“No, wait!” Christiana cried, tugging at her hand as panic seized her at the thought of leaving Richard. “Please, Father, stop. I don’t want to leave.

Really. I love him.”

Lord Madison paused at once and turned to peer at her in question. “Really? Do you love him?”

Christiana stared at him blankly, her mind in an uproar of confusion. She hadn’t meant to say that, wasn’t even sure where the words had come from.

Surely she didn’t mean them, her sensible side argued, but the idea of leaving him had struck such terror in her . . .

Taking a deep breath she tried to think clearly. The passion they shared was incredible, of course, but love was more than passion, and she hadn’t known him long enough to—Christiana let that thought die in her head, because another part of her mind was arguing that she did know him. With Dicky-George Christiana had been constantly on edge, anxious over what he might say or do, and wary of his temper making an appearance and his lashing out at those around him. But Richard didn’t seem to have the same unpredictability: he was courteous and respectful of everyone he encountered, even the lowliest servant. Richard was also honorable where George probably wouldn’t have been able to even spell the word. And he had married her to save her and her sisters from scandal, which was as chivalrous as a man could get, really, she acknowledged and realized that Lisa was right, Richard was her hero, and she had come to love him for it. For that and so much else.

Straightening her shoulders, Christiana nodded solemnly. “I love Richard. I do not want to leave him.”

Lord Madison nodded solemnly. “Very well.”

“But thank you, Father,” she added, hugging him.

Lord Madison patted her back, and then took her arm when she stepped back. “We should go back inside and join the others.”

Christiana nodded in agreement and they turned to walk into the house, but both paused abruptly when they spotted Richard standing in the open French doors. Christiana bit her lip, worried about how long he’d been there and whether he’d heard her declaration, but her husband merely said, “The authorities have been and gone. We explained that Freddy had tried to take you to ransom and we all stopped him and they accepted our explanations and took him away.”

“Oh,” Christiana murmured. “They didn’t wish to speak to me?”

“I told them you were upset. They accepted that and said there was no need to talk to you with so many other witnesses.”

“Oh, good,” she smiled crookedly, glad not to have to explain things. She really was a bad liar, even when it came to lies of omission and probably would have blurted out everything.

Her father urged her forward then and Christiana started to walk again. When they came abreast of Richard, he slid his arm around her waist, drawing her to a halt. Her father immediately released her arm and continued into the office, leaving her to smile nervously at her husband.