Regency Christmas Wishes(16)

Adam brought the dog with him. One could tell a great deal about a person, he had always believed, by how he or she treated an animal. Not that he had any doubt that Miss Relaford was the kindest, sweetest, most gentle female in all of creation, but she was a Londoner, unused to being around anything but horses or the occasional kitchen cat. What if she were afraid of dogs, or thought them vermin, as the innkeeper had, or thought that all four-legged creatures were beneath her notice? That would not bode well for Adam’s future. He was a farmer and needed a farmer’s wife, not a mere decorative beauty.

Jenna did not disappoint him, instantly bending to scratch Lucky’s ear, without regard for getting brown dog hairs on her jonquil gown. She sent Hobart the butler back to the kitchens to fetch the dog a bowl of water.

Beasdale, however, was a surprise.

“Why, I had a pup just like this one when I was a lad,” he said, patting his ample lap in invitation for Lucky to join him on the damask-covered chaise. He called after Hobart to fetch some of the kidneys from breakfast for the dog, too. When he heard about the near drowning and how Adam came to own the dog, he smiled at the baronet for the first time.

He said, “You can always tell a lot about a man, I always believed, by how he treats a dog.”

Jenna smiled at Adam, too, relieved as much as he was by her uncle’s approval.

They were both hopeful until Jenna’s uncle added, “Of course, a dog is all devotion and no deliberation. A pup will love a poor man as easily as a rich one. Foolish creatures cannot think ahead to their next meal, or worry that their owner will not be able to provide one.”

Adam’s hopes lasted as long as the dish of kidneys. Mr. Beasdale approved of Adam’s dog, not his courtship of the banker’s niece.

Beasdale was discussing Lucky’s aptitudes and possible antecedents with Hobart, who felt the mongrel’s best point was that he belonged to Sir Adam and not the Beasdale household.

Meanwhile, Jenna spoke for Adam’s ears only, next to him on the love seat. “Don’t worry. He likes you.”

“I know. He follows me everywhere.”

“Silly, I mean my uncle.”

“He does? He did not seem at all pleased that I am accepting your kind invitation for Friday’s gathering.”

Jenna was pleased enough for all of them. She decided to have dancing, after all. How better to have Sir Adam at her side? “Oh, I am certain my uncle is coming to admire you. He invited you for tea this afternoon, didn’t he?”

“That’s true. He did not have to.”

“So you will have your extension soon.”

Adam set his tea aside to look into the loveliest green eyes he had ever seen. The color of Christmas pine boughs lighted with golden candles, they were, and he was mesmerized by their glow. An extension was not what he wanted from Mr. Beasdale. “I no longer need extra time to make my payments. I came into a bit of cash last night. Actually, a friend who owed me money came into it, so I am solvent again. With excellent prospects for the spring,” he added, lest she think he led a hand-to-mouth existence, which had not been far from the truth. He could not lie to her, so he explained, “I would be doing fine, except for a run of bad luck. My luck has definitely changed.” He did not have to say that meeting her was the proof. His smile said it for him.

Jenna returned his smile, thinking that, although his business was concluded, Sir Adam had stayed on in town. She would have the orchestra play nothing but waltzes, to match the lilt in her heart.

Beasdale frowned in their direction until Lucky reached up and licked his chin, drawing the banker’s attention away from the two grinning mooncalves.

“My uncle is merely protective of me,” Jenna explained away the glare. “He does not mean anything by it.”

“Of course.” Adam, however, knew Beasdale’s scowl meant no trespassing. He sighed, wondering what it would take to change the banker’s opinion of him. A miracle, most likely.

“And I have been singing your praises to Uncle Ezekiel, too.”

Was that miracle enough? Adam had to be encouraged by his lady’s championing his cause, and had to be amused also. “How do you know I will not run away with your uncle’s money, never to repay his bank what I owe?”

“I know because I have heard you speak of the land and the people. You would never abandon them, no more than you would a poor dog.”

“You know all that after so short a time?”

Suddenly shy, Jenna looked down. “I think I knew it from the first time you smiled at me.”

Adam held her hand under cover of her jonquil skirts. “I, too. I thought you were a Christmas angel, and I wished I could be worthy of you. I fear your uncle will never consider me to be.”