Page 22 of His Royal Bride Replacement

‘My goodness, it’s a puppy…’ Sticking her feet back into her shoes, Rosy knelt down on the bank and carefully lifted the little animal that had crept out of the sack, shivering and dripping.

‘The rest of the litter weren’t so lucky,’ her companion told her with regret. ‘I’ll see that they’re buried.’

Realising that the pups had been tossed in the stream to drown, Rosy flinched, but it was a fact of life that such things still happened to unwanted puppies. She held the quivering puppy against her.

‘This river runs for miles. We’ll never trace where they came from.’

‘I’ll take her back to the house, warm her up,’ Rosy said with determination. ‘And I’m sorry you’ve got all wet just doing your job and looking after me.’

‘I’m off duty now anyway, Your Highness. I’m heading back straight to bed.’

She thanked him again and hurried back to the cabin to grab a towel and strive to warm up the little animal. She was in the midst of that exercise when Alessio joined her.

‘Who’s this?’ he asked, kneeling down beside her.

‘I’m going to call her Clover and we’re keeping her.’ She took a deep breath and rushed into explaining about the stream and the sack, tears stinging her eyes as she mentioned those who had not survived.

‘Why Clover?’

‘Lucky four-leafed clover,’ she said chokily.

‘I’ll call a vet to take a look at her. She’s not a newborn, so it was particularly cruel to try and get rid of them like that,’ he breathed, vaulting back upright as she cuddled the puppy to use his phone. ‘But unfortunately, people either don’t want or can’t afford to pay the vet fees.’

Clover snuffled over to the water in a saucer on the floor and promptly fell in it while Rosy hovered over her.

‘Did you have any pets when you were growing up?’

‘No, my mother wouldn’t have any animals in the palace and my grandmother was allergic to pet fur, so it’s been many years since there’s been a royal pet.’

‘We couldn’t have one because my father didn’t like them and then Vittoria and Patrick were always working, so it would’ve been difficult.’

Alessio was on the phone talking and Rosy coaxed the pup to drink the water, wondering what on earth would be safe to feed it. Deciding to wait for the vet’s advice, because Alessio appeared to be having a great chat with the person, she busied herself instead making breakfast. The coffee from the machine was a delight and she bit into a fresh pastry with pleasure. As soon as Alessio completed the call, he had to answer another and she nudged a coffee mug into his hand and he smiled, taking a seat at the table and stretching out his long denim-clad legs. Then his smile vanished and he frowned darkly.

‘Once the vet has passed the puppy for travel, we’ll be leaving. There are drones flying over the cove and a boat out in the bay so we won’t get any peace. It was too much to hope that everyone involved in the work yesterday would keep quiet about our location,’ Alessio commented. ‘On the other hand, the necessary work can be continued as soon as we leave and we can return for a weekend when all this fuss has died down.’

‘I’ll be sad to leave,’ Rosy confided. ‘I just hope we can bring Clover with us.’

‘If we can’t, the vet will look after her until we return,’ Alessio pointed out.

‘You’ll have to replace the shoes the security guy was wearing when he jumped into the stream,’ she warned him. ‘I was planning to do it myself and he only went in to stop me from doing it. I’ll be more careful in future.’

‘I’m glad to hear it. You’ve got a headstrong streak.’

‘And you have an extravagant streak,’ Rosy was quick to say. ‘You left all the lights on when you went to bed!’

His clear green eyes danced with appreciation at the reproof. ‘Duly noted,piccola moglie.’

‘I do sound like a nag, don’t I?’ she said in embarrassment.

‘No, you don’t. You sound like someone who regularly forgets who I am and what that means in this country. It’s good for me to have an equal shooting me down. It’s a breath of fresh air in my world.’

The vet arrived, a tall, shapely woman in her thirties, utterly charmed by Alessio and fascinated by the sight of Rosy making her coffee. Clover was thoroughly examined and identified as a crossbreed with the long floppy ears and rough speckled coat of a Spinone and, probably, some other hunting breed. However, she wasn’t healthy enough for travel and would have to remain under veterinary supervision. The vet had brought puppy food and a pet carrier box with her and Clover ate like a champion before subsiding into a doze on Rosy’s lap.

‘She’s landed on her feet here,’ the vet joked as she gathered her belongings to leave and Alessio followed her with Clover secured in the carrier box.

Sad that she had had to part with her new pet almost as soon as she had found her, Rosy went upstairs to start packing, dragging out cases and sighing as she piled stuff on the bed.

‘Dress up for the airport,’ Alessio warned her. ‘There’ll be cameras there to record our first public appearance since the wedding.’

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