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“N ever shout at them.” Grace loosened the puppy’s determined grip on Sissy’s hemline by gently prying open its little jaws, then offering it a thick square of scrap leather to chew in its place.

“Give them a firm no , then once you disengage them, distract them with something else to teethe on and praise them when they take it. Puppies learn a great deal from your tone and how you behave. You must always be kind and consistent. If you do that, you’ll not only win their trust and loyalty, but their love. ”

“Won’t Lucy be sad when you give her babies away?” Sissy scooped up the runt of the litter and cuddled the wiggly bundle of white and brindle close. “Won’t you be sad to see them go?” Her cat Galileo flattened his ears, jealousy filling his golden-eyed glare locked on the puppy.

Grace wouldn’t lie to the child who already knew her too well. “I will be sad to see them go, and I imagine Lucy will miss them too. That’s why I need you and Connor to help me find good homes for them—homes we can visit.”

“We should keep them all,” Connor said with a decisive nod as his dog Hector herded the puppies in a somewhat contained grouping on the grassy area beneath the old oak in the back garden.

“Think on it. When you marry Wolfe and bring your dogs with you, this lot could stay here. That way both houses would have a fine kennel of dogs.”

“Connor!” Grace glanced around to ensure they were truly alone. “Mind your words, please? Remember our intentions to keep everything quiet until the proper time?”

“But everyone here already knows.” He dangled a knotted rag in front of one of the pups. It immediately latched on to it for a rousing game of tug-of-war. “Even the servants know. Sissy and I heard Cook and Mrs. Flackney talking about it just yesterday, plain as could be.”

Grace didn’t doubt that a bit. Secrets were a rare thing in the Broadmere household. “And what did they say?”

Connor grinned. “That my brother will have his hands full, but he’ll be the happiest man in the world once he gets used to how you do things.”

Grace wasn’t sure whether she should be insulted or pleased. “Regardless of what you heard, we must still guard our words. If the Earl of Middlebie gets wind of the news, he is sure to share it with the world. He is a well-meaning man but a worse gossip than a gaggle of old women.”

“Merry says that’s because he’s a Scot,” Sissy said. “She also thinks he can’t hear too good, and that may be why he talks so loud.”

“Merry could be right. We must bear that in mind whenever we speak to his lordship.” Grace strolled away from them to the bench against the outer wall of the kitchen. She settled down on it and lifted her face to the gentle warmth of the sun. Freckles could just be damned.

“They are here!” Felicity called out from the kitchen window. “The babies are here!”

“Babies?” Connor looked up from his game of tug and wrinkled his nose. “What babies?”

Grace hopped up from the bench and waved the children toward the door. “My niece and nephew. Rorie and Quill. Come meet them and their parents.”

“Will they like us?” Sissy asked, hanging back beside the tree.

“Of course they will like you, and you can help us keep up with Rorie. She’s just now started walking.

” Grace realized the children had been shunned by so many, they were now leery of strangers.

“Bring Hector and Galileo. Blessing and Fortuity adore cats and will also be very impressed with Hector’s ability to herd Gastric.

No one has ever been able to steer him as effectively as Hector does. ”

Connor and Sissy eyed her as if weighing whether the invitation was a trap. Their hesitation hurt her heart and made her even more determined to protect them from the world’s mean-spiritedness.

She went and took them by the hand, easing them across the garden toward the house. “Blessing and Fortuity are my older sisters. They’re between me and Serendipity in age. Blessing loves astronomy, and Fortuity writes books. You will like them, and they will like you. I promise.”

She tugged them along, through the kitchen that was already astir about the arrival of the rest of the Broadmere family, then down the hall and into the larger of the two parlors.

“Gracie!” Fortuity rushed over and caught her in a warm hug, then stepped back and smiled down at Connor and Sissy.

“Seri was just telling us about our special guests here.” She curtsied to the children.

“I’m Lady Ravenglass and very happy to meet you.

You may call me Lady Fortuity if that’s easier for you. ”

Sissy returned her curtsy and politely said, “I am Lady Susannah Craigston, but you can call me Sissy. Lady Grace told us you write books. Do you make up stories about princes and princesses?”

Fortuity nodded. “Sometimes I do.” She pointed at the baby fussing in Serendipity’s arms. “Lately, though, my strong-willed son Quill has kept me too busy for stories.”

Connor stood taller and straightened his shoulders. “I am Lord Connor Craigston, and Lady Grace would have accepted my offer of marriage instead of my brother’s if I had been old enough. You can call me Connor.”

Fortuity nodded and gave him an even deeper curtsy. “I am honored to meet you, Connor, and look forward to meeting your brother.” Eyes dancing with mirth, she wrinkled her nose at Grace.

Grace clenched her teeth to keep from scolding Serendipity or whichever of her sisters had already spilled the secret within moments of the rest of the family’s arrival.

She forced a smile and narrowed her eyes at Fortuity, warning her to behave.

“And where is Blessing, little Rorie, and my two brothers-in-law?”

“We are here,” Blessing said, entering with a jubilant toddler bouncing on her hip.

She combed her fingers through the child’s silvery-white curls, making the little one chuckle and clap her hands.

“She is faster than you think. Never take your eyes off her. Remember how Merry used to be? Rorie is even faster.” Blessing handed the child off to Joy, then swept across the room and hugged Grace. “Congratulations, Gracie!”

“See?” Connor said. “I told you everyone already knows.”

Choosing to ignore both their comments, Grace rested a hand on each twin’s shoulder. “Allow me to introduce you to Lady Susannah Craigston and Lord Connor Craigston. Children, this is my sister, Lady Blessing Knightwood, and over there is her daughter Aurora.”

Blessing curtsied to them both. “I am very happy to meet you. You can help us keep up with Rorie. That’s Aurora’s nickname, and much easier to shout whenever you’re trying to catch her.”

“Where are her leading strings?” Sissy asked. “Her nurse should have pinned them to the back of her clothes first thing this morning.”

Blessing wrinkled her nose. “While I know many mothers and nursemaids insist upon them, I consider them too dangerous. What if little Rorie were to get caught in them and tangled? Besides, with all the cats in my house, leading strings could prove more trouble than what they are worth.”

“You sound like Grace…I mean…Lady Grace,” Connor said. “She does things different too, and her way makes a lot more sense than the way everyone else does it. I was going to marry her, because she is beyond compare. But she told me I was too young. So I let her marry my brother instead.”

“Connor,” Grace said in a warning tone she prayed the boy would heed.

“What?” He nodded at Blessing. “She needed to know too, since I already told Lady Fortuity. I got to be fair.”

“Indeed you do,” Blessing said with a solemn expression and laughter in her eyes.

“And my brothers-in-law?” Grace asked, determined to take control of the conversation.

“In the library,” Serendipity said. “Chance was most excited for more males to arrive, since he and Middlebie find themselves outnumbered.”

“Middlebie?” Blessing and Fortuity repeated in unison.

“The Earl of Middlebie. Chance’s Scottish chum from university.

The loud one. Remember?” Grace couldn’t remember if Chance had thrown Middlebie at Blessing and Fortuity as a possible husband, but she was certain he had.

Dearest brother never missed an opportunity to leg-shackle them.

After all, the sooner they all married, the sooner he inherited the entirety of the family’s coffers.

Blessing slowly shook her head. “I can’t place the name with a face, but I am sure I’ll remember once I see the man, since Chance paraded us in front of every marriageable male he could find. I assume our darling brother invited him here for the summer?”

“Well, he might as well send him on.” Connor puffed out his small chest. “My brother and I claimed Lady Grace first.”

“Connor…shh!” Sissy nudged him. “If we don’t behave nice, how can we ’spect them to behave nice to us?”

“I wasn’t being not nice. I was just saying—”

Sissy silenced him with a finger in his face. “Hush it. Now.”

With the babbling toddler balanced on her hip, Joy held out a hand to the little girl. “Sissy, would you like to come along and see how Rorie likes the puppies?”

“I better come along too,” Connor said before his sister could answer. “They get pretty lively. We don’t want them to scratch her and make her cry.”

“What a thoughtful young gentleman,” Blessing said, before bending to kiss Connor’s cheek. “Thank you for watching over Rorie. I know you will keep her safe.”

As the children left with Joy, Fortuity collected baby Quill from Serendipity.

“Time for this one to see his nursemaid for a nap so we can all chat. Joy won’t mind our talking without her, since we aren’t discussing games of chance.

” She paused in the doorway and gave Grace a stern look.

“Do not start until I get back. I want to hear everything from the beginning for clarity.”