That required a visit? Evie decided not to offer tea, since it was so early. She perched on a chair and gestured for Mrs. Kirby to take the settee. “Splendid.”

Mrs. Kirby sat and clasped her hands in her lap. “I must thank you for your visit, which finally prompted Mr. Kirby to have the work done. He was distressed to think that Bess might be having a litter of pups with your Ash and wanted to prevent any further occurrences. It was his fault she was out there in the first place. He took her out before going to bed and left her in the garden.” Mrs. Kirby shook her head. “He does that sometimes and always tries to blame it on someone else.”

Evie didn’t know what to say to that, so she said nothing. Mrs. Kirby went on, “How is Ash?”

“He’s fine.” That Evie didn’t really know pained her.

“Oh, good. I’m glad to hear it.” Mrs. Kirby smiled widely. “And now you won’t need to worry about the hole in our wall.”

They fell silent, and Evie became certain Mrs. Kirby hadn’t just come to talk about dogs or the repair in her wall. The woman was fidgety, adjusting her weight and glancing about the room.

“Is there something else, Mrs. Kirby?”

“Well, I hope you won’t think me too forward.” Mrs. Kirby gave Evie a sheepish look. “I read the papers this morning and thought you could use a friend to check on you.”

A friend… Evie didn’t think of the woman that way and was surprised, and perhaps a bit charmed, that Mrs. Kirby would think of her in that manner. “You’re brave to come here. It’s quite a scandal,” Evie said wryly.

Mrs. Kirby waved her hand. “Bah, I don’t care about that nonsense. Besides, it’s not as if I’m concerned about my lofty position in Society.” She’d adopted a faux haughty tone, her eyes glittering with mirth. “You were very good with Bess—she liked you. Dogs are far better at identifying good people than people are.”

Evie couldn’t help smiling. “I suspect you’re right.”

“About that anyway.” She tipped her head slightly, her gaze searching. “You’re truly all right?”

“For the most part,” Evie said. Even if that wasn’t true, she wanted it to be, so she’d make sure it was. “How is your Bess?”

“She is well, thank you. We can’t know if she’s expecting puppies yet, but Mr. Kirby has kept two appointments with our friends to accomplish the deed. Time will tell.”

“If you’d like to bring her over to visit next time, I’d be delighted to see her.” Evie shocked herself by saying so, but didn’t regret it. She missed Ash so very much. Spending time with Bess might help ease her heartache.