounded from her stool and, card still grasped, flew from her chamber. She hurried down the steps and along the corridor to Chase’s office. Without knocking, she flung the door open.
Chase was not inside.
Frustration riffled through her. Where could he…She narrowed her eyes as an idea struck her.
A moment later, she hastened for the kitchens.
Cook gave her an arch look as she burst into the warm room. “If you’ve come for the three little hellions, you’re too late. His lordship’s already taken them out.”
She smiled. As she’d thought. He acted like he found the pups a burden, but nine times out of ten, he beat her downstairs in the mornings to take them out, and he had developed a similar habit of working with them in the afternoon.
He’d taught them to sit and stay on command—mostly. Roddy would not always obeystay,least wise, not when he got the impression Chase was getting too far away from him.
She shook her head and let herself out the back door. Poor little pup. He would miss Chase terribly when she found a home for him. She was beginning to think placing him was not going to be a problem. He was the staff’s favorite, by far. Everyoneoohedover his indomitable spirit despite being the smallest of the three and having the handicap of only one eye.
She found them behind the coach house, and took a moment to simply observe.
Chase had unearthed a stick, a felled branch by the look of it. As she watched, he whisked it through the air.
As it sailed a good distance away, the hounds ran, their eyes, or eye, in Roddy’s case, on the goal.
Rose was the first to reach the landing spot. Amelia knew because her coat was darker than her brothers’. Just as she went to snatch up the stick, Fergus crashed into her.
Roddy promptly swooped up the branch and trotted back to Chase, who wore the smile of a proud parent.
Amelia clapped in delight and strode forward. “Well done.”
She reached Chase the same time Roddy did. Meanwhile, Rose and Fergus, who had commenced wrestling after their collision, stared in dazed stupefaction at the three of them as if just realizing they’d lost the game to Roddy.
Chase reached into his pocket and withdrew a scrap of something edible which he bestowed on the runt.
The scrap disappeared in a blink.
Chase turned his attention to Amelia. His dark gaze roamed over her, drifting from her head to her toe and back again.
Heat suffused her. Even in the middle of the day, her body reacted to him like that of the most hoydenish of women.
“Good afternoon, Amelia.” He tucked a lock of her hair behind one of her ears, his fingers lingering over her jawline.
She tried and failed to suppress a shiver.
One corner of his mouth kicked upward and his eyes gleamed knowingly. “I thought I’d take care of your mongrels’ never-ending need for play and allow you time for your correspondence.”
“I appreciate your efforts, so long as helping me does not occupy too much of your time I know you have many responsibilities.”
He scrubbed a hand over his jaw and only then did she notice crinkles of fatigue around the corners of his eyes. “I needed a break from scrutinizing the estates’ ledgers.”
He picked up the stick one of the puppies had delivered to him and tossed it again. Rose and Fergus raced after it. Roddy, on the other hand, sat beside Chase, his gaze shifting from Amelia to Chase as if he followed the vein of their conversation.
She crouched to rub a hand over his soft, curly head. She wished she could help Chase. Alas, numbers had never been her forte.
If her plot to discover the identity of the arsonist, or at least his fabric supplier, proved fruitful, perhaps, then, she would actually do some good for her husband.
She rose, dusting off her hands.
“Did you merely wish to see me, or did you have a purpose in tracking me down?”
“Actually, I had something to tell you.”
