Page 68 of Charlotte's Kisses

“May Rosalind and Orlando travel with us?” Charlotte asked Hugh.

He chuckled. “I suppose so, as long as Snowball is not opposed. And as long as… Hold on—” He disappeared momentarily, returning with a lidless basket adorned with a blue bow. A tiny nose poked over the edge of the wicker and sniffed.

Please let it be a puppy. Charlotte held her breath as she peeked into the container.

An adorable black pup with a white stripe running the length of its nose woofed at her.

Almost everyoneoohedandahhed. Her stepmother, the lone dissenter, crossed her arms over her chest and scowled.

Charlotte lifted her baby into the air to check its sex. “’Tis a boy,” she proclaimed. “I shall call him Pepper, for he is black and, I believe, quite spicy.”

The wriggling puppy licked her nose.

“Pepper may travel with us as long as Snowball and Lucy do not mind.” Hugh chuckled as he rubbed his jaw. “It seems we will arrive at my mother’s with quite the menagerie.”

Lady Chesterhill rolled her eyes. “I do wish you would take that three-legged beast living in our barn. The animal is an abomination!”

“Could we?” Charlotte asked Hugh, knowing full well that a goat could not spend days in a carriage or run about a fancy inn.

“I am afraid a goat would be miserable in a carriage for days on end,” Hugh said.

Charlotte clamped her lips, attempting to hold her temper in check. But it was no use because she was terribly worried about Cricket’s safety. Clutching Pepper to her chest in a protective hold, Charlotte glared at Lady Chesterhill.

“You just left her by the side of the road to die. I saw the entire incident. I see no reason for you or your staff to visit Cricket if you find her such an abomination.”

“She ran over our goat?” Alexander moaned. “For Christ’s sake,Mother. With your enormous private staff, you did not help the poor animal, and now you have nothing better to do with your time than lurk about the barn?”

“I suppose counting your fangs does get boring after a while,” Hugh said.

“I have never lurked about the barn,” Lady Chesterhill hissed at Alexander before glaring at Hugh.

Only because she had Leon to do her lurking.

Papa clutched his heart. “Family, please?”

Perchance, if they found Papa a new paramour, his health might improve.

Seeming unfazed by Papa’s plea, Hugh’s jaw clenched. “I have no intention of tolerating—”

“Hugh, please,” Charlotte pleaded. Papa could not suffer a spell on her wedding day. He just couldn’t. She’d been wrong to allow her temper to snap.

Hugh exhaled, and his expression softened. “Our flat in the city is ready. Billy can move there ahead of us and take Cricket to the stable I rented.”

“I will ensure it is taken care of before the end of the day,” Alexander offered.

The thought of their new home filled Charlotte with delight and reminded her she had yet to give Hugh his special gift. She placed Pepper in his basket and handed it to her brother. She was so excited it took effort not to dash across the room.

She squatted beside the settee and dragged a heavy rectangle of wood out from behind its hiding place.

Hugh rushed to her side to assist. Picking it up as if it weighed nothing, he asked, “What is this?”

Charlotte clasped her hands together, waiting for him to read the sign.

His face lit up, and he presented it to his audience.

Fletcher’s Investigations and Bountyhad been carved into the wooden signpost and painted light green. A glowworm left a golden trail beneath the title, posing proudly on the right side of the plaque, her wings fluttering and her body twinkling.

“Do you love it?” she asked. “I used my pin money to commission it.”