The answer was a groan, and Lisa frowned as she knelt beside him and tried to get a look at his head. However, his hand was covering the wound, and while she wanted to know how badly she’d injured him, she could only think that her not being able to see it was a good thing. While she was worried about the damage she’d done, she did have a tendency to go faint when presented with blood. It was probably better she didn’t actually see the wound until they were safely away.

“What happened?”

Lisa glanced up from Robert to see Daniel standing in the open cell door, a frown on his face as he took in the situation. Apparently Robert hadn’t come alone to rescue her, she realized. Although she hadn’t a clue how they’d even known where to look for her. Putting that aside for now, she said unhappily, “I thought he was Findlay and hit him with the bed leg.”

“The bed leg?” Daniel asked, his eyes sliding to the bed against the wall.

“I stuffed my petticoats with straw from the mattress and jammed it under the bed to take the place of the leg I removed,” she explained wearily.

“Clever,” Daniel commented, glancing over his shoulder to the room behind him and then back. “Can you walk, Robert? We should get out of here. There is a house full of servants upstairs. If one of them comes down for any reason, they could bring all of them down on us.”

Robert grunted and struggled to get up. Lisa immediately moved to help, dragging his arm across her shoulders to help support his weight. When they staggered to the door, Daniel backed out to allow them to pass. His gaze dropped over her as he did and he asked quietly, “Are you all right, Lisa? Findlay didn’t . . .”

“I’m fine,” she assured him when he hesitated. “Findlay intended to start his fun after the ball tonight. The plan was for him to attend the ball, act the distraught fiancé, and then return to make me distraught,” she said dryly.

Daniel’s mouth tightened at the words and then he smiled crookedly. “Well, from the looks of it, he would have had a surprise waiting. It’s almost a shame we weren’t late enough for you to have koshed him a time or two first.”

“While I would be delighted to kosh him a time or two. I am grateful to be getting out of here,” Lisa assured him as she helped Robert across the open area. Her gaze slid around the room as she went, noting Richard and two light skirts standing by the stairs, watching over the unconscious bodies of a couple of Findlay’s men.

“Lisa!” the dark-haired one cried in a loud whisper.

Lisa came to a halt, forcing Robert to one as well and watched wide-eyed as the dark-haired light skirt spotted her and rushed toward them. Her eyes widened incredulously when the woman hugged her, nearly knocking Robert to the ground in her eagerness. Lisa glanced to Daniel with bewilderment, silently asking who the hell the woman was.