The Switch by Lynsay Sands Read Free Book Online Page A

taking you two so long? Come, we must eat and be on our way."
    "Aye, my lord." Charlie smiled at him widely, then bent to retrieve one of their bags from beside the bed. Beth moved to take the other, but Radcliffe was there before her.
    "I shall take that, child. Do not trouble yourself. 'Tis quite heavy. Come along, downstairs we go.
The sooner you both breakfast, the sooner we can leave. Tomorrow you shall enjoy the comfort of a carriage ride into the city."
    "It sounds lovely," Beth murmured on the way out the door, and Charlie smiled at her gentle words. Aye, it would be lovely to enjoy the comfort of a carriage after the days they had spent plodding along astride hard saddles, the dust kicking up in their faces. It would be heaven.

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Chapter Four
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    Carriages were the invention of the devil.
    Charlie came to that conclusion within the first hour of the ride. She had never been far from home. Her parents had not been fond of travel and had preferred to spend their time at home with their daughters. Her parents had therefore only owned two carriages. The one they had been riding in the night they died had been destroyed in the accident that killed them. Uncle Henry had sold the other in this last year as the
family's money had dwindled. Charlie was grateful for the sale of the carriage now, as they hit another rut in the road and she was nearly bounced to the floor. She would never own one of these infernal inventions.
    Grabbing at the seat, she ground her teeth together and prayed they did not have much farther to go before London. They had been traveling for what seemed like days, and she was positive should they not reach the city soon, she was in dire peril of vomiting all over their esteemed host. She could not stand the airless little box the three of them were crammed into much longer.
    Catching Beth's concerned expression, Charlie forced a reassuring smile for her sister's benefit, then closed her eyes and tried to imagine herself anywhere but inside this hard, airless hack, bumping and jostling along the rutted road. Surely no one got into one of these conveyances willingly, she thought desperately, opening her eyes again and grabbing frantically for the door handle.
    Seeing her intent, Beth cried out in warning, drawing Lord Radcliffe's attention. Glimpsing the green tinge in Charlie's face and the way she was scrabbling at the door, Radcliffe shouted a warning to the driver, relieved when the carriage halted. Charlie got the door open and stumbled out of the cab. She knelt in the grass to the side of the carriage and tossed her breakfast out on the roadside. Radcliffe appeared behind her.
    "Oh, my."
    Glancing around at that dismayed gasp, Charlie saw Radcliffe take Beth's arm and urge her back toward the carriage, but her sister was having none of that. Opening the small bag she always carried dangling from her wrist, Beth slid out a small vial and knelt beside her. "Here, Charlie, take this. 'Twill settle your stomach."
    Charlie took one look at the tonic her sister held out toward her, and turned to retch some more. Rather than be discouraged, Beth waited patiently for the course of vomiting to end, then pressed the vial on her sister again. This time, Charlie accepted the vial and even managed to swallow some of the concoction. She then got shakily to her feet and stumbled back to lean weakly against the carriage.
    Charlie heard Radcliffe clear his throat. The man had turned away from the roadside and stood with his hands clasped behind his back as he waited for Charlie to regain herself. After a short time, he glanced at her questioningly. "Feeling better? Shall we get back in the carriage now?"
    Charlie closed her eyes at that prospect, groaned, then pushed herself away from the carriage to kneel in the grass again. Beth was immediately beside her, murmuring soothingly as she held her sister's trembling shoulders as she was sick.
    Radcliffe watched the brother and sister from beside the carriage