“The maids are following 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 silly. My, I can’t think why we followed you with so much to look forward to.”

“Well, I’m glad you did. Thank you. We could have been stuck out there on the road all night,” he said solemnly.

Christiana stilled, 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 collapsed 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 hesitated. “Not completely, but the breaks on three spokes side by side were almost straight across while the others were jagged and splintered.”

“George’s poisoner?” she asked unhappily.

“That would be my guess,” he acknowledged.

“What? George was poisoned?” Suzette asked at once, and Richard glanced over to see that Daniel had drawn the young woman onto his own lap to make room on their side of the carriage. Suzette was sitting, arms crossed and expression grim like her sister, apparently not really happy to be there either.

“It seems George may have been poisoned,” Christiana explained. “Daniel and Richard smelled bitter almonds by his mouth.”

“Almonds aren’t poisonous,” Suzette said at once.

“Bitter almonds are used to make cyanide,” Lisa explained solemnly, drawing every eye her way. Shrugging, she said, “I read a lot.”

“She does,” Suzette said dryly and then turned to Christiana. “What else don’t we know?”

“You know everything I know now,” she assured her. “And I only found out about the poison after the wedding. I just hadn’t yet had a chance to tell you.”

Suzette nodded and then turned to spear Daniel with a look. “What else?”

“That’s it,” he assured her.

“And why didn’t you tell me yourself before this?” Suzette asked.

“It wasn’t my secret to tell,” he said simply.

“Where have I heard that before?” she asked dryly, turning back to face forward again, apparently not appeased.

“So we have a murderer as well as a blackmailer,” Lisa murmured thoughtfully. “Or do we think they are the same person?”

Richard and Daniel exchanged glances.

“They don’t know,” Suzette said for them when neither man spoke.

“Well. . .” Lisa frowned. “Surely it wouldn’t be easy for someone to get poison inside the townhouse without being discovered?”