“I know, but this sweet beastie needs a safe place to live. And food. She looks as if she is starving.”
“And a bath,” Heath murmured dryly.
“Yes, of course.”
There was no point in arguing with Lily, he realized, since she had her mind set on rescuing the dog. So he rose to his feet. When Lily had carefully gathered the animal in her arms, Heath helped her rise and went to collect their horses, which surprisingly were standing docilely nearby.
Leading the two horses to Lily, he reached for the dog. “I will take her.”
But Lily shook her head. “No, she trusts me. I can hold
her while I ride.”
Having seen her skill on horseback, Heath repressed the urge to argue and lifted her into her sidesaddle, then helped arrange her position so that she cradled the trembling dog in her lap while clutching the reins one-handed. But he kept a wary eye on them both as he swung up into his saddle and led the way back down the alley. And he remained close on the chance that she needed help controlling the spirited mare.
Offering reassurance to the dog, Lily spoke softly to her for the first few minutes as they rode down the busy streets, ignoring Heath completely. When the animal seemed finally to relax, however, she glanced over at him with a faint smile.
“I haven’t properly thanked you, my lord. I could never have overpowered those brutes alone. You were truly magnificent.”
When Lily’s marvelous eyes regarded him with gratitude, Heath felt a strange lurch in the vicinity of his heart. She was the one who was magnificent, plunging into the fray, heedless of her own safety. It was one of the braver things he had ever seen.
Yet that didn’t mean he condoned her rash leap into danger.
“You left me little choice but to follow you,” Heath replied. “I lost a year off my life, seeing you attack that riffraff. It was valiant of you, but foolhardy as well. You could have been seriously hurt.”
Lily shrugged. “But I wasn’t hurt because you were there to save us. Not many noblemen would bother to help a stray dog.”
“Nor would many ladies,” he pointed out.
He’d been given yet another glimpse of Lily’s compassionate nature…and her single-minded zeal. She was passionate even in her faults. That inner fire was evident in everything she did, Heath thought, surveying her still-flushed cheeks and overbright eyes. And it made him want her even more fiercely.
Yet he didn’t believe her courtesan friends would share her desire to rescue a mangy mongrel. “Can you honestly see your friends deigning to take in your new canine companion?” he queried.
Lily’s smile was rueful. “I will just have to convince them. Thankfully she will be much more presentable once she is clean and her wounds are tended.”
“I doubt that will be a significant improvement.”
“Well, she is obviously not an aristocrat like you.”
“Indeed.”
Lily smiled at his dry tone. “But she is very sweet. Just look at that darling face.”
“I would not exactly term it ‘darling,’” Heath remarked, examining the bloodied features.
“Perhaps not, but I am not about to turn her back onto the streets. Although…”
“Although what?” he asked at her pause.
“London is no place for a dog.” Lily frowned thoughtfully. “She would probably be happier living in the country. Perhaps I should send her to Danvers Hall…but no. She needs special care, and Roslyn is in the midst of planning for her wedding, and Arabella is extremely busy helping.”
“I expect I could take the dog off your hands,” Heath said slowly.
Turning to survey him, Lily appeared skeptical. “You, my lord? What would you do with a stray with no pedigree?”
He sent Lily a glance of humorous reproach. “I am not offering to make her my personal pet. She could have a home on the farms at my family seat in Kent.”
Still Lily hesitated. “I would rather not be so beholden to you.”