Will wanted to cover his ears, but they were probably sore too. “Susannah, I am not pursuing those rewards. My business depends on having a good reputation among the wealthy and titled. The training is but a small part of it, a sort of advertising. The greater income results from breeding collies, but if a peer buys a pet from me, then he’s very likely to buy his collies from me as well. Do you know how many sheep a man like Quimbey owns?”
Worth Kettering shamelessly discussed his business ventures with Jacaranda, and relied on her instincts as much as his own when it came to investment choices. The female of the species, despite societal platitudes to the contrary, was often more observant and shrewd than the male.
Susannah was entirely capable of grasping Will’s point.
“You are convinced somebody is stealing the dogs for profit,” she said, “and that same somebody is well-placed enough to ruin your business. I’m not convinced theft is involved.”
Will extracted Susannah’s nightgown from her pillow, for she would not give up on this topic.
Though she might well give up on him. He dropped the nightgown over her head and helped her find the sleeves, then, in defense of his jiggling sanity, he tied a single bow at her throat.
More fool him, for silk only emphasized what a man longed to again touch and taste and fondle.
“If the dogs are willingly surrendered, that’s worse,” Will said, shifting to sit beside Susannah. He wanted to cuddle up, his head in her lap, while they dreamed together of a country wedding and large litters of puppies, but that wasn’t to be.
“Maybe the scheme falls somewhere in between,” Susannah said, slipping an arm around Will’s waist. “The lady of the house, or possibly the dog’s owner, is assured the dog will have a good home, and they want to believe that. No stealing required, only lying. The dogs are bought here in London for a pittance, then sold elsewhere—trained, mature, handsome dogs—for good coin.”
If Will were not exhausted, if he weren’t muddled, if he hadn’t handled the very silk now lovingly clinging to Susannah’s breasts, he might have kept his thoughts to himself.
He was exasperated, and needed for Susannah to grasp the magnitude of the quagmire she expected him to leap across.
“Susannah, the plan you imagine sounds plausible—dogs purchased openly then resold to good homes—but to enact it, whoever is procuring the dogs would need to know where in the hinterlands—a different hinterland for each dog, lest anybody grow suspicious—such dogs are in demand, when most every market town has a few dog breeders. Moreover, this dog-pawning business would need the means to transport large dogs all about the realm, and that is not a cheap or simple proposition.”
She turned her head and pillowed her cheek on her up-drawn knees. “You would know about that. You’ve brought Georgette up to Town a time or two, haven’t you?”
“I could not endure Town without her,” Will said. “And the journey from Dorset is tedious, indeed, for even one mastiff won’t fit in the average dog cart. We must alternate having Georgette travel in my brother’s coach, and run beside my horse, stopping frequently to let her into the coach, then to let her back out. Then she decides she doesn’t care to travel in the coach, or traveling in the coach upsets her digestion.”
“So the stolen dogs haven’t left London,” Susannah said.
The ensuing silence was accusing, as if the dogs were simply tied outside the nearest posting inn, and all Will had to do was snap his fingers, toss some cheese, collect a few rewards, and recite his wedding vows.
The reality could be so much worse than that.
“The dogs are in somebody’s mews,” Will said, “if they haven’t been sold to the pits already. The baiters can pay excellent coin, they’re discreet, and they need a constant supply of big, healthy dogs. Moreover, a man of position and consequence could move easily between the best households and the lowest entertainments. You’re asking me to risk my livelihood, Susannah, rather than assure our future.”
Perhaps the common sense of his argument was penetrating her enthusiasm for orange blossoms. She sat up and tugged the hem of the coverlet higher. The candle flame flickered, a prelude to guttering, and a reminder that Will should exit the premises sooner rather than later.
He ought to quit the premises immediately, and prowl the alleys searching for missing dogs with his brothers. He could not claim the rewards, but neither could he live with the knowledge that innocent animals would be sent into violent situations because he’d failed to intervene.
“That’s what I forgot to tell you,” Susannah said. “Della is likely to refuse Effington’s suit, should he tender a proposal. If your brother Ash was waiting for the lists to clear, his opportunity might be in the offing.”