The Countess Page 0,87

say they would fol ow," Daniel pointed out.

"Why spoil the surprise?" Robert laughed.

Richard rol ed his eyes and then watched the Radnor coach return from the direction it had gone. He wasn't surprised to see it returning. However, he was surprised when it pul ed to a halt next to them and the women did not immediately pile out exclaiming with concern over their wel -being after their accident. Instead, it sat silent and stil , the driver glancing uncertainly from the men to the stil closed coach door and back.

"Time to face the music," Robert said dryly, heading for the door.

Daniel grunted and then glanced to his own driver and ordered him to tie the leads of their horses to the back of the Radnor carriage and then join the driver on the front. They would stop at the next inn to leave the horses. Daniel's driver would stop there as wel to arrange for someone to col ect the broken carriage and see if it could be fixed.

"Hel o ladies," Robert said cheerful y as he opened the carriage door and got inside.

There was a polite chorus of hel os and then silence, Richard noted as he approached the open door. Glancing in, he saw that Robert had settled next to Christiana on one bench seat, leaving Suzette and Lisa on the other. His gaze moved over the women's sour expressions as they peered back at him and he sighed, but said, "Hel o ladies," as he entered as wel . This time, however, there was no response and thick silence reigned as he squeezed onto the bench seat between Robert and Christiana. There was also no response when Daniel entered with the same greeting. It was obvious the women were holding him and Daniel responsible for leaving without them, and despite being with them, Robert was not being held accountable. At least not by Christiana and Suzette, Richard thought as he tried to find a comfortable position on the seat. Lisa alone was glaring at Langley. The carriage started forward then, and Richard found himself jolted and then tossed against Christiana as they turned to head toward London. He quickly tried to ease back to give her more room, but found himself pressing uncomfortably against Robert to do so. Muttering with irritation, he gave up trying to force more space on the narrow seat and simply lifted Christiana onto his lap and slid over into her spot. the narrow seat and simply lifted Christiana onto his lap and slid over into her spot.

"Put me down," Christiana cried at once.

"This is more comfortable," Richard said.

"Perhaps for you," she snapped.

"For you too," he said confidently, relaxing and wrapping his arms around her waist. "You are just too angry at me to admit it."

She twisted sideways across his lap to scowl at him and asked, "Why ever would I be angry at you? Just because the three of you snuck out like a trio of cowards leaving the poor pastor to explain you'd headed back to London without us?"

"We thought we were doing you a favor at the time," Richard said quietly. "You would have been much more comfortable waiting at Radnor with your maids."

"The maids are fol owing in Robert's carriage," she announced, and then added grimly, "And if you'd thought you were doing us a favor, you would have told us yourselves you were leaving."

"I didn't say I thought you would believe it a favor," he said calmly. "Just that we knew it was."

Christiana snorted and turned away, folding her arms angrily across her chest.

"Oh, aye, we would have been terribly comfortable waiting at Radnor not knowing what was happening and worrying ourselves sil y. My, I can't think why we fol owed you with so much to look forward to."

"Wel , I'm glad you did. Thank you. We could have been stuck out there on the road al night," he said solemnly. Christiana stil ed, and then turned to peer at him suspiciously in the light cast by the lantern outside the window. After a moment, she relaxed enough to ask, "What happened?"

"It looks like three spokes in the front left wheel may have been cut. The whole wheel col apsed under the stress when they gave," he answered promptly, deciding there was no sense keeping the information from the women. It was better if they were prepared and had an eye out for trouble too. Christiana turned sharply to peer at him. "Cut? Are you certain?"

Richard