Read Online Mistletoe and Mischief by Patricia Wynn - Free Book Online Page B

to squirm, and he realized it had claws. Instinctively, he grabbed for it before it could topple from his arms. Then he held it to the light.
    “A puppy! Louisa, what is this about?”
    The dog whined, so he brought it close to his chest again and stroked it. This treatment seemed to work, so while Louisa explained herself between sneezes, Charles absently ran his fingers through the dog's hair. After a few moments, the creature stopped squirming and settled happily against his coat.
    By this time, the rest of the crowd had surrounded them. Sammy and Nan hovered in the background, while a heavy, low sort of fellow shouted that Louisa had taken his dog.
    “Nonsense!” Charles said, though he realized in saying it that he had no basis for sounding so certain. He did not know Louisa, after all, though he could hardly admit that in front of the Spadgers. He had better sound as if he believed what he said, and in any event he had taken an instant dislike to the burly fellow.
    “If this is your dog,” he said coolly, “it can be returned to you promptly. There is no cause to shout.”
    He held out the dog to the man, but Louisa, still sneezing, threw herself between them. She caught the dog and pressed it back into Charles's arms, then clasped him by the shoulders.
    “You mustn't do that, Charles! “ She turned her head and made explosive noises. “Oh, excuse me! I am so sorry! But you mustn't–”
    “Here.” Charles transferred the puppy to one hand and reached inside his coat for his handkerchief. “What are you doing outside, anyway, without your wrap?”
    Louisa took the handkerchief from him and said, “That doesn't matter now. What matters is that this–” she gestured towards the man with contempt  “–this monster will abuse the dog if you give it back. I think he stole it! “
    “Now, sir–” Sammy Spadger finally came forward. “T' lass is upset, an' reetly so, but there's nowt ta say t' dog wor pinched. What I can say, an' will say, is that t' man did harm t' dog.”
    Charles had grasped the situation now. He sighed with impatience. “Louisa, you cannot take a man's belongings no matter how vilely he treats them. I understand your outrage, but–”
    Louisa stepped back from him, looking as if he had struck her. Her reddened eyes filled with tears. “Charles–” her voice trembled with disappointment “– I was so certain you would save it.”
    Charles had frozen in mid-sentence; the weight of her dismay had fallen like a stone into the pit of his stomach. Louisa's eyes were rimmed in red. Her bosom was flushed with pink, and it heaved with a most painful breathing. The burden of her disillusion threatened to sink him into the ground.
    The heavyset stranger stepped forward to jerk the dog out of his arms. Charles withheld it and gave him a withering glance.
    “This matter has not been resolved.”
    A gasp of pleasure burst from Louisa’s lips.
    “Oh, Charles!”
    He could not resist casting a look in her direction. The weight on his chest began to lift rapidly when he saw the sparkle in her eyes.
    “How much do you want for the dog?”
    The fellow started, surprised, but not displeased.
    “ ‘Ow much?” he said. Charles could see the calculation going on behind his furtive eyes. “Well, ‘ers a good 'untin' dog. I figures–”
    “I'll give you ten shillings.” Charles reached inside his pocket and threw some coins at the man, who started to protest. “Ten shillings, and no enquiry into where the dog came from.”
    This silenced the stranger immediately. He tried to slink off into the dark, but Louisa had cause of her own to protest. She grabbed for his sleeve.
    “Pay the man? Charles, how can you pay such a scoundrel when it's plain he's a criminal? Why only the most debased sort of–”
    “Louisa...” Charles took her hand off the man's sleeve and forced the puppy back into her arms.  Then be removed his overcoat and spread it about her shoulders.
    “You've been outside