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That gave her a day’s reprieve, and she should get up and make the most of every hour, but the prospect of getting out of bed appealed about as much as discussing plans to marry a man awful enough to resort to blackmailing his way into marriage.

Eventually, she dragged herself out of bed, rubbed her gritty eyes and, with the help of Letitia’s lady’s maid, donned the morning dress she’d hastily packed yesterday. She sat while her hair was brushed and pinned in a simple arrangement, glancing over her shoulder in the reflection as knuckles rapped on the door, and then Letitia glided in.

“How are you this morning?” she asked, a faint line of concern etched between her dark brows.

“Well enough.”

“Hmm.” Letitia sounded thoughtful but didn’t say anything more.

Seraphina watched her friend’s reflection, wondering whether her father had noticed yet that she’d taken more than necessary for a single night away. If he had, how might that impact Letitia and her family? Especially her parents, who didn’t know that they were effectively sheltering a runaway?

As a matter of fact, how would all this affect Letitia if the truth of her activities came to light? Everyone knew how close they were. People might guess that Letitia knew more than she’d let on. If that happened, they’d tar her with the same brush as Seraphina.

When the maid finished with her hair, curtsied, and left, Seraphina turned to Letitia. “What will you do if anyone outside of the household finds out about your own experiments?”

Letitia shrugged. “Father is richer than Midas. I’d be socially ostracized, of course, but I doubt he’d try to marry me off, if that’s what you’re concerned about. My experiments are less controversial than yours. Certainly I’d be considered a terrible bluestocking, but I haven’t made medicine for public consumption. Most likely, I’d be shipped off to a home in the country with an annual stipend and told to keep myself out of trouble.”

“That doesn’t sound half bad,” Seraphina mused.

In fact, hadn’t she once asked her father to do exactly that for her?

“Exactly.” Letitia flashed her perfectly straight teeth. “So don’t worry about me. Let’s go and eat breakfast.”

They made their way downstairs, to where Mrs. Carruthers was seated at a small table in the informal dining room. Seraphina and Letitia filled their plates at the sideboard and joined her.

“Good morning, my dears.” Mrs. Carruthers smiled at them, faint lines bracketing her mouth, her graying brown hair styled simply. While the Carrutherses were wealthy, Mrs. Carruthers had been born a shopkeeper’s daughter and didn’t subscribe to the social-climbing mentality shared by many of the nouveau riche.

Seraphina and Letitia returned the greeting.

“Did you sleep well?” Mrs. Carruthers asked, reaching over to pour them both tea. “Was the room to your liking?”

“Very much so,” Seraphina said in answer to the second question, choosing to ignore the first because even if she had slept poorly, it didn’t reflect on her host’s hospitality. Considering the circumstances, it would have been more shocking if she hadn’t struggled to fall asleep, and she’d gotten there in the end.

“I’m glad to hear it. I’m sure your father must have missed you at home last night.”

Seraphina’s face fell, and she was too slow to hide the reaction.

Mrs. Carruthers’s eyebrows knitted together. “Is something wrong?”

Unable to summon even a wobbly smile, Seraphina busied herself cutting her egg. “I argued with Father yesterday.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Is there any way in which I might assist?”

Seraphina’s heart gave a pang, and she drew in a deep breath. It wouldn’t do any good to get overly emotional just because a kind older woman offered to help. But Mrs. Carruthers always reminded Seraphina of what she might have had if her mother had lived. Sometimes that was lovely, but at other times, it hurt.

Eventually, she glanced up. “No, but thank you for the offer.”

Mrs. Carruthers tilted her head, her dark eyes brimming with concern. “Are you certain?”

“Yes.” She sighed. “I wish I could stay for longer.”

“You’re always welcome. We’d be happy to have you for another night—or longer, if you’d like.”

“You could stay forever,” Letitia suggested, her expression suggesting that she was joking while her tone was deadly serious.

Seraphina was so fortunate to have such a good friend. “Thank you, but my father has made it clear that I ought to return today.”

Mrs. Carruthers tsked. “So serious, your father. Ever since your mother… Well, you know. Poor man.”