The Heiress - Lynsay Sands [96]
Suzette had been rather impatient herself as she sat waiting in the main room. Christiana and Lisa had spent the entire time trying to convince her to wait for the men to return, something she simply hadn’t wished to do. She’d suffered enough humiliation that day. So she’d sat waiting, starting in her seat each time the inn door opened, terrified it would be the men returned. Suzette had been greatly relieved when her father had finally come below.
However, even then, Lord Madison had further delayed them by insisting Suzette looked peaked and a meal should be eaten. Jeremy had tried to convince him that he would have a picnic basket prepared and they could eat in the carriage, but her father had been determined that they should eat a proper meal at the inn with Christiana and Lisa before departing. Unable to move him on the matter, they had given up and eaten, delaying their departure further.
Finally, they had left, but had not been on the road for more than an hour and already her father wanted to stop.
“But look, it is growing dark,” Cedrick Madison said now. “What if one of the horses steps in a hole, or twists a fetlock? Surely it would be safer to take a room and continue in the morning? It is not as if there is any great rush,” her father said, sounding determined.
“My driver assured me he could deliver us safely despite the hour,” Jeremy said firmly. “We shall take rooms when we reach Gretna Green.”
Suzette glanced to Jeremy to offer him an apologetic smile for her father’s behavior. However, he wasn’t looking her way. He sat hands clasped in his lap and twiddling his thumbs as he stared out the window. He appeared deep in thought.
“How are you feeling?” Lady Woodrow asked.
Daniel forced a reassuring smile for his mother. She sat across from him beside Robert in the Woodrow carriage, while he shared a bench seat with Richard. “I am fine, Mother. The ride hasn’t started my wound bleeding and it doesn’t even hurt anymore.”
Lady Woodrow nodded solemnly, and then said, “I don’t believe you.”
Daniel sighed. He really didn’t feel that bad considering. His lower back ached and burned on the side where he’d taken the wound, and he didn’t feel at full strength certainly, but he suspected nothing but the passage of time to allow it to heal would resolve the pain. At the same time, Daniel was sure a good meal and some ale would fix the other issue. As far as he was concerned, he had got off lucky. It could have been much worse. Though he’d lost a bit of blood, it seemed nothing vital had been struck. That was a good thing. And he was showing no signs of fever so, hopefully, his mother had done a thorough-enough job of cleaning the wound that he had bypassed infection.
“We are almost there. I can see the inn,” he announced. His mother immediately leaned to peer out the window.
“I shall go ahead and ask the innkeeper to arrange for food while the two of you see him inside,” his mother announced once the carriage had stopped and Richard and Robert had assisted Daniel out of the carriage. The truth was, while he was a little unsteady on his feet, he didn’t need two of them, but hadn’t refused the help, hoping the added assistance would mean less jostling about and therefore less aggravation to his wound. He suspected a dozen men could have been there to help and it still would have hurt like hell.
Grimacing, Daniel started forward at once to follow his mother into the inn. Much to his relief Richard and Robert merely walked beside him, there to lend support if needed, but neither man fussing unnecessarily.
His mother was standing in the door to the main room, surveying its inhabitants, when he caught up to her. Daniel immediately began searching for Suzette, but the room was empty except for the innkeeper and Christiana and Lisa. The two women were seated at one of the otherwise empty tables, their heads together and