But for a moment, she wished to be in Priscilla’s place. The little girl had her arms firmly wrapped around Connor’s neck and was clinging to him for dear life. His arms were like steel bands around his little girl, and he would not let go of her until she was safe.
Eden scooted over to the driver’s seat and motioned for him to climb in beside her. She wanted to help him with Priscilla, but the child was too scared to let go of him, so he managed to hop in while she stuck to him like a barnacle to the hull of a ship. In the meanwhile, the boys had scooted onto the bench behind them.
Eden took care not to harm the charging birds as she gave the reins a flick and urged the horse forward. But the geese wereundaunted and scared the horse by charging at it. Finally, she managed to maneuver the rig away from those angry birds and avoided trampling any of them under the horse’s hooves as she drove away.
Priscilla remained clinging to her father the entire ride back to the manor house. The boys were silent as the rig clattered along the well-worn path.
Connor was fuming. Eden could almost see the proverbial steam pouring from his ears.
As they left the pond in the distance, Connor finally turned to the boys and unloaded his wrath on them. “What in bloody blazes were you thinking? And to bring Priscilla along with you? Obviously, youweren’tthinking. What did you do to the geese to get them so angry? Is this the way I raised you? To be wild as wolves? Did you hurt their goslings?”
He took a deep breath and silenced them with a glower when they mistakenly thought he wanted to hear their answers. He was not yet finished lambasting them. “Did you think twice about Sarah and Millie or what I might have done to them because they failed in their efforts to watch over you? Did you even thinkonceabout Priscilla getting hurt?”
“It was Priscilla’s idea,” Alex said lamely.
“Did I give you permission to speak?” Connor roared at his son. “And this is the pathetic excuse you give me? If Priscilla told you to jump off a cliff, would you do it?”
He now directed his rage to his eldest boy. “And you, Connor? My namesake. My heir. Is this how carelessly you will undertake your duties? Need I tell you everything you did wrong?”
“No, Papa.”
Connor told him anyway. “First, you listened to Priscilla’s stupid idea.”
Priscilla wailed. “Papa hates me!”
“I don’t hate you, my little sweetheart. But it was a very foolish thing you did.” He turned back to his eldest. “Second, you placed Sarah and Millie in danger of losing their positions in the household by sneaking away.”
“Don’t sack them, Papa! It was all my fault, and I take full responsibility for deceiving them,” young Connor said, sounding truly remorseful.
“Third, you placed Priscilla in danger. You both ran off and left her behind.You left her behind,” Connor repeated. “You are her older brothers. You should have been protecting her.”
Now Alex began to cry. “We’re sorry, Papa.”
“Fourth, you stole off and no one knew where you had gone. Anything could have happened to you. You could have been eaten by wolves. Bears.”
“There is no dangerous wildlife in the area,” his eldest meekly dared to point out.
“How can you be certain? A jungle cat might have escaped its cage from a passing circus. Pirates might have abducted you. Priscilla cannot swim. Would you have noticed if she fell in the pond?”
“Alex was watching her,” young Connor assured him.
“I thought you were watching her,” Alex said.
“Dear heaven,” Connor muttered. “Priscilla might have drowned.”
“But I didn’t, Papa. I was afraid to go near the water.”
“Good girl.” He planted a kiss at the top of her head. “At least you showed some good sense. But you are still punished.”
Priscilla was about to wail again, but a stern look from Connor had her quickly rethinking that plan.
He turned back to the boys. “If not for Eden’s intuition, I might have been searching for you all night long. I have a blasted house party going on. I cannot be constantly on the hunt for you when I have a house full of guests to entertain.
“Fifth,” he said as they approached the manor house, “I now have to decide on a suitable punishment for you. If I confine you to the house, that would be punishing my loyal staff more than you three. If I send you up to bed without your supper, you’d probably sneak down to the kitchen and bring up a bloody feast for yourselves. If I cancel tomorrow’s outing with Eden—”
A chorus of “No!” from all of them interrupted him.
He arched an eyebrow. “Even you, Eden?”
