In the following days, everyone carried on as best they could, but there was always one empty chair at the servant's table in the kitchen. Yet, even death does not stand in the way of love and each evening, Hannish watched Alistair and Sarah walk arm in arm around the rim of the massive yard. The men decided any respectable mansion should have a swing tied to the branch of an old oak tree, and it became Prescot and Millie's favorite place to talk.
Even Blanka seemed to be getting better, now that the dog had taken a shine to her instead of Cathleen. "Traitor," Hannish said, each time he walked past Blanka's day room and spotted the dog stretched out on the foot of her bed. When she was not yet asleep, it always made Blanka smile.
The dog was growing by leaps and bounds and somehow figured out that if he went to the front door, either Prescot or Alistair would let him out. It was better than waiting for someone to notice him at one of the other doors. Likewise, when he pawed the front door a couple of times on the outside, one of them would let him back in. Traitor, still half puppy, was a little too rambunctious for the toddler, so he was not allowed to play much with William, no matter how badly he wanted to.
*
The day of the MacGreagor Ball drew closer and closer. Three couples and their servants came from Scotland five days early, as McKenna suggested they should, so they would not be suffering from high-altitude sickness when the ball began. Dinners were lavish and there was plenty for everyone to do, including ironing out the wrinkles in gowns packed away in steamer trunks during the journey. McKenna could not decide what to wear, and asked to have three gowns prepared, so she could choose at the last minute.
Each day, Hannish took his sister and the guests on sightseeing tours in open-air buggies he rented from town. It gave the servants time to rest, and him a chance to forget about Sassy, if only for a few hours. Apparently, their guests already knew about Olivia, and none of them mentioned her name. For that, he was grateful.
Then it happened. The wagon was about to pull away when he spotted Sassy in an upstairs window watching him. He tried not to make it obvious, but he could not take his eyes off her. What's more, she did not leave the window and did not look away either. It was the first real indication he had that she felt something for him, and his heart skipped a beat. Too soon, the wagon took him and his guests out of sight.