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Jeannie’s fork paused in midair. “I’mnotgoing back.”
“Did you at least leave a note for our parents?”
“Not that I was going with you, silly. They would have come after me.”
“Won’t they, anyway?” Gillian asked. “I’m surprised we’ve not had a rider catch up with us already, since we’re traveling with two heavy carriages.”
Jeannie sawed at a chunk of ham. “That’s why you never saw me. I hid in the boot of the second carriage. You weren’t taking any luggage from that one, and it was just Your Grace’s maid traveling in that coach. I was very quiet and careful, so neither she nor the grooms ever suspected a thing.”
“Clever girl,” Gillian said, shaking her head.
“That doesn’t explain why Papa hasn’t apparently sent anyone after us,” Kathleen noted. “Or how you snuck out in the first place.”
“I took some clothes from the stables, then I told the upstairs maid I wasn’t feeling well and was staying in bed all day. Then I got dressed and snuck out to wait for the carriages. I had to crouch down in one of the window wells until they pulled up in front of our house. Fortunately, it was raining, so everyone was rushing to load the luggage and not looking around. As soon as the second carriage was ready, I dashed out and climbed into the boot.” She grimaced. “It was a tight squeeze. I’msoglad to be out of there.”
“I can imagine,” Gillian said. “But full marks for pulling it off.”
Kathleen cut her friend an exasperated glance. “Really?”
Gillian shrugged. “Sorry, but it’s exactly the sort of thing I would have done—or you would have, for that matter.”
“It’s true, Kath,” her sister earnestly said. “Whenever things get sticky, I try to think what you would do.”
Kathleen resisted the urge to curse. “Butwhydidn’t anyone come after us?”
“I left a note saying I was going home to Ireland.” Jeannie reached for a scone. “Mamma knows I like Ireland, too, so I thought it made sense to send them in that direction.”
“But . . .” Kathleen sighed. “That’s rather brilliant, I admit.”
Her sister grinned. “I thought so.”
“But Papa and Helen must be frantic with worry,” Kathleen said, regrouping. “This was not well done of you.”
Her sister’s chin tilted up at a mutinous angle. “They were being awful to both of us. They deserve a good scare.”
Because Jeannie was tall and blooming into a beauty, it was easy to sometimes forget she was so young and naïve. Kathleen had been given a long leash while growing up, allowed to roam the countryside with her brother or Denny, riding horses, climbing trees, and dashing through the local villages. They’d indulged in more than a few risky adventures that had taught Kathleen how to take care of herself. Jeannie’s childhood, however, had been sheltered and strictly supervised. That she’d managed to pull off such a daring escape was terrifying.
“Awful or not, they love you,” Kathleen countered. “And if anything had happened to you . . .”
It could have gone wrong in ways too horrible to contemplate.
“The only hard part was sneaking out when the carriage stopped so I could use the necessary and find something to eat.”
“Are you sure no one saw you?” Kathleen asked.
“No one that matters. I brought money along so I could nip in and buy a pie or pasty whenever the carriage stopped at an inn.” Jeannie shrugged. “Everyone just thought I was a boy.”
Gillian nodded. “People generally only see what they expect to see. Jeannie’s costume is quite effective and deflected from her, ah, other attributes.”
She meant Jeannie’s already blossoming figure.
“And now we can be together, Kath,” Jeannie said. “You won’t have to go to those dreary Highlands by yourself. Won’t that be splendid?”
Kathleen steeled herself against her sister’s pleading gaze. “We’ll have to hire a carriage. Gillian, perhaps your maid could escort Jeannie back to London?”
“Of course, if that’s what you truly wish to do.”
“It’s not what I wish to do,” Jeannie protested. “And you can’t make me.”
