Even in her unflattering dress, she wasn’t the child he remembered. Damnation, when did Sorcha become a woman?
“I was supposed ta meet Maddie in the drawin’ room. Come with me?” She linked her arm with his and led him down the corridor before he had time to respond.
“Maddie?” he asked, once his mind caught up to him.
She stopped walking, and he nearly tripped over the little wood sprite. “Lady Madeline, I should have said.” She beamed up at him. “I wonder, are ye one of those gentlemen?”
Had she ever made sense? Not that he could remember, now that he thought about it. “What gentlemen?”
“Oh, I bet ye are.” She again began towing him down the corridor. “Maddie—Lady Madeline—would do well ta choose ye, Alec. Ye’d see her for the sweet lady she is. I ken ye would.”
“What are you talking about, Sorcha?” He planted his feet in the corridor, drawing her to a stop and forcing her to look up at him. “Tell me or I won’t take another step.”
Her soft brown eyes sparkled with exuberance. “What do ye want ta ken?”
Alec tipped her chin up so he could see her more clearly.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Why are you at Castle Hythe?” He didn’t remember an association between the Fergusons and the Duke or Duchess of Hythe.
He hadn’t even realized Sorcha was acquainted with the family.
“Well, Her Grace invited me at Rhi’s weddin’. And I’ve made fast friends with Lady Madeline, her granddaughter. But that’s no’ why I’ve come. No’ really.”
Alec had been so hurt, so angry during that wedding.
Knowing that his maker, his mentor, had abandoned him to a dark world with which he was unfamiliar. No wonder he didn’t remember anything that had transpired that day. Alec shook his head as the rest of her words sank in. “Why have you come?”
A mischievous grin spread across her face. “Because,” she whispered, “I am searchin’ for a Lycan of my very own, and Eynsford Park is within ridin’ distance.”
If she’d coshed him over the head with a broadsword he wouldn’t have been more stunned. Cait was nearby? He hadn’t realized. Good God. How had he not realized it?
Damn fool that he was. He’d spent months avoiding polite society, making a place for himself in his new life. After one summons from the Duchess of Hythe, he was right back where he’d started—thinking about Cait.
Sorcha gasped and covered her mouth, her eyes silently begging to be forgiven.
“It’s all right,” he lied. “She married Eynsford. I’ve accepted that.”
Certainly, even Sorcha could see through him. He had to get away. Alec turned around and headed back for the entrance. He could be back in London in the blink of an eye and forget he’d ever come to Kent, or at least try to.
He halted, unable to move an inch. What else had Sorcha said? She was searching for a Lycan of her own?
And the only Lycans that would be present at Eynsford Park aside from that blasted marquess were Eynsford’s relations, whom Alec was fairly certain were the man’s brothers, or half brothers, as the case might be. Viscount Radbourne and the wild Hadley twins. Three of the most depraved men in all of Britain. They were walking scandals.
They were trouble. They were dead if even one of them felt the urge to claim Sorcha.
He glanced back over his shoulder at the little witch. A horrified expression still lingered on her face. Well, he was feeling just as horrified. Alec was back in front of her in a flash.
“Do you mean to say,” he whispered so softly that no one but she could possibly hear him, “you were hoping to catch yourself one of those drooling beasts?”
Her horror quickly grew into indignation. “They doona drool.”
Blast it, she did hope to catch one! “Oh, I happen to know they do,” Alec grumbled.
Sorcha heaved a sigh as though he was the most troublesome man in existence. Then without a word, she spun on her heel and stalked off toward some unknown destination.
Alec was only a step behind her. “Have you lost your mind? Those creatures aren’t for you. I can’t believe your father would approve.”
She paid him no attention as she burst into a drawing room. Inside on a small divan, a young blonde in a green habit smiled at their entrance.
“There you are,” the chit gushed, rising from her seat. “I’m having our mounts readied, and—” She blushed crimson when she spotted Alec. “H-hello,” she