Susanna sat betweenClara and Zelda on one side of the carriage. Across from them was Deidra the buxom ropedancer and her two younger brothers who helped with the act. It was a tight fit and the carriage was not particularly well sprung but Susanna was happy as a clam. She was on her way to the next leg of her journey. She had enlisted Giorgio’s help to sneak her trunk out of the room this morning. He couldn’t have been more delighted to be part of her subterfuge. He and his sister traveled with Hamish, in addition to Fred and Harold, the clowns, in the next carriage. Susanna had declined their invitation to sit with them, she didn’t care to travel with six dogs, no matter how cute.
The entire caravan included a row of carts that hauled all the equipment and trunks with the costumes and props. Maddox and the other equestrians rode with the small herd of horses that were the backbone of the show. It had all been very exciting to see the troupe work together this morning to get packed and on the road. She’d been worried that the commotion would wake Hawksridge, but she hadn’t seen hide nor hair of him. Susanna hoped he would be able to find his boots eventually. She chewed on her bottom lip.
“Are you worried he’ll be angry?” Clara asked.
“Oh, he’ll be steamed for sure. I’m just hoping he will mad enough to turn around and go home.”
Zelda leaned forward. “I don’t know why you’d want to be getting rid of such a fine-looking man. If he was chasing me, I’d let him catch me,” she said.
Deidra cackled. “He is right handsome. And rich too, right?”
“It’s not like that. He’s not trying to bed me or even marry me. He’s trying to protect my reputation.” Susanna frowned. “Besides I have my own money, I don’t need his.”
In fact, Hawksridge was one of the few men she knew that didn’t try to run through his family’s money. Instead, he always quietly invested and grew the estate’s fortune. He would never have to choose a wife for her dowry. More’s the pity since he had such a poor opinion about love matches.
“Well, la di da. Must be nice, princess.” Deidra sneered. “What are you doing traveling with likes of us then?”
Susanna sank back against the seat realizing her faux pas. It’s not that the troupe members didn’t know she was an earl’s daughter but she didn’t have to go around talking about her wealth. Clara came to her rescue.
“The colonel and I are watching out for her while she travels to Weymouth Bay. She is on a mission to reunite two long-lost lovers.” Clara poked her with an elbow. “Tell them the story about the letters. We could all use some entertainment.”
That she could do. Susanna straightened back up and began with the first day that she and her friends had come across the love letters. The others peppered her with questions along the way.
“I wouldn’t have gone with him either,” Deidra said. “She had a good thing at home and a woman’s got to make smart choices.”
Zelda sighed. “I would have gone out that window without a second thought. He sounds positively sinful.”
“That’s why you keep getting your heart broken.” Deidra shook her head.
“Like you keep breakin’ Hamish’s heart?” Zelda shot back.
“He’s not rich, is he?” Deidra sniffed. “I’ve told him I won’t marry him a half dozen times. I have to think about my responsibilities, can’t stop working and just be havin’ his babies.” She nodded her head toward her brothers.
“Aw, sis, I told you I’m going to take care of you. I can get a job,” Jimmy said.
Deidra turned to him. “You have a job here with me. You boys are very important.” She ruffled the boy’s hair.
Susanna grudgingly admired Deidra’s practical attitude. Even though Susanna loved the romance between Diana and James that unfolded in those letters, would she have chosen to sever ties with her family to go out the window with a man solely based on his florid promises? She thought about her mother and how much she would miss her, and how despite her father’s bluster he always watched out for her best interests. She wasn’t sure if she wouldn’t have gone out the window. But maybe that was because she had never been in love. What did it feel like to have the kind of passion that made you do anything for love?
Her friends had done it. Charlotte had announced to a church filled with wedding guests that she was in love with Miles’s brother Daniel. And then ran away down the aisle to the horror of her family and most of the ton. Eleanor had gone to a brothel, for goodness’ sake, to talk some sense into the man that she loved. It seemed that when it came to love rules were meant to be broken.
The coach came to a halt. Susanna glanced out of the window and saw nothing but green fields. “Why did we stop?”
“Time for some food for humans and the horses. We travel slowly and stop often so not to wear out the animals,” Clara replied.
Everyone emerged from the carriage into the warm sunshine. Her hat’s brim shaded her eyes as Susanna glanced around. The crew buzzed about pulling out baskets of food she guessed had been prepared at the inn this morning. Blankets were laid out on the grass nearby. Everyone seemed to pitch in and know their task to set up the temporary stopping point. Susanna didn’t know how she could help and didn’t want to bother anyone to ask. She wandered to the back of the caravan to see the horses.
A barrel of water was unloaded and buckets filled for the animals to drink. Susanna stepped up to accept one and carried it over to a pair of horses she knew to be the Hadley’s mares. “Hello, pretty ladies. Thirsty?” The horses both shook their heads in greeting before dipping down to drink. On the right Lulu scraped a hoof on the ground impatiently. Both horses were well trained to be ground tied but Lulu was clearly restless.
Colonel Hadley came up next to her. “Thank you. They are both a little antsy after having to walk so far.” He ran a hand down Lulu’s neck. “You don’t like to go slow. Do you girl?”
Nervous energy radiating from the horse. “I understand Lulu. I feel the same after sitting in the coach all morning. You just want to run a bit, don’t you?” She turned to the colonel. “Can I take her for a ride? Just a short one.”
“I was going to run her around on the long lead, but a proper run might be better. If she gets bored then she starts nipping the other horses. Let me get you a saddle.”
Susanna gave Lulu’s nose a rub. “Ready to run?” The horse nickered and shook her head again in response. “Yes, me, too.” Susanna was glad that she had chosen to wear her riding habit today. The choices of clothing from her trunk that she could don without the help of a maid were limited. The separate skirt and jacket were a practical dark blue and wouldn’t show dirt easily. Plus, the smart men’s style hat was one of her favorites.
Colonel Hadley returned shortly with a side saddle and laid it gently on Lulu. Susanna buckled the billet straps to the girth and adjusted the stirrup to the length she preferred. Meanwhile Hadley switched out the harness Lulu wore for a bridle. He offered Susanna his hands for a boost and she hopped up into the saddle. Once she had her right leg hooked over the pommel and her left leg in the stirrup she adjust her skirts to fall over her ankles.
