QUOTE : Before Iris had an opportunity to respond, a loud noise, one that almost sounded like some type of animal, suddenly drifted into the drawing room from the hallway—mixed with the sound of what could only be pounding feet. Immediately heading for the door, Bram stopped in his tracks when he reached the hall and a sight he’d certainly not been expecting to see met his gaze. Miss Plum was running toward him, her gown practically falling off her, as if it hadn’t been fastened all the way up in the back. She didn’t seem at all concerned with the idea that she was giving him, and anyone else, an eyeful of her chemise, corset, and . . . charms—probably because she was running as if her very life depended on it, holding up the skirt of her dress as she flew ever closer to him, the lifting of that skirt giving him an unobstructed view of legs that were well turned out and feet that were . . . bare. “Don’t just stand there, Mr. Haverstein. Do something about your goat,” she yelled as she pounded past him. The word goat had him looking down the hallway, and sure enough, a goat was charging his way, and not just any goat, but Geoffrey—one of the meanest goats Bram had ever had the misfortune of owning. What the beast was doing inside the castle, he really couldn’t say, but since Geoffrey held an intense dislike for females, or more specifically, females wearing dresses, Bram surged into motion, hoping to intercept the goat before it managed to catch up with Miss Plum. Unfortunately, Geoffrey seemed determined to get past Bram, so with a butt of its head, it sent Bram sprawling and continued charging after its prey, bleating in a menacing sort of way.