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Was the enormous beast friendly?

She wasn’t waiting to find out.

She’d just scooped Bella into her arms when the rambunctious, hairy dog plowed into her. Panting and drooling, it reared onto its hind legs.

Heaven’s above!

Releasing a startled squeak, Nicolette staggered under the creature’s weight. Resting his enormous paws on Nicolette’s arms, all the while rooting about with his broad muzzle, the brute tried to sniff Bella.

“Miss Nicolette!” Jane screamed, dropping her flower and rushing forward, wielding the parasol like a saber. She whacked the mongrel on his haunches, but she might as well have used a feather for all the good it did.

“Get away from them!” she cried.

Thwack.

“Leave her be, you great, hairy brute!” Jane ordered.

Thwack. Thwack.

Nicolette well knew Jane didn’t possess the gumption to strike the dog hard enough to hurt it. Not that it would feel much through the thick pelt covering its large frame.

Her heart stampeding and Bella growling a warning low in her throat, Nicolette wrapped her arms more securely about the outraged, wriggling puppy. Shoulders hunched, she turned her back to the other dog, still persisting in trying to snuffle Bella.

Why must dogs always greet one another with intrusive, and sometimes rather embarrassing, sniffing?

Nicolette feared that at any moment, she’d feel sharp teeth shredding her flesh or hear Bella shriek in pain.

What manner of owner permitted their dog—a dog this large and intimidating—to run wild in Hyde Park for pity’s sake? In truth, the circumstance might send a woman with a less robust constitution into histrionics or a swoon.

Nicolette wasn’t prone to either. She wasn’t that sort of woman and didn’t plan on becoming one.

The dog hadn’t growled or bared its teeth, and therefore, she deduced it wasn’t vicious. But the sheer size of the beast made standing upright almost impossible. Under the creature’s weight, Nicolette stumbled forward a pair of steps. It certainly felt as if the dog weighed almost as much as she.

A shrill whistle rent the air a fraction before a stern male voice ordered, “Sampson. Down.”

Sniffing loudly and giving one last determined lunge toward Bella cradled in Nicolette’s embrace, the dog succeeded in knocking her off balance. She didn’t even have time to cry out before she tumbled forward.

Nicolette instinctively wanted to throw her arms outward to break her descent, but that would leave Bella vulnerable. So, she did the only thing she could swiftly think to do and curled into a ball, praying nothing broke when she landed.

“Miss Nicolette!” Jane shrieked again. “Oh, you wretched, wretched animal.”

Fear and horror pitched her maid’s voice an octave higher.

Nicolette landed hard on her left shoulder, and a grunt escaped between her clenched teeth. Lord, she might’ve cracked a tooth. Or her shoulder. Or perhaps her hip, as well.

Bella released a terrified yelp and frantically struggled to free herself from Nicolette’s vise-like grip, her little claws tearing at her spencer and gloves.

“Shh. Calm down, Bella,” she soothed, struggling to retain her hold on the frightened dog. “You’re all right. I’ll keep you safe, darling.”

Who would keep her safe?

By George, Nicolette hadn’t suffered a humiliating fall and inevitable bruising to have that monster attack sweet Bella now. Eyes closed as she attempted to ignore the pain lancing her shoulder and side, she lashed her feet out to keep the dog away.

“Go. Away. Shoo.”

Bella renewed her struggles to be free of Nicolette’s arms.

“Git,” Jane demanded, her voice cracking with emotion. “Git. Oh, I’m going to ring someone a peal,” she promised hotly. “Where is your owner?”