“Married a year and you had to ask Langley what she likes,” Suzette muttered with disgust.

Christiana kicked her under the table and glared when Suzette glanced to her in surprise.

“Well, at least he asked,” she said grimly. “Dicky wouldn’t have bothered.”

It was only when Suzette peered at her with confusion that Christiana realized what she’d said. Before she could explain, Lisa, who apparently hadn’t caught the slip, said, “Dicky, it’s all right if Suzette and I ride with you and Christiana the rest of the way, isn’t it?”

“Richard,” Christiana and Richard corrected as one, and then shared a wry smile.

“If the girls are going to ride in your carriage, you’re welcome to join Robert and me in mine,” Daniel offered, setting a glass of lemonade in front of Suzette as he sat down next to Richard.

“Oh.” Richard glanced her way, but then sighed in defeat and nodded. “Yes. Fine. Thanks.”

Christiana picked up her glass and took a sip to hide her expression. She could tell he wasn’t pleased with this turn of events and had probably hoped to continue what they’d started before the carriage had stopped, but events were conspiring against him.

Chapter Thirteen

I don’t know how she can sleep.”

Christiana smiled faintly at Suzette’s dry comment, her gaze shifting to Lisa, who had chattered away nonstop for the first several hours after leaving the inn, but had slowed down and finally nodded off with her head on Suzette’s shoulder. “She always used to fall asleep on carriage rides when we were children.”

“Hmm.” Suzette twisted her head to try to look at Lisa’s face, but then glanced to Christiana and asked, “So would you care to explain what you meant back at the inn?”

Christiana glanced to her with confusion. “Explain what?”

Suzette narrowed her eyes, but before she could say anything else, Lisa’s bag slipped from her lax hands and dropped to the carriage floor with a small thunk. Christiana immediately leaned forward to pick it up. The bag carried a small notebook, quill and a sealed pot of ink. Lisa tended to carry it with her whenever she thought she might find something interesting to write about. She had aspirations to someday be a writer of those horrid adventure novels she was always reading.

“You missed something,” Suzette said as Christiana straightened, and she glanced down to see that there was an envelope on the floor. Bending again, she picked that up as well, but straightened much more slowly this time. There was nothing on the outside of the envelope to indicate who it was to, and it had been closed with a blob of dark wax without any seal impression pressed into it, which for some reason sent a shiver of apprehension through Christiana.

“Oh, I forgot about that,” Lisa murmured sleepily.

Christiana glanced to the younger girl to see that she was yawning but awake. “What is it?”

“A letter for Dicky,” Lisa answered sitting up.