“Now, now,” the woman said on a little sigh and patted her hand as she settled on the bed beside her. “I know it may seem awful of me to hand you over to him like this. But he plans to marry you, my dear. So no harm done. And he’s paying me a very large sum of money to help him woo you like this.” She paused and then grimaced and added, “Of course, Bet is something else. But really, do you think she wants to be a lady’s maid the rest of her life? She’s a beautiful girl despite those unfortunate freckles of hers. She’ll wear the finest silks and drink the finest wine and enjoy many fine men rather than putting up with the callous rutting of stable boys and the like. Really, I’m doing you both a good turn here today . . . and making a great deal of money as well. If the girl’s a virgin, I’ll get top dollar for her.” She stood and moved toward the door, adding, “I really must send word to find out what’s holding up the doctor. I’ve already sent out a notice to every possibly interested party that a fresh girl is to be auctioned off tonight. I need his certification that Bet’s pure before then.”

Lisa watched her go, and remained where she was as Cook and the big man named Gilly carried the tub out, then waited for the door to close before standing up. She was a little alarmed when the room spun wildly around her and for a moment she had to brace herself with a hand on the bed and take deep breaths to keep her stomach from rebelling as she waited for the spinning to stop. When it finally did, Lisa straightened more cautiously and peered dully around.

Her mind was screaming at her to do something. The problem was that the message was as garbled in her head as her words had been when she’d spoken and Lisa couldn’t figure out what exactly it was her mind was trying to tell her she should be doing. She suspected it was important though.

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Robert perched on the window ledge and peered cautiously inside, then frowned and peered more closely. The room at first appeared empty, but then he spotted the lump under the comforter. Lisa. How could she sleep at a time like this? Good Lord. Muttering under his breath, he lowered himself to sit on the outer ledge and then tapped softly on the window. The sound was very faint. He didn’t want to attract attention, but it was surely loud enough for Lisa to hear. The bed wasn’t that far away. However, she didn’t stir at all. He knocked again, a little louder, but when that still brought no result, he eased the window open, and climbed inside.