“We shall not require stabling,” Daniel told the young man who approached to take his horse. “Hitching will be enough.”
The man seemed disappointed. “What about the carriage, Sir?”
“Leave everything as it is,” Daniel replied. “I do not expect we shall be long.”
The young man gave a small nod of understanding. “Come to prevent a sister from makin’ a grave mistake, eh?”
Evidently, it was nothing new to him.
“Something of that ilk, yes,” Daniel said, a worrisome thought popping into his head. He reached into his coin purse and took out three shillings “But if you have been instructed to raise the alarm at times like this, I would urge you not to. I shall give you one shilling now and two later, for your silence.”
The young man grinned. “You’ve done this before, then?”
“Consider it a calculated guess.” Daniel put the coin into the man’s outstretched palm.
“Thank you for your generosity.” The young man flashed him a wink. “All of a sudden, I find myself mute.”
He performed a brief charade of opening and closing his mouth, furrowing his brow in a rather convincing display of confusion, before wandering off with the pleased swagger of someone who had just made money from doing nothing at all.
Daniel got down from the saddle and hitched his horse to a nearby post, waiting patiently for Phoebe and Joanna to emerge from the carriage. To his surprise, only Phoebe emerged, closing the door firmly behind her. Not a slam, exactly, but a warning to Joanna to stay inside.
“Your sister is not joining us?” Daniel asked as Phoebe walked toward him.
She cast him a sharp look. “You cannot be without her for even a moment?”
“I did not say that.”
She glanced back over her shoulder. “I feel it will be the safest place for her. If Lord Harburghdoesretaliate, I would prefer it if there were as few of my loved ones in the room as possible.”
“Is that why you are making me stay downstairs?”
He meant it in jest, but the look she gave him made him drop his chin to his chest, feeling guilty for joking about such matters. It was, obviously, far too soon for such things.
Without another word, she strode on into the inn through the back door, leaving him to trail after her.
What did you say that for?
Though he already knew the answer—part of him had hoped beyond all hope that she might say that was exactly why.
* * *
I should have made him turn around and go directly back to Westyork Manor.
Phoebe fumed, barging in the surprisingly busy main room of the inn. Her heart fluttered traitorously in her chest, thinking of his jest. It was not quite the reason she intended to make him wait downstairs, but she did havesomefears that Daniel and Jacob might engage in a violent brawl, whereas she hoped to avoid using any violence to retrieve her sister.
She approached the innkeeper behind the bar, who seemed to be expecting her. “Where are they?” she asked.
“Up the stairs, turn right, second-to-last room down the hallway,” the innkeeper replied, likely familiar with families arriving to apprehend wayward travelers. “And though you seem like a fine lady, I’d ask you to be civil. I don’t want trouble under this roof.”
Phoebe narrowed her eyes. “And allowing unwed couples to share bedchambers isnottrouble?”
“Well, you have yourself a point there, but I believe what they tell me. If they say they’re married, who am I to call them liars?” The innkeeper shrugged. “Just… don’t be shedding any blood. It’s impossible to get out of the wood.”
Phoebe nodded politely. “I shall do my best, but I make no promises.”
With that, she made her way to the higgledy-piggledy staircase, each step a different height from the next, some of them tilted almost diagonally. Daniel waited for her at the bottom, his hand resting on the newel post.
“Are you certain I cannot convince you to let me escort you?” he asked.
