Nodding, Lisa settled on the side of the bed to remove her slippers . . . only to quickly slide them back on the moment the door closed behind Bet. She then leapt up, suddenly all excited motion and activity. Bustling to her chest, she dug out the bag she’d hidden at the bottom, checked to ensure that the gift she’d so carefully wrapped for Mrs. Morgan was still inside, and then hurried to the door. She listened briefly and, hearing nothing, opened it to peer up the hall. Finding it empty, she immediately slid out of her room to scurry to the stairs.

Lisa held her breath until she got to the landing. She paused and exhaled slowly, ears straining. But when a steady silence was all that came from below, she took another deep breath and crept quickly down the steps. She was halfway to the parlor when the kitchen door at the end of the hall began to open. Panic rising in her, Lisa quickly ducked into the office to avoid discovery, praying no one saw her as she eased the door closed.

She listened at the door in hopes of hearing when it would be safe to continue on her way, but frowned when silence met her ear. Either whoever had opened the kitchen door had changed their mind and not come out after all, or someone was even now traversing the hall but the door she stood behind muffled the sound. The problem was, Lisa didn’t know which would be the case.

Sighing, she shifted on her feet, impatient to be on her way, and then dropped to her knees and pressed her eye to the keyhole. Sadly, she couldn’t see much of the hall through the little opening, certainly not enough to assure herself it was empty. But she knelt there long enough that she was sure anyone coming from the kitchens would have passed by now.

Getting back to her feet, she took a breath, crossed her fingers for good luck and eased the door open.

A little sigh of relief slipped from her lips when she found the hall empty. Lisa listened for a moment just to be sure no one was on the stairs and then scampered quickly up the hall to the parlor door and slid inside.

The relief she felt as she closed the parlor door was rather extreme considering she was only halfway out of the house. She still had a long way to go to make a clean getaway. Pushing that thought aside, Lisa hurried across the room and knelt to retrieve her cloak and pelisse from under the settee where she’d hidden it early that morning before the house was awake.