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premises!”
    The woman’s ferret-like eyes took another more inclusive assessment of Amanda’s person. As she was enveloped in a black velvet cloak and wore an unadorned bonnet on her head and plain black kid boots on her feet, Amanda couldn’t imagine how she could look more respectable. She could perhaps be a bit more modishly rigged out, and she was a little muddy and travel-worn, but she was quite certain she didn’t bear the slightest resemblance to a woman of easy virtue.
    “My dear lady!” exclaimed Amanda, forcing a laugh. “You quite misunderstand! I did not say he wasn’t my husband, I only meant to say he is not—as you so charmingly phrased it—of a reasonable size! And since he met with an accident en route here, I hadn’t planned on … er … sharing his bed in the first place. I’ll need a cot and a—”
    “Met with an accident, did he?” the proprietress asked sharply. “What sort of an accident?”
    “He fell and hit his head on a rock when we were compelled to stop the carriage and allow him to … er … step out for a few moments,” said Amanda, blushing with embarrassment because she was forced to refer to private matters no lady had any business discussing.
    “He’s not bleeding, is he? I’ve just scrubbed the floor, and there’s a new carpet in the room you’ll be stayin’ in,” was the woman’s most unsympathetic rejoinder.
    Amanda was at the end of her tether. She perceived that no amount of patience and pleasantness would be effective in dealing with such an ill-tempered woman. Amanda lifted her chin and leveled her a chilling, contemptuous gaze. “My good woman, I have tried to be gracious despite your singular lack of concern toward my injured husband, the earl.” Amanda thought she heard Joe gasp and sincerely hoped he wasn’t staring with his mouth agape. “It appears I have no choice but to—”
    The woman’s jaw dropped. “Your husband’s an earl? And you’re a countess ?” She gave Amanda’s well-made but unremarkable traveling apparel another once-over.
    “The one usually goes with the other,” sniffed Amanda.
    “I saw you coming from an upstairs window, and I don’t recall seeing a crest on the carriage,” the woman said doubtfully.
    “As you can plainly see by my appearance, we’re in mourning, and in such times of grief my husband prefers to travel as inconspicuously as possible. But that is beside the point. He may have a severe concussion and is still lying in a cold carriage when he should be properly put to bed and looked over by a physician. But if you persist in lamenting the possibility of blood on your clean floor, we may certainly travel farther on in search of a warmer welcome. I daresay, however, that his lordship shan’t have much good to say of your hospitality, and if business suddenly drops off, you’ll have no one to blame but yourself!”
    Amanda pulled a fat purse from a pocket hidden in her skirt. “ ‘Twill be a shame, too, if you decide not to accommodate the earl, as he is known for his generosity and would be most grateful to you!”
    “Oh, my lady!” exclaimed the woman, transfixed by the size of Amanda’s purse and convinced by her haughty manners that she was indeed a member of the peerage. “Don’t mind me, if you please! I’ve had the megrims all day and beg your pardon for takin’ my troubles out on you!”
    Amanda gave a slight nod as mute acceptance of the woman’s apology, then inquired, “What is the name of this town, madam?”
    “ ‘Tis Horsham, milady.”
    “And what is your name, if you please?”
    The woman curtsied. “ ‘Tis Mrs. Beane, if you please, milady.”
    “Mrs. Beane, have you an available servant to send to the village for a doctor? I trust you have a doctor hereabouts?”
    “Indeed, milady, we do. But first perhaps your servants will need assistance in carrying the earl to your room?”
    Amanda disdainfully agreed that her men might indeed need some assistance in transporting