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“S ince Merry has taken the children out to play with Lucy’s puppies,” Serendipity said with a pointed nod first at Cook and then Walters, “I believe my sisters and I would be more comfortable taking our tea in the parlor.”

Walters bowed. “Right away, my lady.”

“Thank you.” She caught Grace by the elbow and steered her out of the kitchen at an impressive speed. Felicity and Joy scurried along behind them.

“Seri!” Grace yanked free and marched faster, her boots clumping across the polished wood floors in a most unladylike manner. “Calm yourself. The children are found, and as soon as we have our tea, I shall change into more appropriate clothing.”

Serendipity slid the double doors of the parlor shut with a quiet bang but remained in front of them as though standing guard.

Joy and Felicity hurried to take their seats with the excitement of attending a long-awaited play.

“Why did Wolfebourne insist upon a closed-door meeting with Chance?” Serendipity asked.

Grace meandered deeper into the parlor, plucking out the sticks and leaves caught in her long blonde braid.

She wasn’t entirely pleased with that development herself.

When she and Wolfe had agreed upon secrecy, she had assumed it also meant from her siblings, and yet the man had practically made a beeline to her brother as soon as they arrived back home.

“How would I have any idea about His Grace’s intentions?

Perhaps he wished to apologize for the children’s unruliness and the interruption of our schedules with such a disturbing game of hide-and-seek.

” She inwardly patted herself on the back.

What a good lie. It sounded convincing even to her.

“I smell a porky pie,” Joy said in the irritating singsong voice from their childhood. “Look at her, Seri. She is trying not to look any of us in the eye.”

“Leave her alone.” Felicity tapped her foot in Joy’s direction, a subtle warning that a swift kick came next. “Is it not obvious? She can’t possibly tell us she loves a man who is betrothed to another—even though we would never judge her as Society would.”

Grace glared at her sister, silently willing her to close her mouth, go away, or both.

“I saw the looks between the two of you,” Serendipity told Grace, keeping her voice lowered. “What happened out there? Was his behavior unseemly after I rode away? Did you threaten to go to Chance so he could demand satisfaction for you?”

“We had no idea if the twins were alive or injured, and yet you suggest we were so debased that we paused the search long enough to fall into each other’s arms?

I take umbrage at that, sister. You should be ashamed to even suggest such a thing.

We spent our time on the hunt—nothing more.

Thanks to my dogs, we made it to Connor while he was still alive, even though he was trapped in a rockslide and would surely have perished if not found.

I can’t even bear to think of the horror had Wolfe been unable to dig him out. ”

“Wolfe?” Serendipity seized on the intimate address, forgetting to whisper it.

Drat and bloody hell. Grace jutted her chin higher. She had been doing so well before that little slip. “We agreed to suspend the use of formal address during the search in the name of simplicity.”

Her sisters snorted in unison, then dared to laugh.

“We did,” Grace insisted. This battle was all but lost, but she refused to give up. “It’s much easier to use names than constantly Your Gracing or my ladying each other.”

“I see.” Serendipity looked ready to crow her victory from the rooftops.

“I see too,” Joy said with a smugness that decided Grace to secure a bucket of frogs for all of their beds.

“So, how does he plan to end his engagement?” Felicity asked. “You know that could get messy and will likely take some time. Lady Longmorten does not strike me as a mother who will calmly accept the duke setting aside her daughter.”

Grace plopped down on the blue velvet settee beside the hearth and refused to answer.

Since the trio knew so much, let them sort it for themselves.

She fixed her gaze on a tiny spider spinning its web in the corner of the ceiling.

Interesting. Mrs. Flackney must be losing her touch at instilling fear in the newest batch of maids hired from the village.

A soft tap on the double doors preceded Walters sliding them open and supervising the new footman wheeling in the tea cart.

“Over there, Gerald,” the ancient butler said to the young man carefully pushing the cart.

“That will be all.” As soon as the footman left the room, Walters turned to Serendipity. “Shall I pour, my lady?”

“No thank you, Walters. I shall see to it. You may go now.”

The butler bowed, exited the room, and slid the doors shut once again.

All three sisters turned to Grace, behaving as if she owed them an answer.

Which she did not. She returned her attention to the industrious spider in the corner.

“By the way,” she said without moving her focus from the web weaver, “I would like to invite the twins to stay here for a few days, since Nellie was adamant they are not safe at Wolfebourne Lodge.” That should shift her sisters to a different subject. All of them liked the children.

“I don’t believe them safe there either,” Serendipity said. “Even though I’m sure His Grace will address the dangers to them. His rage was quite plain when he overheard us discussing the threats to his siblings.”

“The Longmorten women have already moved to the inn, but his servants showed an exorbitant lack of worry and care for the twins. That alone makes me fear for their safety.” Grace crossed her legs at the knee and bounced her foot because it always annoyed Serendipity when she did so.

“Do sit properly, Gracie, and be still. Good heavens.” Serendipity poured their tea and served them. “If you want a cake or biscuit, help yourselves.” She sat beside Grace on the settee. “Have you discussed the children staying here with His Grace?”

“No.” Grace wasn’t entirely certain how to broach that subject to him, either. “I’ve as yet to think of a way to go about it without his thinking I believe him incapable of protecting them.”

“Incapable of protecting whom?” Wolfe asked from the doorway. Chance stood beside him, looking entirely too pleased with himself.

Grace inwardly groaned. Their oath to keep their plans a secret had been well and truly breached. Her brother was now privy to her agreeing to marry Wolfe as soon as he was free. They might as well shout it from the rooftops at this rate.

“We must tell Walters to stop having the footmen oil those sliding doors,” Grace told Serendipity. The wretched things once squeaked and warned if someone was about to cross the threshold, but not any longer.

“Grace?” Wolfe arched a dark brow, pinning her with an intense look. “Who is incapable of protecting whom?”

In for a penny, in for a pound. “Remember what you overheard Seri and me discussing at the beginning of our wild search?”

“Yes.” The fury in his face lent quite a deeper meaning to that simple response.

Floundering in the depths of his dark-eyed gaze, Grace swallowed hard. “If the Longmorten women were willing to go to any lengths to rid your household of Connor and Sissy, why did your servants not warn you?” She braced herself for his reaction.

“Indeed.”

The deadliness of his icy tone made her shiver.

While she would never betray her maid’s confidence, he deserved more information.

“Servants always know more about a household than the master himself.” Before he could speak, she rushed to continue, “I thought Connor and Sissy might stay here for a visit to help with the puppies. Lucy’s little ones will soon be old enough for new homes.

Your brother and sister can help me choose their new owners wisely. ”

Wolfe’s eyes narrowed. “Since those in my employ need their loyalties investigated because they failed to warn me of the dangers to my brother and sister?”

“Yes.” She prayed he realized she was in no way saying he was a poor protector of the children. It was simply a matter of giving him the opportunity to get his house in order.

“That could work to your advantage,” Chance said, helping himself to a biscuit from the tea cart. “Your solicitor could use that information as your reason for dissolving the engagement. Those servants could be witnesses in your favor were things to get… difficult .”

“Rather than fire the lot of them with no references, you feel I should try for a confession?” Wolfe asked Grace. The way he looked at her, spoke as if no one else was in the room, made it a struggle to form a logical thought, let alone speak.

He moved closer and held out his hand. Without hesitation, she took it and allowed him to help her to her feet.

“I value your insight. I know you would do anything to keep Connor and Sissy safe. What are your thoughts? I am so furious that I wouldn’t think twice about burning the lodge down around those murderous servants’ ears with them inside. ”

“Let the twins stay here for a few days—at least until after the picnic.” She wished she hadn’t left her tea on the table.

Her mouth had gone dry as dust. “And perhaps you should wait until after the picnic to speak with Lady Margaret. That will give her mother time to calm a bit after being ousted from Wolfebourne Lodge. It could make things easier.”

“Speak to Lady Margaret?” He stared at her as if he’d not thought of doing such a thing.

His response not only amazed Grace but caused her to wonder if he had changed his mind. “You can’t merely send her a note or allow your solicitor to notify her. You are a better man than that. Or have you changed your mind?”