“Patch,” Louisa snapped. “Come! Now!”
With his tail wagging behind him, the Dalmatian dashed past the several pairs of legs as the footmen hauled various trunks and carpetbags to the waiting carriages. He stopped beside Louisa and planted his behind on the ground, staring up at her with his tongue hanging out.
Louisa fished a biscuit from her pocket and offered it to him. “Good boy,” she said as she scratched him behind the ears.
“He’s so well behaved,” Mrs. Poplar said, the lines in the corners of her eyes more pronounced with her smile. “You’ve trained him well.”
Louisa laughed. “Not I. If it had been left to me, I would have spoiled him, and he would have never been trained. Sir Aaron is the one deserving of the praise. He was the one who asked Mrs. Pentham to create these treats as a way to reward Patch for good behavior. Without them—and Sir Aaron’s firmness—I’m not sure the results would have been the same.”
She gave her son one last kiss, forcing herself to ignore the arms that reached for her. “You go with Mrs. Poplar,” she said, tapping the tip of his nose. “I must speak to your father, but I’ll see you very soon, my love. Will you catch me a butterfly?”
Timothy nodded. “I bring you buttafly, Mama!” He wriggled in the way that said he wanted to walk, and Mrs. Poplar lowered him to the floor but kept hold of his hand. “C’mon, Pash. We gonna go cash buttaflies.”
“Patch,” Mrs. Poplar corrected. “Now you try. Pat-ch.”
The boy crinkled his nose. “Pat-ch. Pash!”
The nanny sighed. “We’ll get it right next time.”
Louisa smiled as she watched the boy and dog, followed by Mrs. Poplar, head toward the back garden. When Timothy was born, Patch had taken on the role of protector and companion. Whenever he was not by Aaron or Louisa’s side, he could be found in Timothy’s room, his head resting on his paws as if guarding the boy’s sleep. Or at his side, as he was now, off on some sort of adventure like two best friends.
Louisa soon made her way down the corridor toward the study in search of her husband.
As she passed the library, something caught her eye. She came to a stop, took two steps back, and looked into the room. Even after three years of marriage, Louisa’s breath still caught whenever she looked at her husband, especially when he was unaware she was watching. When he smiled, as he did now while he stood staring at the wall, her heart fluttered as wildly as it had when they first met.
“What are you doing?” she asked after having her fill of his handsomeness.
Aaron extended an arm, and he pulled her close, her back to him. “The Sword of Destiny,” he said as he tightened his embrace. They gazed up at the glass-encased weapon mounted upon the wall just as it had been when Aaron resided at Hearsely Estate. It had been one of the first items of importance to find a place in their new home. “I’ll always regard it with awe. Though not as much as I do my wife.” He kissed the top of her head. “I remember the day we placed our hands upon its hilt and made our promise. And although I believe that sword has been a part of what guides us, I understand something far greater leads us to our destiny.”
Louisa sighed and leaned the back of her head against his chest. “Oh? And what is that?”
He turned her around to face him, his arms still wrapped around her. “Our love for one another.”
Smiling up at him, she said, “I couldn’t agree more. And that love will accompany us to Paris. And wherever else we find ourselves in the years to come.”
They stood quiet for several moments, each in his or her own thoughts. Then Aaron said, “I still cannot believe someone swooped in and pulled Mr. Barker’s theater right out from under us. How much more could they have offered than Colburn?”
She glanced up at him. “What is stranger still is how Mr. Barker refused to say who his benefactor was. No matter how many times we asked, he replied that it was no business of ours. I’m pleased that he kept the theater but allowed the building next door to become a gentleman’s club.”
Aaron laughed. “If he would have mentioned he owned that place in the beginning, we would have never had the chance to compete against one another.”
“Yes, but we also would never have combined forces and fallen in love, either.”
“And now look where we are,” he said with a sigh. “Off to Paris and into our future.”
During her first year of marriage, Louisa discovered she had an affinity for writing. Franny Burney, one of England’s most celebrated female novelists, received a copy of one of Louisa’s stories, though Louisa had no idea from whom. Mrs. Burney was so impressed that she offered to lend her expertise.
Because Louisa wished her next story to take place in Paris, Mrs. Burney suggested she go to that city and become immersed in its culture, which meant she was off on her first true adventure. At first, Louisa was uncertain if Aaron would agree, but when he learned her reason for wanting to go, he readily assented.
“This will give me the chance to offer some fine French wines at our clubs.” He had opened three more gentlemen’s clubs during the years since their wedding. “If I can schedule meetings with the best wineries, perhaps they can offer me better prices.”
Louisa raised an eyebrow. “And what about the tea shops?” she demanded. “Will you ignore them?”
“Of course,” he replied, although there was a playfulness to his tone. “Oh, very well. If I must, I can also see about finding us a French baker who can make those lovely little cakes you so enjoy.”
“I?” she demanded. “You mean the onesyouenjoy? It was not my hand Mrs. Pentham slapped to keep you from sneaking one in the middle of the night.”
This had them both laughing. Aaron had indeed been caught by the cook as he searched her kitchen, but only once. Yet Louisa had teased him about it ever since.