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“Among lions and lesser felines,” he answered. “We are not so hemmed in by convention. Like to like may love. It is of no consequence to us.”
“I did not know that.” Matthias did not sound the happier for it, either. He very much disliked being in the dark about anything. “And do you know this firsthand, as it were?”
“It is not delicate to ask,” Sebastian scolded, delicately.
“Ah, I see. My apologies.” Matthias was also quick to atone when he had erred. “Much like inquiring as to another’s species, then?”
“It is one’s choice to honor another with the knowledge, and it is made with care,” Sebastian explained. “There is a lack of acceptance in the human world, which makes this necessary. Those who are not sympathetic can often turn dangerous. I suspect this is the reason behind the Barringtons’ sojourn abroad.”
Mr. Bates frowned. “I thought they had traveled for pleasure and for the brother to learn his many languages.”
“Miss Barrington was difficult to convince to return to England unless we pledged to protect her brother from harm,” Alfred said.
“And the lady?” Holy Venus, was Alwyn’s voice no longer as guttural as it had been? “Did she not demand the same for herself?”
“You have spent more time with her than I,” Alfred replied. “Does she have aught to fear?”
“She should be afraid of her lack of fear, paradoxically. She will go about at all hours and gather all manner of poisonous plants as it suits her. Not only to gather but also to test their efficacy. As though she were preserved from a debilitating reaction because she concocted it herself. She ranges wherever she wishes without any thought to the predators in the vicinity.” Yes, his voice was much improved and smoother for the passion that infused it.
And yet: “Have I any predators about the place she should be protected from?” Georgie be damned, if she was not safe from Llewellyn…
“You do not.” The lion Shifter trembled in his skin, not from fear but from the usual sort of aggression one Alpha accorded to another.
Alfred had not thought he would rejoice at such a display. “Just as well,” he said. “I do not get the impression the lady appreciates being treated with kid gloves.”
Alwyn snorted—with amusement? It was such a surprising sound, Sebastian and Matthias stooped in concert to lift aside a beam which either could have taken up with one hand, so they would not betray a reaction to it. Alfred also busied himself, though he wanted to erupt with joy and hope.
Alwyn had as good as laughed. At a joke only known to him. And perhaps to the lady.
“She does not appreciate that, no,” Llewellyn said. “She has nothing to fear from me.” As if his humor were not enough, Alwyn leaned down and lifted a length of timber, to help, to join in.
Alfred took the other end. “Has the lady anything to hope for, then?” he asked.
The lion Shifter muttered under his breath, “As if I have anything to offer alady.”
***
Tabitha saw off the colt and Mr. Marshall with stern advice and surplus dressing and poultice.
“That was a success.” Felicity tidied the countertop, and Tabitha returned everything to its place in her trug. “I am not surprised to see how well you do at your work. You have authority and yet are kind with it. I am sure Ash will be back on his feet in no time.”
“If only His Grace’s ills could be treated as efficiently.”
“Captivity for one such as he is a terrible thing.”
“I would dearly love to know what class of villain would stoop so low.” Tabitha cinched its straps and set the bag on the floor. “And how did it come about? I doubt he wandered around in his lion Shape, waiting to be taken. I am reluctant to inquire after the circumstances, as I fear my questioning will prompt further distress. It is up to him whether to speak of his experience or not.”
They sat in the reception area. Felicity fiddled with one of the potted plants set out as decoration. “Amongst Shifters, great store is set by the heart.”
“I insulted O’Mara prodigiously with my dismissal ofversipellianfeelings.” Not to mention what had recently occurred.
“It is not feelings, or not only those.” Felicity took a moment to gather her thoughts. “It is that the heart is the seat of their power. We look at them in their animal skins and see only brute force, but to keep everyone here safe, Alfred holds the well-being of all in his heart.”
“That is very unlike Mrs. Anchoretta Asquith’s stories.” Felicity had insisted she borrow the lady novelist’s latest volume,The Ravishment of Miss Leticia Everington at the Hands of the Duca di Luperno,a harrowing tale of an Englishwoman abroad in Rome. “It is astonishing to think she is a Shapeshifter.”
“Oh, Alfred loathes her work. Once I started devouring them, he read one or two. He feels she comes far too close to betraying their secrets.”
“She depictsversipellesin an unsympathetic light, that is for certain. They are nothing but horrible beasts intent on the destruction of innocent women.” The atrocities implied inThe Ravishment of Miss Leticia Everington, despite the obfuscating language, did not bear thinking about. “And yet you say their strength comes from their hearts.”
