Page 6

S ophie woke as the early-morning sun slanted through the gap in her curtains. Climbing out of bed, she pulled them back and was greeted with a beautiful morning. Deciding she’d take Timmy for a walk, she quickly washed and dressed.

“Good morning, Mary,” she said to Timmy’s nanny when she entered his room. The woman was sitting with the boy on her lap, reading him a story, which he loved.

“Fee!” Timmy said, climbing off Mary’s lap and running to her.

“I thought we’d go for a walk, Mary. If that’s all right with you?”

The woman smiled. “He will love that. I’ll just get my bonnet.”

“I can take him. No need for you to come, Mary. Have a cup of tea below.”

She didn’t look convinced, but as Sophie insisted, she and Timmy were soon walking out the town house front door.

Wandering along the quiet street with his little hand in hers, she looked at the lovely homes with their owners still slumbering peacefully. This life was nothing like his should have been, and that thought alone told her she’d made the right decision. He would not know hardship like she had.

The park was not far, but the walk took longer than it normally would, as Timmy insisted he did not want her to carry him.

He then had to stop every time he saw something that interested him.

There was an odd-shaped stone, then a feather, which caused a long discussion about the type of bird it had belonged to.

Finally, they reached their destination, and soon they were walking over the dew-damp grass together. This was the part of her new life she most loved—spending time with Timmy. Not a few snatched moments here and there, but quality time.

Sophie heard a bark, and then a black dog appeared ahead of them. It was large and shaggy and ran with a long pink tongue hanging out of its mouth. She picked up Timmy, ignoring his protests, and held him against her shoulder. The dog reached them, sat, and stared up at them expectantly.

“Down, please,” Timmy said, and as the dog hadn’t shown its teeth or bitten her, she did as he said. The animal then sat perfectly still while the boy wrapped his arms around the canine and hugged him… her?

Sophie bent to stroke the animal. Its fur was matted, and she could feel it was thin.

“Where are you from?” she asked, scratching the top of its head while Timmy continued to hug it, which she should probably stop him from doing, as who knew what it carried.

“See the ducks!” Timmy said, releasing the dog.

“You want to see the ducks?”

He nodded and then started walking with the dog—a boy, it turned out—in the direction of the water. Following, Sophie looked around her but saw no one looking for a lost dog.

“Next time, we’ll bring bread, and you can feed them.”

Two ducks were swimming in the pond, but not for long, as the dog charged in and scared them away. Sophie found a stick and threw it. The dog fetched it and, to Timmy’s joy, spat it back out at his feet.

A game of fetch proceeded, much to the boy’s and dog’s delight. When they were finished, they sat on the bank in the morning sun and watched the ducks return. The dog rested his head on Timmy’s leg and closed his eyes as a small hand stroked him.

Sophie heard the gate they’d entered shut and looked to see who had arrived and if she knew them. Two men, and both had their caps pulled low. Are they the dog’s owners?

They both looked at her, and suddenly Sophie was tense. There was no reason at all to pick up Timmy and start for the other gate on the opposite side of the park, and yet that was what she did. Sophie had lived off her instincts for years, so she never ignored them.

“I stay!” Timmy wailed. “Ducks. Doddy!”

“I’ll get you some cake, but it is time to go, as Letty will be expecting us,” she said, resisting the urge to look over her shoulder.

“Doddy is coming with us,” she added, and he was, trotting along beside them happily.

Reaching the gate nearly at a run now, she saw Mrs. Bradbury and her dog enter.

They lived two houses along from the Monmouth home, and she was a friend of Letty’s.

“Good day to you, Countess,” the woman said. “You have a dog.”

“Good day, and he is not my dog. He just appeared in the park,” Sophie said, watching the two animals greet each other with tail wags and sniffs. The black dog was twice the size of the little brown one, but he seemed friendly.

“No doubt a stray, then. There are plenty of them in London,” Mrs. Bradbury added.

“How is Waldorf this morning?” Sophie angled her body so she could look behind her. The two men had stopped a short distance away and were talking.

Are they following me or simply walking this way? But then why would they enter the park only to leave it minutes later? If they were the dog’s owners, surely they would have called out to him?

Studying them as Mrs. Bradbury bent to talk to Timmy, one of them turned, and their eyes caught. He smiled; she nodded. Are they following me?

“I am taking tea with Letty tomorrow, so I shall see you both then. Now, I must walk this lazy dog,” she said. With short legs and a rotund body, Waldorf was known and loved by everyone on the street. The Monmouth staff were no different and often fed him tidbits.

“Good day,” Mrs. Bradbury said.

“Good day.” Sophie picked up Timmy and started walking again.

Leaving the park, she crossed the street.

At the corner, she resisted the urge to look behind her and hurried down the next street.

She’d thought the dog would go with Mrs. Bradbury, but no, he was keeping pace with Sophie, which pleased Timmy.

“We have cake?” Timmy said, his little arms wrapped around her neck as he peered down at the dog.

“Do you know, I think that’s an excellent idea,” Sophie said when they reached a row of shops. “And there is Miss Penny’s tea shop.”

She would sit in there and watch to see if the men followed. Ducking inside, Sophie was hit with the delicious scents, but she had something else on her mind other than food.

“He can come inside too,” one of the staff said, pointing to the dog.

“Oh, he’s not…” Her words fell away as the dog pressed himself to her leg. “Thank you. He would like that,” she added.

The table by the window wasn’t free, but one farther back was. Pulling out a chair, she lowered Timmy onto it. The dog then sat beside him, now leaning on the chair.

“You are not our dog,” Sophie said to the animal. But one look in those soft brown eyes, and she was lost. Sophie knew what it was like to be alone and scared and have no one.

“What would you like?”

“Tea and scones, please,” Sophie said to the lady who arrived to take their order. “And a cup of milk as well.” Timmy thought cakes were scones. If they had jam, he was happy.

Looking back to the window, she watched the two men hurry past without looking inside.

Definitely following me, but why?

Looking around the tea shop, her eyes settled on the broad shoulders of a man seated a few tables away. A shiver of awareness ran through her as he turned, and she faced Lord Coulter.