Chapter Two
On the road to Bath
Two days later
Reluctantly, Ashlyn had done as Elizabeth suggested and set out for the house party. Besides, she had no choice in the matter. As hard as it was to admit, Elizabeth had probably been right about one thing—no one could likely tell the difference between her and her cousin.
She wore her hair as her cousin did, and the hotel clerk had immediately called her Miss Vickers and smiled as she handed Elizabeth’s letter to him.
Ashlyn speculated the man had been besotted with Elizabeth since their arrival.
“Can you see that my parents get this, should they arrive before my return from the house party?”
“Yes, Miss Vickers. I’ll be glad to take care of that for you. Your coach is waiting for you and your maid out front.” He glanced around. “Will Miss March be joining you?” he asked.
“Oh, yes, but tomorrow. She left yesterday to visit a friend of her mother’s, who lives nearby in Mayfair, and will leave from there,” Ashlyn replied smoothly, feeling only the slightest trepidation when she should be shaking in her boots at the outright lie.
She needed to stop giving out so much information, she reminded herself.
Elizabeth had arranged for a well-appointed, black-lacquered coach and two sleek black horses to convey Ashlyn to Bath. Initially, she had insisted on four horses, but she settled for two when Ashlyn pointed out that they would not be traveling overnight.
“I just wanted to provide as much comfort as possible,” her cousin had said.
Ashlyn could never deny her cousin’s generosity. Elizabeth had always been that way, even growing up, insisting they both receive the same things whenever they shopped together.
As it turned out, the roads out of London had been quite crowded, and Ashlyn and Alice had sat in the very comfortable coach, going nowhere for what seemed like hours, as they wove through an endless amount of traffic. Once they cleared Town, the coach finally settled into a rhythm.
With Alice dozing across from her, Ashlyn leaned back against the black leather squabs and placed the book she had been trying to read since leaving the hotel beside her on the seat. Finally tucking her worries away, she felt her eyes grow heavy as the carriage’s movement lulled her to sleep.
A crash of thunder startled Ashlyn awake.
When did it begin to storm? Lifting the curtain, she peered outside, noticing it had become dusk.
She thought she would have arrived at the house party by now.
Mrs. Dove-Lyon was holding it at a friend’s manor house just outside of Bath.
They had been on the road for hours and had to be close.
“Miss Ashlyn…I mean, Miss Elizabeth,” Alice corrected herself. “I should get used to using your cousin’s name.”
Ashlyn had told Alice about the ruse. Her maid, ever loyal, had nodded in understanding. She was familiar with Elizabeth’s antics as well.
“Forgive me for falling asleep, Miss Elizabeth. But now I’m wide awake from this storm. It’s quite loud.”
“Yes! I did the very same, Alice. And thank you for going along with this crazy farce of my cousin’s,” Ashlyn answered. “It’s going to be hard to answer to a name that isn’t mine.”
“You get to play the part of an American heiress, Miss Ashlyn. I should think that would be fun. And the two of you look so much alike, I doubt that there’s anyone, outside of your parents and me, of course, who could tell the difference,” Alice said.
“I’ll be sure to fix your hair in your cousin’s style. ”
“Yes. That, too, may take some getting used to on my part.” Lightning flashed, and a few seconds later, thunder boomed so loudly that they both jumped in their seats.
Then they felt another jolt—only this time from the carriage as it began careening down a hill.
Alice looked at her wide-eyed, and Ashlyn leaned forward and grabbed her maid’s hands tightly.
They seemed to be rolling along faster and faster, and Ashlyn feared it could get out of the driver’s control.
The drumbeat of rain on the roof became louder.
Ashlyn peered outside the window and noticed there were large rocks that had rolled onto the road from the surrounding hills.
The wind was howling. And what little moonlight that might have helped the horses see had been swallowed up by the rain and the low-hanging storm clouds.
The carriage tilted and swayed, no doubt from the horses’ hooves slipping on the muddied road.
Alice let out a frightened gasp as the carriage rolled over another deep rut in the road.
Ashlyn squeezed the maid’s hand. “We’ll be all right, Alice. This is just a little—”
The axle groaned, followed by a sudden loud crack as they seemed to careen up on two wheels and the carriage barreled down the steep road.
“Oh, dear God,” Ashlyn managed to say as she and Alice were tossed into the air like rag dolls.
A sudden loud screech came from the horses, and she realized Alice had echoed it with a scream of her own.
Ashlyn gasped as the carriage tipped over, skidding off the road.
Both she and Alice landed on the floor as mud and debris crashed through the window.
They screamed and covered their heads as the vehicle slid down a muddy slope.
Ashlyn prayed for the carriage to come to a stop, and then it finally did, hitting a tree with a great thud.
Ashlyn opened her eyes and, slowly and carefully, sat up. She took a deep breath and slowly released it as she tried to get her bearings. The carriage was quite literally on its side, and the door was above them.
Turning, she saw Alice was still hunched over with her hands covering her head. Like Ashlyn, she was splattered with mud, twigs, and other debris. Ashlyn could feel it already caking on her clothing. Reaching out, she gently touched her maid on the shoulder. “Alice, are you all right?” she asked.
Alice groaned, and Ashlyn helped her sit up. “I…I think so. My head hurts a little,” she croaked.
Ashlyn gently wiped her maid’s muddied hair from her face as she looked her over for injuries. “I don’t see any cuts.”
“I don’t feel like anything is broken, Miss Ashlyn.”
“We have to get out of here,” Ashlyn said, looking up at the door. “Alice, can you stand? We’re going to have to climb out.” She pointed to the door above them.
The maid nodded, and they braced themselves as they carefully stood up in the turned-over vehicle. “My poor knees are still banging together.”
Thankfully, the carriage wasn’t very large, and therefore, it wouldn’t be too difficult to get out…
at least, Ashlyn hoped that was the case.
Glancing around, she spotted her mud-splattered parasol in the corner of the bench.
“This should help us!” Grabbing it, she poked at the door, hopeful that she could get the door to flip back.
She did manage to get the heavy door open, but didn’t have the strength to push it all the way.
“Alice, I’ll need your help in wedging this open. ”
Alice gave a quick nod and positioned herself so that she was standing next to Ashlyn.
Grabbing hold of the parasol, they tried several times to open the door all the way, and on the fourth try, they succeeded.
Ashlyn breathed a sigh of satisfaction as they managed to prop it open.
“We did it! Now we have to climb out. You go first, Alice.”
“Miss Ashlyn—” Alice started.
“No, Alice. Please, you go first,” Ashlyn said.
Alice nodded, and Ashlyn helped boost her as the maid lifted herself out the door. Alice landed with a soft thud and a yelp. The carriage shook a bit, and Ashlyn braced herself, worried it would start sliding again.
“Are you all right?” she called out.
“I’m fine, Miss Ashlyn. I landed on my rump, so no harm done.”
Ashlyn grabbed on to the side of the door and pulled herself up. And with Alice’s help, she slid out, landing on her feet. A second later, the parasol snapped in half, and the door slammed shut behind them, making them both yelp.
“Well, at least it held it open long enough for the two of us to escape,” Ashlyn said, wiping her hands on her dress.
“If not for that parasol, I don’t know what we’d have done,” Alice said.
Ashlyn nodded in agreement. “Remind me to pen a letter to the shop in Connecticut to tell them of our harrowing tale and how the parasol heroically saved us,” she said, with a chuckle.
Alice gave a nervous laugh. “It was your idea, miss. You are, as your father has always described you, very resourceful.”
Ashlyn patted her friend on the shoulder as they made their way around the outside of the carriage to find the driver.
She spotted the two carriage horses, still hitched, together standing on the side of the road near the embankment. “There are the horses, but where is the driver?” she ruminated out loud.
“I see him,” Alice said, pointing to a figure a few yards away, lying face down in a ditch.
When they reached his side, they helped ease him onto his back.
“My goodness! It’s Billy. He’s the son of the driver. Billy Crutchins, what are you doing here?” Alice exclaimed.
“He’s just a boy,” Ashlyn said in an exasperated tone.
Billy groaned and opened his eyes. Ashlyn and Alice helped him sit up.
“How old are you?” Ashlyn said. “And why are you driving our carriage?”
Billy tried to stand and would have fallen if Ashlyn and Alice hadn’t grabbed each other’s arms. Together, they helped the boy stand.
“Fourteen, Miss Elizabeth. I…I was just trying to help. M’da had a bit too much to drink…” he said, wiping his wet sleeve over his mud-streaked face.
“You mean he was drunk…foxed…bosky!” Alice said, her hands on her hips.
“Yes,” Billy replied, ducking his head in shame.
“You should have told us,” Ashlyn said, feeling sorry for the youth, “instead of risking your life. We would have hired another driver.”
“But m’da needs the money,” Billy insisted.
“If your da wasn’t a drunk, he would have been driving and our carriage wouldn’t have tumbled down a hill,” Alice said, tapping her foot in frustration.
“I was doing so well, and then the storm started,” Billy mumbled.
Alice opened her mouth again, but rather than hear her scold the boy one more time, Ashlyn held up a hand. “It’s all right. There’s no sense in arguing about it now. Are you all right, Billy?”
“I am, Miss Elizabeth, it’s just… I think I hurt my leg and m’ back.” He groaned again.
“We are all getting soaked in this storm. And we need to get you help,” Ashlyn said. “Nor do I want any of us to catch pneumonia.”
“We’re in the middle of nowhere,” Alice said, her voice strained.
“That may be true, but I think we passed a manor house not too far back,” Ashlyn said. “I saw a gate as I looked out the window during the storm. Billy, do you think you can walk?”
“Yes, ma’am. If I can get a large stick to lean on.”
Ashlyn looked around and noticed a sturdy branch nearby at the base of a tree.
Retrieving it, she lifted her dress and tore a wide strip from her petticoat.
Then, picking up his soggy hat that had fallen next to him, she secured it to the top of the stick with her strip of petticoat and handed it to Billy.
“This might not be the most comfortable crutch, but it will have to do.”
“We’ll help you as well,” Alice said, her tone less angry now.
Ashlyn turned to gaze up the hill where the carriage had slid down. “I hate to say this, but we need to go up that hill. I don’t think we have too far to walk once we reach the road.”
Turning to the horses that were calmly standing at the embankment, not too far from them, she had an idea.
“Help me, Alice.” The two of them untied the two horses, and she checked their flanks and hoofs. Thankfully, they didn’t appear hurt. “Can you ride?”
“I never learned, Miss Ash—Miss Elizabeth,” Alice said, correcting herself. “We only had one horse back home, and Papa rode him. But I reckon I can do it.”
“Good.” Ashlyn nodded in approval. “Surely you ride, Billy?” she asked.
“I do, ma’am.”
“Excellent.” She and Alice positioned the horses near a tree stump, and they helped Billy climb onto one of the horses, while she and Alice hefted themselves onto the other one.
Once the three of them were safely on the horses, she nudged her mount around, and they began a careful ascent up the hill.
Elizabeth had told her they’d be in for an adventure. And she had been right. Although it wasn’t exactly the kind of adventure Ashlyn had been thinking of when she agreed to accompany her cousin to England.
She prayed that the worst of their troubles were over and that they would find help and shelter at the manor house a few miles back.