Liza nodded, and together we sat in silence. Charlie was gone. He’d said goodbye in this letter. Without any offer to take me with him.
“I’ll call for the carriage.” Liza stood and rang her bell.
“What?”
She paced around her bed and started pulling dresses from her armoire. “I’ll send Harriet over to Molly and have her pack your things. We’ll have to stop at an inn halfway, but we can be to Whitely by sunrise.”
“Liza!” I shrieked.
She sighed. “For heaven’s sake, Ros, this is not our first runaway. Nor our first close encounter with death.”
“I must be dreaming,” I muttered. First the duke leaving, then Charlie’s letter, and now, Liza’s newfound fearlessness?
“How can you stand to wait?” Her eyes bulged, and I could not help it. I let my smile free.
“I cannot. But there are a few things I must see to first.”
ChapterTwenty-Nine
Between the four of us, the carriage was stuffy and hot. Liza monopolized the view out one window, while Molly and Harriett commanded the other. Since I was the reason we were all stuck together in a carriage for so long, I would not make a single complaint. I’d have sat on the floor if I had to.
I rechecked every item on the list I’d made before leaving:
Cancel all wedding plans and help Mama write letters of regret to all attendees.
Donate the flowers and food to our servants and those of Ivy Manor.
Spend an entire day with my family and beg their forgiveness a million times over.
Pack for a fortnight.
Breathe.
“We’re here!” Liza crooned, leaning back for me to take in the view. “Whitely is expansive, is it not? Not quite as big as your father’s house, but they have anorangery, Ros! And their music room has every instrument imaginable. Henry played the viola.”
I stared up at the great tall building hovering higher as we drew closer. It was square and stately, modeled elaborately after the Baroque fashion. A white stable stood in the distance, and a round building with tall columns further back. My heart pounded wildly in my chest. Somewhere within these borders was Charlie. And he had no idea I was coming.
The carriage jolted to a stop.
Liza squealed and squeezed my arm.
My smile wobbled from anxiety and eagerness. “Stop. You are frightening me.”
She swatted playfully at me and cackled. “Come and meet my aunt and uncle. You will love them. After you marry Charlie, we will betrue sistersat last!”
“Liza, we won’t actually be sisters.”
“Close enough!”
“And all this depends upon Charlie desiring what I desire.”
She looked heavenward as she descended. “Honestly, Rosalind, we are far beyond all that.”
I followed her down the carriage steps. My heart pounded in my ears and in my head, and the door Liza knocked upon seemed to swim in waves.
Do not faint, I told myself.
A servant opened the door, but before he could speak, he moved out of the way for a regal woman who looked so strangely familiar. I was sure we’d never met, but there was something in her eyes.
