Miss Dunston shook her head. “No. I’d like to keep him with me for now.”
“Very well.” He looked up at the clear, blue sky. “It’s a lovely day. What do you say to a stroll around the gardens?”
“Oh yes, let’s,” she replied, her cheeks a delightful pink.
As they strolled, Aaron glanced sideways at Miss Dunston several times before motioning to the puppy and saying, “He will need to walk on his own soon. Unless you mean to carry him into adulthood.”
“Funny you should say that,” Miss Lockhart said from behind them. “I was thinking the same thing.”
Miss Dunston laughed. “That’s quite enough. Both of you. I’m just advising Patch on what he should expect, living with you, Sir Aaron. It won’t be easy for him.”
“Oh? And what should he expect?” Aaron asked, amused.
She stopped to place the puppy on the grass. “That you’re a kind man. Stubborn, yes, and perhaps a bit vain, but kind all the same.”
Aaron placed a hand to his chest and gave a mocking gasp. “Why, Miss Dunston, you’ve paid me a compliment. Have you fallen ill?” He placed a hand on her forehead the way his governess had when he was young. “No, you have no fever. Surely you haven’t consumed a bottle of wine without my knowledge! Have you a flask hidden somewhere on your person?”
Her laughter once again sent a warmth coursing through his veins. He offered her his arm, and she accepted it. “Don’t worry,” he said, smiling down at Miss Dunston. “I’ll take good care of him until…” He paused. He had nearly saiduntil you come to live here, but it was far too early to make such an assumption. “Until you’re able to take over that responsibility.”
She glanced over her shoulder. Aaron followed her gaze to where Miss Lockhart had stopped beside a large lilac tree. “Yes, I’ll likely have to collect him soon,” Miss Dunston said with a sigh. “Then I’ll return home and prepare for a life I don’t want.”
For a moment, Aaron felt awkward. They had been courting only a few days. Despite his recent revelation of his feelings for her, he prayed she did not expect him to propose marriage.
To his relief, it was she who changed the subject. “What was it like to meet the King?”
They came to a stop near a hedgerow, Patch waddling across the grass to sniff beneath the closest hedge.
“Trust me, I could almost ask the same of you. The ceremony took a matter of moments, and I was not invited to stay afterward. Not even to share in a cup of tea.”
Miss Dunston laughed. “Were you frightened when you fought the highwaymen?”
His heart began to race. Perhaps it was time for him to tell her the truth. Yet, what if she became disappointed when she learned that rather than a gang of highwaymen, or even one, the man he staved off was a drunkard who had no designs on hurting the Princess at all? Would she be so offended at his lie that she no longer wanted to see him again?
The thought of losing her was too much to bear. Therefore, he changed the subject this time. “Will your father allow you to keep a dog?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think he’ll care if I have one or not. I’d be surprised if he notices Patch, let alone that I’ve returned home.”
Although Miss Dunston had explained that her father favored her sisters, Aaron could not shake the feeling that there was more to the separation of father and daughter than she had revealed. Whenever she mentioned her father, there was a pain in her eyes that caused his heart to clench.
“Perhaps Patch will help you and your father to grow close again,” Aaron said. “Maybe he’ll be a bridge that allows you to cross whatever rift that now separates you.”
Rather than responding, Miss Dunston shook her head and hurried over to where the puppy was wriggling beneath the hedge. “Oh, just look at him! He’s already getting dirty.”
Aaron snorted. “If you think he’s using my bath, Miss Dunston, you’re sorely mistaken.”
She frowned at him. “If we’re courting, would it not be better if you were less formal?”
He cleared his throat. “I suppose so. Miss Louisa. But the question still stands.”
She grinned and then picked up the dog. “My confidence in this arrangement is waning. If you’re unwilling to share your bath, then I imagine you’ll not offer him your bed, either. Where will he sleep?”
“I hadn’t considered that,” Aaron said. “I’ll have Paul mind him at night. He’s one of the stable boys. I realize some men allow dogs to sleep inside the house, but I find the idea rather unsavory. Animals are meant for the outdoors. That is why God gave them fur.”
“Is that so?” Miss Louisa asked. “Then why do not men sleep outside?”
Aaron found her mischievous grin delightful. “Because unlike animals, we have no fur.”
She laughed. “But are men not as much animals as dogs are?”