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P atrick led Sophie down the steps to where Letty was being helped out of the carriage. Doddy leaped out and ran to her, barking. But it was who stepped down next that had Sophie gasping.

“Amelia!”

Patrick watched Miss Logan lower Timmy to the floor. He ran for his sister, little legs pumping as he called her name.

“You can’t pick him up,” Patrick said, bending with her to greet the boy.

“’Lo, Patrick!”

“Hello, Timmy. What do you think? Do you like my house?”

He nodded, little face serious. “Is there a pony?”

“It’s coming tomorrow,” Patrick said, which had the boy clapping his hands in excitement.

Sophie kissed her brother, then rose to greet Letty and Amelia.

While Timmy went to explore the small fountain, Patrick watched his wife.

Last night had been a revelation to him. Sophie had responded like no woman before her. She was a captivating mix of innocent and alluring, and she was his.

“Amelia, what are you doing here?”

“We have much to tell you,” Letty said, moving forward to kiss Sophie and wrap a welcoming arm around her waist. “But I think it will be a story best told over tea. How is your arm? I told Amelia you were shot in the park. I thought it was necessary considering she was coming here.”

“Of course,” Sophie said.

“I can’t believe you were shot,” Amelia said, hugging Sophie gently.

“She needs to be careful,” Patrick said.

“Then we will ensure she is,” Amelia added.

“Where is Stephen?” Patrick asked.

“He left us to visit the stables,” Letty said.

“Well then, come along,” Patrick said. “I will call for tea.”

He collected Timmy on the way and lifted him onto his shoulders. He then took Sophie’s hand and walked back inside with the others following.

He liked the feel of her hand in his, liked her tethered to him.

“This, Ribble, is Doddy. He is the countess’s dog,” Patrick said as the animal sat and stared up at the butler.

“I’m sorry we have disturbed your peace, Ribble,” Sophie rushed to add.

“Not at all, my lady. We are happy to have something to do,” he said.

“If only I’d known you were bored,” Patrick drawled. He then introduced Letty, Amelia, and Timmy.

They went to the small parlor that had windows and a door leading out to the garden.

Patrick waited until the women were seated, then lowered Timmy onto the sofa beside his wife.

The boy immediately climbed onto his sister’s lap and snuggled against her chest. Patrick envied him and his youthful ability to do that with so many people in the room.

If he tried the same trick, he would be hurled bodily from the house, he thought, looking longingly at Sophie’s breasts.

“Tea, please, Ribble,” Patrick said as he went to open the door.

“Tell me why you are here,” Sophie said from behind him.

“Lord Coulter?—”

“Would never judge you or tell anyone what you say. Isn’t that right, my lord?”

He gave his wife a look before nodding.

“I have left Mother, Sophie, and I will not be returning.”

Now that he had not expected. Shooting Sophie a look, he saw she was shocked too.

“I am sorry to arrive unannounced and with you having only just married Lord Coulter,” Amelia rushed on. “But she said horrible things about both you and Lady Carstairs after the wedding. We fought, hurling vile things at each other.”

Patrick watched Letty hand Miss Logan a handkerchief.

“I thought to reason with her. So I went to her room, but she called me S-Satan’s whore because I still wore the bridesmaid dress and said she was going to church to pray for my black soul. I packed a valise and left.”

“Amelia arrived just minutes before we were to leave London,” Letty said, “so I took her with me.”

“How dare she!” Sophie was outraged.

“Sophie,” Patrick said softly.

“Well, that’s not very nice,” she added.

“I took a hackney to Lady Carstairs’s house,” Amelia added with a small sniff. “I had nowhere else to go, you see, Sophie.”

“Of course you should have gone to Letty,” she said. “I would have been very angry had I found out you had done any differently. You are my friend.”

“Oh dear,” Amelia cried into her handkerchief, Sophie’s words making her sob even harder.

Patrick was about as happy with a woman’s tears as the next man, and yet he didn’t leave. Every time someone talked to or about Sophie, he learned more about his wife.

“I insisted Amelia send her mother a letter explaining our destination and when we would be returning,” Letty added.

“I am so sorry, Amelia,” Sophie said, and Patrick saw tears swell in her eyes at her friend’s obvious distress.

“I… I have come to realize that she will never allow me to change, Sophie, and I am hoping that by running away, I will shock her in some way.”

Patrick had not met Mrs. Logan often, but he doubted that sour-faced shrew was capable of change.

“Thank you, Ribble,” Sophie said as the butler placed a large tea tray on the table before her. “Could you please pour, Letty?”

“Can we go out there, Patrick?” Timmy asked, pointing to the open door.

“Have you had enough of tears and women’s chatter too?” he asked the boy, who nodded.

“Timmy and I are going for a walk, Sophie,” Patrick said. He then took two cakes off the tray, handing one to Timmy. He clicked his fingers for the dog to follow, and they left the house.

They wandered to the stables with the boy running ahead. Doddy spent the majority of the time with his nose to the ground, sniffing. Patrick explained things to his little brother-in-law and pointed out anything that may interest him.

He enjoyed this, he realized, having a child, dog, and of course Sophie around. Patrick felt a wave of something he termed contentment sweep over him. If he could remove Jack Spode, he’d be completely happy.

He mulled over what Amelia Logan had said as they walked toward the stables.

He’d been raised by parents who did not know how to show love, and it had been hell, even with his sisters in the house.

To grow up alone with a mother like Lady Logan would have been terrible for Amelia.

He knew Sophie would want to do something for her friend, and he would wait for her to discuss the matter with him.

“Timmy, let’s see the horses in the stables,” he called to the boy, who was pulling leaves off trees now and crunching them in his little hands.

Patrick arrived to find Stephen in there talking to his stable master.

“Why are you talking to John and not coming to the house that is now full of women?” Patrick said by way of greeting.

Timmy greeted Stephen and then hurried to the first stable, where a large black head hung over the door.

“Hello!” the boy shrieked with excitement. Rather than be upset by the noise, Zeus leaned down and put his muzzle on Timmy’s head.

“John, this is Timmy. He will be riding the pony that is arriving tomorrow,” Patrick said.

“Well now, it’s about time we had children about the place.” His grizzled stable master, who was another servant who had been with his family for many years, then wandered off smiling to greet Timmy.

“Good Lord, did John just smile?” Stephen asked.

“It would appear so.”

Both men then watched as John walked Timmy to the next stall. He bent to lift him so he could see inside it and explained that the horse in there was resting.

“Is that really happening?” Stephen asked. “John never smiles, and I can’t remember the last time he wasn’t taking us to task for something.”

“Children make people do odd things” was all Patrick said. “How was the journey from London?”

“Without incident, even if that woman was accompanying Letty and Timmy.”

Patrick studied his friend. “What’s between you and Amelia Logan?”

“I beg your pardon?” Stephen glared at him. “There is nothing between us.”

“That haughty tone may work on some people, but let me assure you, it does not work on me,” Patrick added. “You like her, don’t you?”

“What? Absolutely not!” Color now rode the ridges of Stephen’s cheekbones. “Just because you are now wed to the love of your life does not mean I must also have a woman in mine.”

Is Sophie the love of my life? Patrick had a feeling the answer to that could be yes, and that made him smile.

“What are you smiling at?” Stephen demanded.

“I think Miss Logan will make you a wonderful wife.”

“You cannot be serious?”

“Perfectly, but right now I need to ensure my stable master is not feeding my brother-in-law to any of my horses. Come along, Stephen, and after, we will take tea… with Miss Logan.”