The Countess Page 0,86

in the side as he struggled to sit up. The fel ow then reached up for the opening and began to pul himself out, but it wasn't until he was halfway through the opening, his face lit up by the driver's lantern that Richard knew it was Robert.

"Damn, Richard, get off me, I can't breathe," Daniel gasped beneath him, apparently recognizing Robert as wel . Richard immediately began to move, doing his best not to elbow or otherwise poke his friend as he did. Of course, that was impossible and he muttered several apologies as he shifted his weight to the side. Kneeling in the overturned carriage, he then turned back to ask, "Are you al right?"

"Battered and bruised, but otherwise fine I think," Daniel said grimly, sitting up beside him. "You?"

"The same," Richard said on a sigh and then glanced up to the opening and the stil waiting driver. Robert was now also peering back in at them.

"What happened?" Daniel asked his driver as he stood and began to pul himself through the opening.

"I'm not sure, my lord," the driver said unhappily. "We were riding along fine and then I heard a crack, and the carriage pitched and began to rol . Fortunately, the carriage body snapped just behind the boot and the horses weren't dragged with it or they would have died for certain."

"And you weren't hurt?" Richard heard Daniel ask the man as he fol owed him out of the carriage.

"I was tossed, but landed on a bush. I'm al right," the man muttered, and then added with disgust, "But the coach is a wreck. I don't think it can even be fixed."

"As long as everyone is al right," Daniel said and raised an eyebrow in question at Robert.

"Fine," the other man assured him, easing to the edge of the carriage to leap down. "I got an elbow in the face during one of the rol s and wil probably have a black eye, but otherwise am fine."

Daniel grunted at this news and moved to inspect the two wheels on the upraised side of the carriage. Richard shifted to the edge of the carriage to look them over as wel , but both seemed fine so they fol owed Robert to the ground and moved to peer at the broken wheel.

"That's a rather straight break," Daniel muttered suspiciously as they peered at the spokes.

"You think they were cut?" Richard asked peering at what remained attached to the carriage.

"Those three spokes certainly look like they could have been," Daniel pointed out. "The rest are more splintered and natural-looking breaks. They probably snapped under the pressure when those three gave way."

Richard frowned at the suggestion and straightened to glance around. "I agree.

The question is if it was deliberate, who did it and why? And when?"

"The why is easy," Daniel said quietly. "As far as George's kil er knows, the poison didn't work. As for when . . ." He peered back at the broken wheel. "It couldn't have been done in town. There were four of us in the carriage this morning on the way to Radnor. The wheel would have given out under that kind of weight before we left London. Besides, you weren't even in my carriage on the way out of town."

"So it was done at Radnor or one of the three stops since we left," Richard reasoned and glanced around again. He didn't doubt for a minute he was the target, but he was more concerned with the possibility that someone may have fol owed them from London and might yet be fol owing them.

"Is that a carriage I hear?" he asked suddenly.

"Yes, and it's moving quickly. We'd best get off the road." Daniel cal ed to his driver to warn him and the man immediately urged the horses onto the grassy verge.

He then moved back to the edge of the road with his lantern and lifted it in the air to swing it back and forth to get the attention of the approaching vehicle.

"A coach and six," Robert muttered as the vehicle careened around the bend and into view on the moonlit lane. The oncoming coachmen spotted Daniel's driver and swerved to miss him. He didn't slow, however, but raced right past them.

"Wasn't that - ?" Robert began.

"Yes," Richard said grimly, having recognized the Radnor coach with Christiana, Suzette and Lisa al gaping out the window at them.

"I did tel you they would not take our leaving sitting down," Robert said with amusement.

"You didn't