He shook his brother’s outstretched hand. “Yes, the carriage got stuck in the mud at one point and required my help to get it out. I am soaked.”
“Come grab a chair by the fire,” Daniel said. “We’ll have Mrs. Howell get a hot bath organized for you.” He strode over to the bell pull.
Miles took a seat by the roaring fireplace. He sank into the chair with a sigh of pleasure at the cozy warmth of the room. “So, what’s got everyone in a tither?” he asked.
Eleanor grimaced. “Whois more like it. Of course, it’s Susanna. She has gone off on one of her wild plans.”
Miles straightened. “What plan?”
“She was terribly vague. Her note says she is off to find James Marlow and not to worry she is meeting up with friends who will escort her there. She did not say where she was going only that this was her opportunity to find him while her parents are away in Kent visiting friends,” Charlotte explained.
Miles pinched the bridge of his nose. Bollocks! This was his fault. He hadn’t followed up on her lead. He meant to speak with her about it now that he was in Marbury. He really had. “I know where she is headed. She and I spoke about it two weeks ago. She had a lead on how to find James Marlow. Aunt Diana told her that the seaside residence of his aunt that they visited was in Weymouth Bay.”
Eleanor frowned. “But why is she looking for James Marlow?”
“She has the idea to reunite Diana and him,” he replied.
“That sounds like her. But who would she be traveling with?” Olivia asked.
Everyone was quiet for a moment. Then like a flash the answer came to him. “The bloody circus.”
“Pardon?” Lucius said. “The what?”
“This spring she has been disappearing to Astley’s Amphitheatre. She has made friends there, often joins them for a late supper. The troupe is going on tour this summer through southern Britton. Perhaps she is with them.” He glanced around at the others.
“That’s where she’s been? And all this time, I thought she was leaving early to go home and read,” Charlotte said.
Miles snorted, thinking of all the times he had fetched her from the theater. Susanna was not some wallflower wishing to go home and read. If she wasn’t having fun, she created her own entertainment, or found it. She knew everyone, and somehow knew everyone’s secrets. It surprised him on more than one occasion the tidbits of information she knew. She would make some man a very useful wife.
“She has been taking lessons from Colonel Hadley since last summer,” Eleanor piped in.
“Lessons?” Miles asked. “But she is an excellent horsewoman.” Susanna sat a horse like she was born in it. She was a bold and fearless rider, always in control. She knew more about horseflesh then most men of his acquaintance.
“Trick riding lessons. Like what they do at Astley’s. She is quite good,” Eleanor replied.
Trick riding? Miles sat back in surprise. He shouldn’t be though; she had been enthralled with the riding at Astley’s since last spring. Colonel Hadley taught riding lessons to many of the young ladies of the ton. But to teach her how to do tricks?Scandalous.Did her mother know? A very unladylike pastime. The women who performed for Astley wore costumes that allowed for the movements that the tricks required. What did she wear when she was doing tricks? A picture of Susanna’s lithe form encased in snug trousers rose unbidden in his mind. He shook his head to clear the image. He shouldn’t be thinking of her like that.
Daniel held up a hand. “So, the circus is going to chaperone her as she travels to Weymouth Bay to track down the whereabouts of Aunt Diana’s long-lost lover? Do I have this all correct?”
Charlotte placed both hands over her face with a moan. “I cannot believe she would even conceive that this would be a proper plan of action. She is going to be ruined in reputation if not in reality traveling around the countryside with the circus.” She raised her head to look around the room. “The circus for heaven’s sake!”
“I don’t understand why she didn’t speak with us about her plan,” Olivia said. “We would have certainly been able to dissuade her. I didn’t even know she was learning to trick ride.”
Eleanor frowned. “She kept quiet about the riding because she didn’t want her parents to know the nature of her lessons with Colonel Hadley. I do know that his wife, Clara, is her friend. Perhaps it is them which she plans to travel. Honestly, I haven’t had time to visit with her but once since she has been home.”
“This spring has been busy with launching Max’s sister into society. I feel bad that I only saw her in passing at social functions. I miss our regular book club meetings. It’s one of the reasons I was eager to come home this summer,” Olivia said.
Charlotte shook her head. “I should have paid her more attention too. But with baby Emily…” She raised and lowered her shoulders.
Everyone’s gazes swung to him. Miles straightened in his seat. “What?”
Daniel quirked an eyebrow. “You seemed to always know where she was when she went missing this spring. You probably spent the most time of any of us with her.”
“It was always Astley’s,” he muttered. “It wasn’t hard to know where she was.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I did speak with her about Marlow. A few weeks ago, we spoke about how Diana kept throwing debutants in my path all season. Susanna was of the mind that if Diana had something else to focus on, she would lose interest in matching me. Something like her long-lost love. Susanna said she would come up with a plan.”
All the ladies in the room groaned loudly.
Miles stared at them. “How was I supposed to know that her plan was to take off with a traveling circus to find the man?”
