She lowered the steps and with Jenni again holding him under the arms Sam managed to scoot his backside up each step and onto the floor of the carriage. He bit back a curse as Jenni hauled him inside with strength that impressed Susanna. Sam groaned low and his eyes shuttered as he lost consciousness from the pain.
“Oh dear,” Susanna exclaimed.
Jenni knelt on the floor with his head in her lap. She met Susanna’s gaze with wide frightened eyes. “Please get us to a town where we can get him some help.”
Susanna nodded. She shut the carriage door and hurried to the box. Hitching her skirts up high she hauled herself less than gracefully onto the driver’s seat. “You ladies are good as gold.” She crooned to her horses. Not that she would expect anything else from the pair. Her father’s stable master, Mr. Henshaw, would never let her go on this journey without providing the best team. Of course, Mr. Henshaw and the rest of the staff all thought she was traveling to see her aunt. But what they don’t know couldn’t hurt them and more importantly couldn’t get back to her parents.
She gave the reins a flick and the horses started walking. Careful to start slow she encouraged the team to increase their pace after a few minutes. Sam was in pain and she needed to get them to town as fast as possible. She hoped the roads would not be too rough for Sam to tolerate. They hit a dip and the coach bounced. A shout of pain came from behind her and Susanna winced.
Sam and Jenni were her most trusted servants. Her lady’s maid knew all her secrets. She was always there with sensible advice and gentle reminders, and always up to accompany her on whatever adventure she had planned. Susanna knew Jenni took her role as mother hen seriously and she tried not to worry the woman, she really did. Sam was not only coachman but also Jenni’s beau for the past couple of years. Susanna knew initially, he had been roped into keeping an eye on her by Jenni, but he had become a trusted ally. After all having a driver who wouldn’t rat on her to her father was priceless.
An hour passed and Susanna’s hands were cramped from holding the reins steady for so long. She rolled her shoulders up and back and shifted in her seat. Her rear end was sore on the hard seat. This adventure was not going to plan. She had no idea how much farther to the town, only that this road should lead to Guilford. But Sam said that their arrival in Guilford wouldn’t be until the evening at best. But surely there must be some coaching inn, some village along the way.
Just as Susanna was losing hope, she spotted smoke in the distance. She sat up straighter. “Come on, girls, civilization ahead.”
A little town came into view. Perhaps the same size as her beloved Marbury. The coaching inn was a large establishment with a carved wooden sign proclaiming it to be the Lion’s Den Inn. She directed the team into the yard and pulled up right in front of the inn’s door. An employee hurried up with a bewildered expression on his face as he looked up at her. “Miss?” He held out a hand and she gratefully grasped hold of it and let him help her from the box.
She pushed a stray hair from her face and ran her hands down the front of her skirts to make sure they were properly in place. She glanced down and found her gloves covered in dust, in fact she was covered in dust from head to foot.Never mind that.She straightened her shoulders and speared the young man with her best commanding look. “My coachman was in an accident and is injured. We will need several men to help carry him inside. Where is your proprietor?”
His blond head bobbed up and down. “Yes, ma’am. Right away. I’ll fetch him.” He turned and disappeared inside.
Susanna opened the door to the carriage. “Are you both all right?”
Jenni’s eyes were wide and shiny. “He is in terrible pain. I’m so glad we are stopped.”
Sam grunted. “Good job milady. Thank you for driving the horses.”
“Of course! They are getting some men to help carry you inside. Don’t worry about a thing. We will get you fixed up, I promise.”
She turned and saw a portly older gentleman stride out the front door. His round face was framed by bushy white sideburns. His air of authority marked him as the inn’s proprietor. Susanna approached him. “Sir, my coachman was injured and I need to call for the bonesetter or surgeon. Does your town have one in residence?”
“Yes ma’am. Where was he hurt?”
“Our travels were disrupted by a herd of cows. And in his efforts to move them off the road he was trampled. I fear his leg is broken and one hand as well.”
The man turned to the stable hand next to him. “Take a horse and fetch Mr. Jenkins.” He turned back to Susanna. “Mr. Jenkins is excellent at his job. He set my son’s arm a year ago and he fully recovered.”
Susanna let out a sigh of relief. “Can we have some help transferring him inside? We will need two rooms. One for Mr. Green and one for my maid and me.”
The proprietor frowned. “You’re traveling alone? I run a respectable establishment. Can’t have unchaperoned women staying alone in my inn.” He shook his head for emphasis.
Susanna schooled her features into her haughtiest expression. “I am on my way to meet my husband at our summer home.” The falsehood slid easily off her tongue. “The Marquess of Hawksridge will be very upset to know you treated his wife so shabbily in a time of crisis.” She sniffled dramatically.
The man’s eyes widened. “Well now, Lady Hawksridge, I’m sorry for the misunderstanding. Right this way. No need to be upset.”
Chapter Nine
“Thank you, Vincent.”Miles handed his wet jacket and hat to Daniel’s butler.
Vincent promptly handed off the sodden garments to a footman. Then he turned back and gestured with one hand. “Please follow me. Lord and Lady Weston are in the drawing room.”
The weather had been terrible all the way from London. He wouldn’t have gotten wet at all if his coach hadn’t gotten stuck in a section of road entirely turned to mud. The poor coachman had struggled valiantly but he and the small boy who served as tiger weren’t strong enough to free the wheel mired in muck. Miles and his valet, Roberts, had to get out and lend their muscle to dislodge the vehicle.
The butler opened the door to the drawing room to announce his arrival. A cacophony of voices carried out into the corridor. Miles swept a hand through his hair in an attempt to push the damp locks off his forehead. That sounded like far more people than just Daniel and Charlotte. Inside he found not just his brother and sister-in-law, but Charlotte’s brother, Lucius, his wife, Eleanor, and Max and Olivia Rivenhall. Essentially the entirety of their group of friends save one, Susanna.
Anxious faces turned toward him as he strode into the room. “Hello everyone,” he said.
“Miles.” Daniel stood and crossed to him. “Glad you’re here. Was the weather terrible the whole way from London?”
