Page 24

“T hose sly little imps,” Grace said as they scrambled across the rocky yet more even ground alongside the stream.

“I wager they’ve hidden in the deepest part of the gully, where the stonemasons and gardeners get the gravel and boulders for the estate.

” She skipped faster, taking the lead while still tugging Wolfe along by the hand.

She amazed him. He had never known a woman with the grace and speed of a deer, the tenacity of a hound on the scent, and the cunning of a wily huntsman.

More importantly, she showed a genuine affection for his brother and sister, as if they were her own.

He agreed wholeheartedly with his little brother—Lady Grace was beyond compare.

“Thank you for helping,” he said as they jogged along, “and thank your wonderful dogs too. I shall buy them every soupbone in Binnocksbourne. All of you have made this day so much easier to bear.” This precious woman had no idea how much he appreciated her in every sense of the word.

“Connor and Sissy are my friends.” She scrambled across a slippery span of rocks with the agility of a river otter. “I couldn’t imagine not helping ensure they are safe.”

And that was just one of the many differences between Grace and the difficult family to which his well-meaning father had leg-shackled him.

The scene at breakfast had as much as decided Wolfe that no matter the cost, the engagement to Lady Margaret had to end.

He refused to submit his younger siblings to the machinations of the cold-hearted women any longer.

Once the Longmortens were gone, his only issue would be gaining Connor’s forgiveness for pursuing Lady Grace, since Connor had already declared his love for her.

Wolfe prayed Grace would give him a chance to prove he wasn’t the aloof, beastly duke she must surely think him to be.

As they crossed the rugged ground, helping each other whenever they stumbled, the vastness of the Broadmere estate impressed him. “How the devil did those two cover so much ground?”

“They are children, and from what little you told me, I imagine they were very angry. We must climb out of the ravine here because it narrows too much up ahead at the stream’s level.

We can descend again a bit farther down the way.

” Grace let go of his hand and climbed the much steeper embankment on all fours, granting him a most pleasing view of her shapely behind.

“Think back to when you were that age,” she called back to him.

“Whenever you became angry, were you not filled with boundless energy to fight your foes?”

“I was in boarding school at their age, and if I caused a tenth of the mischief that those two wreak, the headmaster would have beaten me bloody.”

Grace halted so fast, he nearly collided with her. She turned and stared at him, her expression a heartwarming mix of rage and compassion. “That is despicable. Promise you will never send Connor to such a place. Promise me, this very instant.”

“I will never send Connor to such a place,” he said, vowing so much more to her but afraid to say it aloud. Now was not the time. “Nor will I send Sissy away. I swear that as well.”

Gastric bayed again, louder and more frantic. The other hounds joined in, adding a racket of sharp, high-pitched yips.

“They sound different now.” Wolfe helped Grace scale the remainder of the embankment, and they turned toward the sound. “Why is the pitch of their barking so different?” The worry in her eyes concerned him.

“They want us to hurry. Something is wrong.” She shoved through the remaining snarl of vines and grasses walling off the ravine, then took off at a hard run, loping across the meadow’s grassy hillocks.

She split the air with a sharp whistle, and soon, both horses joined them.

“Stay close, Pegasus, and keep Barberry close as well.” She pointed at a break in the overgrowth.

“There. We can get to the rock gully through there.”

“Connor!” Wolfe powered the bellow with all his worries and fears. “Sissy!”

“Brother!” Sissy’s tearful whimper made them maneuver the steep wall of the gorge even faster. “Connor and Galileo are buried in a hole. I can’t dig them out.”

“Dear God, do not let it be so.” Wolfe barreled down the last of the incline and charged across the rocky ground.

Sissy cowered against the opposite wall of the small quarry.

Connor’s dog, Hector, frantically pawed at a pile of fist-sized stones.

Terror clenched icy fingers around Wolfe’s heart at the sight of a pale, little hand barely reaching out of the darkness of a small hole where the rocks rested against the embankment.

Connor was indeed buried—but at least he was alive.

Grace reached for the little girl, giving the child a reassuring smile. “Come to me, Sissy. Your brother will have Connor and Galileo rescued before you know it.”

Sissy dove into Grace’s arms, clutching her as she sobbed against her shoulder. “I told him to let me get Galileo out of the cave, but he said it was too dangerous.”

“He was protecting you,” Grace said, patting the overwrought child. “That is what brothers do. Now, we must be brave while Wolfe digs him out.”

“Can you please still hold me?” the little girl asked with a pitiful sniff.

“Of course I can still hold you.” Grace hugged the child closer and gave Wolfe a look that assured him she would watch over Sissy while he did his best to free his brother.

He took hold of Connor’s hand, thankful that it was warm with life. “Are you hurt?”

A sullen no echoed out of the hole. “I’m just mad at Galileo. He jumped out and left me behind.”

“Perhaps he felt you would follow him and then you would both be safe. Is that a possibility?” Wolfe knew the boy loved the cat as much as his sister did.

“Maybe if I’d left with him instead of staying behind to pry loose a pretty rock for Grace—I mean—Lady Grace so’s she would let me and Sissy stay with her, maybe then I’d not be in this sorry state. So, I guess maybe I can’t blame him for leaving out of here when the rocks started to fall.”

“Lady Grace would have allowed you to stay with her as long as you had my permission. She would not have demanded payment of any kind.” Wolfe glanced back at Grace.

She rolled her eyes and mouthed, Of course.

Then it occurred to Wolfe that Sissy had said Galileo was trapped with Connor.

An ominous dread filled him. Had the cat tried to escape too late and been buried beneath the rockslide?

He started to ask Connor to check again for Galileo but feared it would alarm the boy.

He glanced once more at Sissy, still clinging to Grace, and decided they could sort it once Connor was safe.

If poor old Galileo had used all of his nine lives, Wolfe would get them another cat.

“I’m going to enlarge this opening and pull you out,” he said. “If anything starts shifting, tell me immediately. Understand?”

“What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?”

Connor’s indignance and coarse language made Wolfe smile. At least the lad still had plenty of fight left in him. “Language, young man. There are ladies present.”

“Sorry.” A loud sniffling echoed out of the hole. “Shifting is what got me trapped. I don’t care too much for that word no more.”

“I know, brother, but stay strong.” Wolfe scooped away the smaller rocks by the handfuls and grappled the larger ones one at a time. “I believe the hole is large enough now. Give me your hands. I am going to pull you out.”

“Hurry, Wolfe—something is in here with me. I heard it growl farther back in the darkness.”

Wolfe prayed it was that damn cat. He braced his footing, reached down into the hole, and locked hold of Connor’s wrists. “Close your eyes and duck your head.” He gave a mighty pull, yanking the boy up through the opening and into his arms. “Thank God Almighty. I have you, Connor. I have you.”

“Galileo!” Sissy cried. “Come here, sweet kitty.”

The huge orange cat streaked down the pile of rubble and leapt into Sissy’s embrace.

“I thought he jumped out,” Connor said. “He must’ve turned back when I covered my face ’cause of all the dirt in the air.

” He pried free of Wolfe and joined his sister, petting the cat while rubbing Hector’s head as the little dog excitedly bounced around him.

“He could have squeezed out that small hole any time he wanted, but he stayed with me. Thank you, Galileo. Sorry for what I said about your deserting me.”

“Such a misunderstanding is very understandable.” Grace pulled the boy into a tight hug and squeezed him until his little cheeks went red with embarrassment.

She wrapped an arm around Sissy and tugged her into the frantic embrace as well.

“Shame on you both for putting such a fright into us. Shame! Shame! Do you not realize we could never bear it if anything happened to either of you?”

For the first time in his life, Wolfe envied his brother and sister. What he wouldn’t give to find himself in Grace’s tight embrace, bearing a scolding because she cared so much about him.

“Does that mean you love us?” Sissy asked, her voice slightly muffled since she had her face buried in Grace’s shoulder.

Grace gently set them away, then knelt and gave them each a stern scowl. “Of course I love you. You are my friends.”

“Friends?” Connor scowled at her. “But I want to marry you. You need to love me better than just a friend.”

Wolfe couldn’t resist giving Grace a sly grin when she glanced his way. He folded his arms across his chest, interested in hearing what the lady would say to that.

“Connor.” Grace took the boy’s hands in hers. “I can’t marry you, but I will love you as a dear friend and cherish our friendship for all the days of my life. I promise you that.”