Page 15 of The Duke In My Bed (The Heirs’ Club of Scoundrels #1)

Fetter strong madness in a silken thread.

Bray had shuddered when Miss Bonnie’s shrill scream came out of nowhere and for no reason. When the other girls joined in, it became madness for a few moments.

“I know who the dog is,” Bray answered Miss Prim noticing that the spaniel’s coat was very much the color of the girls’ hair.

The high-pitched squealing and laughter along with the barking rattled his eardrums. How could such sweet-looking females make such ear-piercing, inhuman sounds?

All Bray saw was a blur of blond hair, blue eyes, and sprigged muslin dresses falling to the floor in a tumble of happiness.

Saint was tangled among them, barking, jumping from one sister to the other, licking their faces as the girls fought to pet, stroke, and hug him.

Clearly the dog knew and loved the sisters, too.

Without warning, Miss Prim rounded on him, a glare blazing in her eyes. “You are a beast!”

Her words were almost a hiss, but Bray remained calm even though there was no denying the gorgeous blonde standing in front of him looked as if she were ready to put a dagger in his heart.

“I suppose I’ve been called worse,” he remarked, wondering what in the hell he could have said this time that offended her so drastically.

She advanced on him. If it was possible for a beautiful lady to look menacing, she did. “Why did you keep him from us?”

Bray gave her a questioning look. “What? The dog? Saint?”

“Yes.”

“I didn’t keep him from you.”

“You did!” she said earnestly. “You knew we wanted our brother’s dog.”

There was no mistaking the anger in her voice or her expression. He was beginning to get an idea where her fury was coming from, but he didn’t understand it.

And he didn’t like it.

“How could I have known that, Miss Prim?”

She inched even closer to him, her eyes fixed solidly on his. “After Nathan’s death, our uncle tried to find Saint for us. He searched the streets and the parks. He asked everyone, which would have included you and your friends, and no one knew what had happened to Nathan’s dog.”

So now he understood the full extent and reason behind her anger.

Bray had always been good at hiding his emotion, until he met Miss Prim. She could get under his skin and rile him faster than the most skillful card cheat.

This time he stepped closer to her, placing his body and his face near hers. “Your brother asked me to take care of him.”

“For us, until you could get him to us.”

“That’s not what he said,” Bray answered tightly.

“He shouldn’t have had to tell you that’s what he expected. You should have known he would want his little sisters to have his dog.”

“I didn’t.”

“Then that doesn’t make you a beast—it makes you a monster.”

It was getting harder for Bray not to show any emotion. She was deliberately accusing him of withholding something from little girls. She might as well have put a knife in his back.

“I might very well be a monster, a beast, or a monstrous beast, Miss Prim, but I don’t steal dogs and keep them from children.”

“But you did.”

“I didn’t know I was,” he said again, bringing his face even nearer—so close to hers, their noses almost touched. He didn’t know how he was managing to keep his voice so low.

“How could you have not known?”

Bray didn’t mind being blamed for anything he’d ever done that was wrong.

Everyone knew there had been plenty over the years, and he’d readily own up to any of it.

But he didn’t like being accused of something he didn’t do.

If Lord Wayebury or anyone had asked him about the dog, he would gladly have turned him over to the sisters.

Miss Prim’s sparkling blue eyes searched his with intensity. “You mean you really didn’t think we might want Nathan’s dog?”

No, I didn’t. It never crossed my mind. I would have been happy to send him to you.

Bray watched tears gather in her eyes. Her anger had melted into pain. This had wounded her deeply. He was surprised at how quickly her anger had turned to sorrow. His heart constricted, and he fought to keep his emotions under control.

She was the most infuriating young lady he had ever met, and those girls could screech to the high heavens, but he wouldn’t deliberately cause any of them pain.

What could he say? That he wasn’t used to thinking about siblings or dogs?

Hell, he wasn’t used to thinking about anyone but himself.

He glanced at the loud merriment as the girls and Saint renewed their friendship.

Blast it all, he could see how the girls loved the dog, and Saint was overjoyed at their reunion, too.

“How the hell was I to have known?”

She gasped.

“‘Hell’ is a biblical word, Miss Prim and Proper,” he said quickly, “and I won’t apologize for using it in front of you. Lord Wayebury asked me to take care of the spaniel, just as he asked me to marry you.”

Her intake of breath was more like a gulp. “So, Saint has been a chore to you. Just as your word to my brother to marry me was a chore that you have ignored all these years.”

“Two years.” Bray gritted his teeth. This miss didn’t know when to stop. “You, I ignored, but I took care of the dog.”

“Sister, look, it’s Saint,” Miss Bonnie said, heading their way, clutching the dog, who was really too heavy and too big for her to carry in her arms.

Miss Prim spun away from him and lovingly rubbed her hand down her sister’s warm blond curls. “Yes, I see.”

“Can we keep him? Can we take him home?” Miss Bonnie asked hopefully as the other sisters crowded behind her.

“I can help take care of him,” Miss Lillian offered.

“I’ll walk him in the mornings,” Miss Sybil said.

“I guess that means I will take him for a stroll in the afternoons,” Miss Gwen added.

Bray’s throat felt thick, and damn, but he hated the emotion that had caused it. He wished he’d thought to send them the dog.

“Girls,” Miss Prim said, “he now belongs to—”

“You,” Bray interrupted her. “Of course he’s yours. Take him. He’s been waiting for you. It’s about time you came to London to get him.”

The girls’ peals of laughter and screeching split the air again.

Saint barked. Bonnie thrust the spaniel into Louisa’s hands and then swung around and threw her arms around Bray’s waist. He flinched and then cringed inwardly because he knew Miss Prim had seen him flinch.

He held his hands and arms out to his side.

The little girl’s hug was so unexpected, he froze.

Bray had never felt such small, gentle arms around him before.

They were squeezing him with earnestness, but he had no idea what to do.

Miss Bonnie placed her warm cheek against his midriff.

Suddenly he felt as if she were squeezing his heart, too.

Warm, compassionate feelings rose up in him, and he didn’t know what to do about them.

He fought the desire to hug Bonnie close and tell her he’d never meant to hurt them, but years of training kept him from acting on the gut-wrenching feelings, and he didn’t touch the child.

If their uncle had truly been looking for the dog, asking about his whereabouts, he would have known Bray had Saint.

There were more than a dozen men with them the night of the accident, and it was talked about in all the clubs and written about for months.

Hell, it was still talked about. There was no way Lord Wayebury couldn’t have found out where Saint was if he’d tried.

The viscount must simply have lied to the Prim sisters.

Bray didn’t like that.

Now he had another reason for wanting to find the coward and put the fear of God in him.

Miss Bonnie looked up at Bray with the happiest blue eyes and widest snaggletoothed smile he’d ever seen. She turned him loose and said, “Thank you for finding him for us, Your Grace.”

Bray looked over at Louisa. Saint licked her chin and she laughed and smiled lovingly at the dog while she hugged him and brushed her hand softly down his blond coat.

Those old feelings of remorse from the night Nathan Prim died rose up in Bray and threatened to choke him.

Silently he winced and swallowed them down.

Damn Miss Prim and her sisters for making him experience emotions that had been so easy to bury in the past.

“Mrs. Woolwythe will be a lovely addition to our home, Your Grace,” Mrs. Colthrust said as she floated back into the room, smiling broadly. “Mr. Tidmore picked an excellent choice from the agency, and she can start by the end of the week.”

Miss Sybil grabbed Saint from Miss Prim, and the girls ran over to show Mrs. Colthrust the dog. The chaperone put her hands up in front of her and backed away. “No, no—please, girls. Get him away from me. I’m not fond of dogs and don’t want him near me.”

“But His Grace said we could have him,” Miss Sybil said.

“He’s going to come live with us,” Miss Bonnie added.

“Oh, no, my dears, I’m afraid that won’t work,” Mrs. Colthrust said coldly. “Not in our house, he won’t.”

“But the duke—”

“Well, then, His Grace can keep you and the dog,” Mrs. Colthrust said, interrupting Miss Lillian. “I’m afraid half a dozen girls is all I can take care of in one household. There is no room for pets.”

“No, he’s ours,” Miss Bonnie said, and burst into tears. “Tell him, Sister.”

Bray’s throat thickened again.

“He’s our brother’s dog,” Miss Sybil cried. “You can’t force us to give him up!”

“They keep Saint,” Bray said firmly at the same time that Miss Prim said, “We keep Saint.”

Mrs. Colthrust threw back her shoulders and lifted her chin high. “Lord Wayebury—”

“Is no longer in charge, Mrs. Colthrust,” Bray cut in. “I am. Now, you can remain or you can go. Your choice. But Saint stays with the children.”

Bray turned to Louisa. Her look of pain had been replaced with an expression of gratitude.

He felt a small measure of satisfaction for having done something right.