whispered,

“Oh, Mama, is he ours?”

“Of course he is, my little lady,” Elizabeth replied. “But he belongs to all three of you. You must share him.”

Catherine wasted no time but picked up the sleeping puppy and held it close to her chest as she had seen people do with children.

“What is his name?” she asked, as the small spaniel twisted in her arms, but with a gentle firmness that surprised her parents she safely kept hold of him.

“You must name him, all three of you together,” her father replied.

“Gulliver,” Imogen announced as she traced her finger along the white line on his nose.

“Arabella? Cat?” Josiah asked. “Do you like the name Gulliver?”

“It is a v...

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