“Out of harm’s way,” Eleanor said, looking down at Oyster. He lay along her arm like a particularly warm, heavy baby, which, in fact, he was. Barring the fact that he had all four paws in the air and was panting, he could have been taken for a fat and hairy newborn.
Well, perhaps that wasn’t true. Eleanor had to admit that her preference for pugs was not shared by all.
“I can see you’re listening, Lisette, so please open your eyes,” she said sharply. “I’d like to introduce you to my puppy.”
Lisette opened her eyes, but the moment she caught sight of Oyster, she screamed again and shuddered closer to Villiers. “He’s so ugly!”
“He’s not—” Eleanor began. But there was no getting around the fact that even a creamy white coat and a midnight black muzzle couldn’t make a pug precisely beautiful. “He’s not ugly,” she stated firmly. “He is a fine dog.”
“I am afraid of dogs,” Lisette said, shuddering visibly. “And that one is monstrously shaped. There is something wrong with its eyes! They look like—like disgusting fish eggs!”
Eleanor looked around at the circle of rapt children. “You’re not setting a good example, Lisette. This is Oyster,” she said to the children. “He’s a very sweet puppy who wouldn’t dream of hurting anyone. And his features are completely appropriate for the kind of dog he is.”
Naturally, given Lisette’s revulsion, the children were eyeing Oyster as if he had three heads.
“He’s grotesque,” Lisette said breathily.
“Our hostess is afraid of dogs,” Villiers pointed out, rather unnecessarily to Eleanor’s mind. “Perhaps you might keep the animal in your bedchamber during your visit.”
Eleanor blinked down at Oyster. He certainly wasn’t beautiful. But he was no bulldog either. “Lisette,” she said incredulously, coming a step nearer. “Are you really saying that you’re afraid of a dog who weighs less than a stone? He still has his milk teeth, for God’s sake!”
“I am,” Lisette said, a gasp breaking her voice. “I know I’m an idiot. I’m so stupid. I know it. Just please—please—will you take him away? Please?”
“Of course,” Eleanor said, stepping backwards again. Oyster snorted and reached up to lick her chin. She turned around and marched back to the house, feeling her ears burning red with rage.
It wasn’t just the way Lisette had shuddered. Or even the way her eyes had started to bulge so that she actually resembled Oyster. It was the way that Villiers had looked down at her, as if he were protecting her from a man-eating crocodile.
Ridiculous. They were both utterly ridiculous.
Anne was comfortably seated on a small settee, powdering her nose. “Let me guess,” she said as Eleanor came up the steps to the terrace, clutching Oyster. “Lisette turned into the trembling maiden, but luckily a big, strong duke was there to rescue her? Wait—haven’t we heard this story before?”
Eleanor plumped down beside her and turned Oyster free to scrabble about. “Are you implying that Lisette is akin to Ada?” she demanded, still furious. “Because I can assure you that Ada would never behave in such an unreasonable manner.”
“What on earth are all those children doing out there?” Anne asked. “Do you suppose one of them is the child to whom Mother referred so darkly? Perhaps Lisette didn’t stop with one.” She giggled madly. “Perhaps she is a female match to Villiers!”
“Don’t be foolish. They’re wearing pinafores. I assume they’re from the orphanage,” Eleanor said, shrugging. “I know that Lisette—” She sat upright. “The orphanage!”
Anne raised an eyebrow.
“Two of those children may be Villiers’s.”
“What a naughty boy,” Anne said, without showing the faintest bit of shock.
“For having two?”
“I already heard that he had some illicit offspring. No, rather, for stowing them in an orphanage. That’s not acceptable.”
“He lost them,” Eleanor said, finding it very queer to defend the duke, even as she did so. “He had a crooked solicitor, and the man ran off with his funds. It turned out he’d been defrauding the children of their support.”
“So the duke’s offspring were plunked in an orphanage. It sounds like a bad play.”
Eleanor narrowed her eyes. Across the lawn, Villiers had placed Lisette back on her feet, but she was still clinging to him. “Maybe he has decided to marry her so he can defend her from wild animal attacks.”
“She could do much worse. After all, she’s already met his children.”
“Not all of them,” Eleanor said. “Apparently he has six.”
“Trust Villiers to double the common allotment of iniquity,” Anne said placidly. “The poor man must be desperate to prove his virility. I wonder why?”
“I think it was just carelessness,” Eleanor said.
“Oh, look. Popper has lined up all the orphans and is marching them off somewhere. If I’d known Lisette had turned her estate into an orphanage, I wouldn’t have come, even for you, darling. I am not fond of children.”
“I think they live in the village, not on the grounds.”
“Do you see how she is leaning on Villiers as she gracefully limps back to the house?” Anne inquired. “We could all take lessons there, I think.” She gave Eleanor a meaningful look.
“Perhaps she hurt her toe running away from nasty Oyster.”
“That would explain why I can tell from here that the supposedly chilly Duke of Villiers is tying his heart in knots over the defenseless girl he just rescued from certain death.”
“Is he really?” Eleanor refused to look. “Too bad. He seemed halfway sensible. If you think that I might transform into a trembling maiden to catch a husband, Anne, you’re wrong.”
“For one thing, you’d have trouble with the maiden part,” her sister said, chortling.
Eleanor threw her a quick frown as Villiers and Lisette neared the terrace. She looked around for Oyster, and realized to her relief that he’d collapsed into his favorite position and was engaged in his favorite activity: sleeping. Thankfully, well-hidden under the sofa.
Lisette perched on the arm of the sofa and bent to give Eleanor a little kiss. Her slipper was a hairbreadth away from Oyster’s chubby paw.
“That was such a turmoil that I never got to say how wonderfully happy I am that the two of you are paying me a visit,” she exclaimed, as if the whole event had never happened. Eleanor suddenly remembered how hard it was to stay angry at Lisette. Since she forgot her own emotions so quickly, it felt churlish to say a cross word to her. And that, of course, was how she got away with such outrageous behavior.
“I should have visited you before this,” Eleanor said, feeling a mild pang of guilt. “I can’t believe so many years have passed.”
“Popper tells me that we must all prepare for dinner. But I just wanted to say…” Her voice trailed off and she twisted her hands together.
“It’s all right,” Eleanor said. “I know some people loathe dogs. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have brought him with me, Lisette.”