The Countess Page 0,79

to his club. It was Penelope who was banished to the wilds of - "

"Lisa, that is fiction," Suzette interrupted impatiently.

"If I were to tel someone the tale Christiana just told me they would probably think it fiction too. I - Oh!" she interrupted herself, eyes going wide. "I could write it!"

"No," Christiana and Suzette said as one, both equal y horrified. It was Suzette who pointed out, "Someone might realize it is about Christiana and Richard and - "

"Oh, I would change the names," she said with irritation. "Never fear. It wil be fine."

Christiana opened her mouth to protest further, but paused as the carriage slowed. A glance out the window showed that they were winding up a driveway toward a large house. She recognized it at once as Radnor.

"We are here," Suzette murmured, peering out the window on the opposite side of the carriage.

"Thank God," Christiana muttered, and then turned to Lisa. "You are not to write a word of this ever. Do you understand?"

"Oh, very wel ," Lisa said resentful y. "But it would have made a wonderful love story."

"It is not a love story," she insisted.

"It wil be," Lisa assured her solemnly. "Trust me Chrissy. He is your hero, you wil love him."

Christiana rol ed her eyes and opened the carriage door, leaping out before it had even come to a complete halt. The last thing she needed was Lisa's drivel about her fal ing in love with Richard. She had no desire to have her heart broken al over again. She'd been through that with Dicky-George already and it hadn't been pleasant. But she feared it would be a thousand times worse if she were foolish enough to fal in love with Richard, and the most depressing thing about that was she feared she was already halfway there.

"Christiana! What the devil are you doing leaping out of the carriage before it's stopped?" Richard demanded, doing the same thing himself from Daniel's carriage to stride forward and berate her. "You could have been hurt."

"I wasn't though," she said quickly, and then held out the letter and added,

"Besides, this is important."

Richard scowled at her for another moment, but then took the letter and peered at the broken seal.

"A young boy gave it to Lisa this morning saying it was for the Earl. She got distracted and forgot to give it to you and I opened it in the carriage just a few minutes ago. I thought it was probably for George, but it's for you."

Eyebrows rising, he opened the letter and began to read.

"What is it?" Daniel asked as he reached them.

"Blackmail," Suzette answered, stepping down from the carriage and moving to his side. "Someone knows what George did and that he's dead. They actual y think Richard kil ed him to get back his name and position and is threatening to reveal al if he isn't paid a good sum of money."

"I see. Then Christiana explained - ?" Daniel began, but Suzette cut him off grimly.

"Yes, she explained everything. Something that you, as my soon-to-be-husband, surely should have done before this, don't you think, Woodrow?

Husbands and wives real y shouldn't have such secrets, should they?"

Christiana bit her lip at Suzette's tone and the use of Daniel's last name. It was a good indicator that Suzette wasn't pleased. Daniel seemed to realize that, but merely shrugged and said solemnly, "It wasn't my secret to tel ."

Suzette hrrumphed and glanced to Richard as he closed the letter again.

"We need to get back to the city at once," he announced.

"But - " Christiana said, and then gasped in surprise as he caught her elbow to urge her toward the Radnor carriage.

"I only have until the day after tomorrow to get the money together and wil receive another message tel ing me where to leave it then," he said. "We have to go."

"No, wait," Christiana said breathlessly, forced to run to keep up with him.

"Surely you aren't going to pay the blackmail?" Daniel asked, fal ing into step on her other side.

"I hope not. That's why I want to get back at once. We need to try to sort out who it could be. But if we don't figure it out, I wil pay rather than risk the scandal damaging the girls."

"But - " Christiana tried again, only to gasp in surprise as they reached the carriage and he caught her by the waist and lifted her in. Once on her feet on the floor of the carriage, however,