Chapter 39
The lady doth protest too much, methinks.
III, ii
A very anxious Mrs. Wells answered the door when they rang. She opened it herself, but her face fell when she saw Concordia and Capshaw. “Oh. I wasn’t expecting you. I thought you might be—Isaac!” she cried, getting her first glimpse of her battered driver, standing behind them. “What’s happened? Is Madame injured?”
The driver snorted in derision, but Capshaw held up a hand. “May we come in?”
“Oh, yes—of course.” She ushered them into the parlor, where a newly stoked fire burned brightly.
She rang for the housekeeper as they sat. “What on earth is going on, Concordia? Can you explain this?”
“Mother, did you lend Madame Durand your carriage?”
“Yes…was there an accident?” she asked anxiously.
“N’aught hardly,” the driver
