While Will could not stop noticing Susannah. She and Georgette made an adorable picture, a fetching pair of ladies out taking the air.
“Georgette and Samson will react to overt threats,” Will said, “but they’ll notice first how we react. If you and I are not upset by the approach of another dog, then neither will Georgette and Samson be.”
They were walking in a large circle, and the hour was such that the gentlemen on horseback had retired to their breakfasts, while the governesses with children were not yet out in force. The air bore the scent of greenery, and that alone soothed Will’s nerves.
“Della notices my mood in much the same way,” Lady Susannah said. “When we attend a social event, if I am in good spirits, if Nicholas and his countess are in a congenial mood, then Della worries less.”
“Lady Della doesn’t strike me as the nervous sort.” In truth, Will hardly noticed Lady Della when she was in Susannah’s company.
“She’s…canny, almost deceptive. I love her dearly, but Della seems to know what’s afoot before anybody else does, and she always has an air of private plans in train. I fear she’s up to something even now, under the very noses of her siblings.”
“Deceptive isn’t good,” Will said, though walking beside Lady Susannah, the park in its vernal glory, the dogs happily padding along, was a slice of heaven.
Also a slice of hell, for Will was simply showing another aristocrat how to get on well with a dog. He’d done this dozens of times, and at no point did the proceedings allow him to steal kisses from his pupils.
“Della is the soul of discretion,” Lady Susannah said. “Whatever she’s about, she won’t be caught. Is this the extent of my schooling today, Mr. Dorning? Strolling the paths and sniffing at bushes?”
They’d returned to the clearing where they’d started, but Will did not want to part from the lady, even though they’d done much more than stroll along and sniff at bushes. They had started leash manners, they’d got the dogs accustomed to her ladyship.
They had also sorely tried Will’s ability to focus on anything other than the soft curve of Lady Susannah’s cheek, and how she smiled with her eyes rather than her mouth.
“Let’s try some commands,” Will said. “If you’re working with dogs, you’ll want to have a few nibbles of cheese with you at all times. We can’t explain with words when a dog has guessed correctly or behaved properly, so we explain with affection and rewards.”
“I am not affectionate by nature, Mr. Dorning. This undertaking could prove challenging.”
Lady Susannah was affectionate by nature, and the undertaking had already proved to be a challenge ten times over.
“We’ll start with down,” Will said. “A very useful command, though one many dogs have trouble perfecting.”
*
“That’s Comus,” Sycamore hissed. “I’m almost sure that’s him.”
Ash remained on his horse, gaze on the dog, who was being half dragged, half led down the alley behind the Earl of Casriel’s town house.
“Comus isn’t that large,” Ash said. “He’s brindle, but his coat is smoother.”
Cam trotted ahead, while Ash kept his horse to the walk. Cam tipped his hat to the man wrestling with the dog, but didn’t pull up until his horse had reached the street.
“I told you: not Comus,” Ash said when his horse was alongside Cam’s. “But a very large and unhappy dog, nonetheless. Willow would have known what to say.”
“The stupid blighter should stop yelling at the poor beast for starters, though Will never interferes uninvited. There’s two of them now.”
The last thing, the very last thing Ash Dorning wanted to do was play nanny to the younger brother who’d nearly got himself called out the night before.
Again.
“I have no idea what ‘two of them’ you’re talking about, Cam, but if anybody asks you how you’re feeling today, you tell them you’re much improved.”
The fellow with the dog disappeared around the corner, down the alley that ran at right angles to the one housing the Dorning mews. The animal had had all four paws planted, and the leash between its jaws as it was dragged along.
Even Will might have intervened, for the beast was clearly close to attacking its handler.
“I’m to say I’m much improved? Hard to improve on perfection,” Cam said, taking a sniff of the rose affixed to his lapel. Cam was a bit of a dandy, and aspired to become more than a bit of a rake.
“Especially if perfection is lying dead in some woodland clearing,” Ash observed. “Why the hell would you antagonize Lyle Mannering?”
Why antagonize anybody? The Dornings were an old family, but not a particularly prosperous or influential one, drat the damned luck. Cam was one of a herd of younger sons who’d be lucky to find work as a steward, factor, clergyman, or man of business. Casriel refused to buy military commissions for his brothers, and subduing the Corsican had left India as the most likely posting anyway.