The Countess Page 0,100

to be more careful in future.

Richard got to his feet even as Daniel did and then paused to brush down his clothes, frowning when something dripped down the side of his forehead.

"You're bleeding," Daniel said quietly. "You must have knocked your head as we fel ."

Richard raised a hand to his forehead, grimacing when he felt the scrape there.

Sighing, he wiped the blood away and started toward the carriage.

Daniel and the driver fol owed.

"Where to now, my lord?" the driver asked solemnly as he held the carriage door for Richard and Daniel to get in.

"Home," Richard answered abruptly as he settled back in his seat.

Nodding, the man closed the door.

"What are we going to do now?" Daniel asked as he settled across from him.

"Find out who wants the Earl of Radnor dead, and fast. I should like to accomplish it before Christiana is made a widow . . . again."

"This is a waste of time," Suzette hissed with frustration as Christiana led her from the guest bedroom Robert and Daniel had shared the night before. They had gone there to have a little chat with the upstairs maid who had been making the bed and cleaning the room. The problem was that was al it had been, a chat, Christiana acknowledged. They could hardly ask flat out if she had been paid to poison George's whiskey. They didn't want everyone on staff to know about George's attempt to kil Richard, his stint as his imposter and that George was now dead . . . again. That being the case, they couldn't ask much of anything useful real y, and instead had been forced to ask each person general questions about how long they'd worked for Lord Fairgrave and where they'd worked previously, what their family situation was like and so on.

"It isn't a complete waste of time," she assured Suzette. "I am pretty sure we can cross most of the staff we've talked to off the list of suspects, and that is a good thing."

Suzette sighed with exasperation. "Why am I not surprised you are looking at the bright side?"

Christiana glanced at her in question. "What do you mean?"

"You have been Miss Bloody-Cheerful-and-Optimistic ever since talking to Richard upstairs before the men left," she said with disgust.

"And you have been Miss Glum-and-Pessimistic just as long," Christiana said wryly. Suzette had been surly and cross throughout the interviews.

"Aye, wel I suspect that would be because I didn't find the same satisfaction you obviously did before Richard came into the parlor and interrupted us."

Christiana paused and whirled to gape at her. "By satisfaction you do not mean .

. . ?"

Suzette rol ed her eyes and urged her to keep moving toward the stairs. "Of course I do. Anyone could tel what the two of you had been up to. If the banging from upstairs hadn't given it away, then your wrinkled skirts, the smile on Richard's face, and your utterly replete relaxation and good cheer since would have."

Christiana felt herself color with embarrassment and glanced anxiously down at her skirt, self-consciously brushing at the wrinkles she hadn't noticed until now as they started down the steps.

"What was the banging by the way?" Suzette asked. "If it was your bed, you should have the servants shift it away from the wal , else no one wil sleep tonight."

Christiana stiffened at the taunt, but rather than answer, narrowed her eyes on Suzette and asked, "What do you mean by the satisfaction you didn't find before Richard interrupted you?"

"Exactly what you think I mean," she assured her. However, despite Suzette's attempt to sound blase about it, a pink flush stole up her cheeks. Christiana gaped at her. "But you are - "

"An unmarried woman, pure and innocent and completely ignorant of what a man and woman do behind closed doors," Suzette said dryly, urging her to continue down the stairs. "Heavens, Christiana, this is the nineteenth century. Women need not go to the marriage bed completely ignorant."

"I did," she muttered, half embarrassed and half annoyed.

"You never read any of those books Lisa constantly has her nose in."

"And you did?" Christiana glanced at her with amazement as they stepped off the stairs and started along the hal . Suzette had never been much of a reader.

Suzette shrugged. "It gets a bit boring in the country now that you are not there.

Lisa is always reading, and Robert has been in town the last year, while trying to discover what was going on with your marriage. There were