Suzette glanced to her curiously. “He seems to treat you much more kindly than Dicky did. And he upheld the marriage to prevent us all from being cast into scandal. I thought at first that he avoided scandal as well, but Lisa is right, men do not suffer scandal like we women do and he probably did uphold if for your sake, which is really very chivalrous. Much more chivalrous than Daniel ’s marrying me for money.”

Christiana frowned slightly. Suzette’s last words sounded almost bitter and yet the girl had written the rules for this marriage herself, choosing to marry someone who needed money to ensure she was not trapped in a miserable marriage as Christiana had endured with Dicky. However, the marriage might not be necessary at all now, she realized, and frowned over the fact that she couldn’t say as much because she hadn’t yet spoken to Richard about his promise to make everything right. She really must remember when he returned, Christiana told herself firmly. Until then, she couldn’t say anything to Suzette, at least nothing certain.

A deep sigh drew her attention back to Suzette.

Seeing the dissatisfaction on her face, she asked quietly, “Are you having second thoughts about marrying Daniel ?” Biting her lip, she added, “Perhaps Richard would be willing to cover Father’s gambling debts. If we even need to cover them. If we prove he was drugged and didn’t gamble at all —”

“Nay, ’tis fine,” Suzette said quickly. “I doubt it would be that easy to prove and we have enough on our plate at the moment. Speaking of which, we should really get back to our task. Who have we not yet talked to?”

Christiana hesitated, but then decided to let her change the subject. They really did have to continue with their task. “I think we have spoken to all the maids and footmen. That leaves Haversham, Cook, Richard’s valet—”

“I thought his valet died in the fire where Richard was supposed to have died?” Suzette interrupted.

“Yes, of course, I meant Dicky’s valet. I guess he will have to be Richard’s now though. Well, once he recovers from his illness.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Suzette asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I’d like to think Georgina knows me well enough that she would know in an instant if someone tried to take my place, even if they were my twin.”

“I’m sure Grace would realize at once too, if a twin tried to take my place, or at least rather quickly.” She frowned. “In fact, that’s why George ordered Richard’s valet to be murdered. He feared the man would know that he wasn’t Richard.”

“Well there you are,” Suzette said quietly. “It’s just as likely that George’s valet will notice something amiss with Richard and suspect he isn’t the master he has served this last year.”

“Twenty years,” Christiana corrected and when Suzette raised her eyebrows in question, she explained thoughtfully, “Dicky once said that Freddy had been with him for twenty years, they pretty much grew up together.”