It was only as she reached for the door to her room that Lisa wondered where Bet was. According to her sisters it was the maid who had revealed what the men were keeping from them, that Findlay had paid the hack driver to abandon her and the men suspected it had been so that he could take her away. She would have expected the maid to be waiting anxiously to see if Lisa was rescued. However, there had been no sign of the girl since their return.

Releasing the doorknob, Lisa turned and headed up the hall instead of entering her room. She then hurried lightly down to the ground floor and moved quickly up the hall to the door to the kitchen. She found Cook and a couple of other servants seated at a table there, chattering quietly. They all paused and glanced her way as she opened the door, and each offered a relieved smile and a comment regarding being glad to see her there healthy and well. Lisa wasn’t surprised. She had no doubt they knew what had happened, or at least a good portion of it. It was simply impossible to keep secrets from servants.

She murmured a quiet thank-you and then asked after Bet, only to be told she’d gone up to Lisa’s room to await her return. If she hadn’t made an appearance yet, she’d probably fallen asleep waiting, was the overriding belief. Smiling, Lisa nodded and thanked them, then left them to their relaxation. She entered her room a couple moments later and glanced around as she closed the door behind her, expecting to find Bet nodding off in a chair there . . . and she did find Bet in a chair. She wasn’t asleep, however. She was wide awake, wide-eyed, and bound and gagged in the chair she sat in.

Lisa stilled at once, and then following the direction of her maid’s glance, whirled instinctively back to the door. Findlay stood, leaning against the wall beside the door, arms and ankles crossed in a relaxed pose and smiling widely.

“You are lucky I am a patient man, Lisa, else I would surely punish you for making me wait so long for your return,” he commented with a smile. Then he straightened and moved toward her, saying, “Of course, I suppose I can hardly blame you. The men appear to have taken their time in bringing you back. Dare I hope they ran into trouble with my men? I did notice that Langley had to be carried in.”