Page 6 of Her Wicked Highwayman
“Shouldn’t be long now,” Edwin, the older gentleman, pronounced to his wife. “Good thing to be home. A storm is coming. I can smell the rain.”
His wife nodded primly, as if she took her husband’s words as gospel. “We don’t want the road too muddy. If the coach becomes stuck, we would have to spend the night on the road.” She glanced at Diana, trying to include her in the conversation. “Do you have very far to go, my dear?”
Diana tore her gaze from the window. “Perhaps another two miles?”
“And where are you bound, Miss Fox?” Claude asked eagerly. “Perhaps I could escort you there?”
“No,” she gasped out, then calmed herself. “I mean, no, thank you. I will be quite fine. My staff will be waiting for me. My groom usually waits for me near the road.”
It wasn’t exactly a lie. Her groom, a wonderful though somewhat ancient fellow named Nelson, always insisted on riding out to meet her at the gates and escorting her home, but today he didn’t knowwhenshe would be coming home. But the last thing she needed was yet another man trying to woo her with his courtly gestures. She’d been through all this before and had seen where it ended—with a man believing he could take liberties, or force her hand into marriage. And italwaysstarted with a polite escort home.
He deflated instantly at her rejection. “Oh.”
The coach slammed down into another rut and the woman shrieked, clutching her husband’s arm.
“Miss Fox, you can hold on to me, if you like,” Claude offered with a hopeful look upon his face.
“I’m quite fine, I assure you.” She adjusted her white-knuckle grip on the faded pink curtains of the travel coach.
A crack of thunder, sharp and clear, forced the coach to a jolting stop. Diana grunted as her head bounced off the glassof the window she’d been peering through. She rubbed her forehead and looked for any sign of the storm that had suddenly descended upon them.
“That was rather close thunder,” Diana muttered. She hoped the storm would not come yet. It might be a long walk in the rain to the house, and she was already cold.
A shout outside the coach was partially muffled, but the words “Stand and deliver!” were clear enough for everyone to hear.
Edwin straightened, his face paling. “That wasn’t thunder. That was a pistol shot.”
His wife gasped. “Edwin, what are we to do? It must be a highwayman!”
“Unfortunately, that is likely,” Edwin agreed. “Claude, my boy, you must do exactly as we are told. No foolish heroics, do you understand? These scoundrels will shoot a man for the slightest insult.”
Claude puffed out his shoulders, but then gave his father a solemn nod. “Miss Fox, I will protect you.”
Diana offered him a wan smile. This boy couldn’t defend her, and she didn’t expect him to, not against a highwayman. And given her current mood, she was far more likely to be able to defend herself than any man, even against a highwayman. The last few months had been among the most wretched of her life, and if he dared demand a thing from her, Diana would make sure he regretted it.
More shouts came from outside the coach. The horses whinnied and the coach rocked back and forth.
“You bloody scoundrels!” the stagecoach driver shouted from above.
“Come down, now!” came a voice that carried a sharp air of command that stilled Diana’s rapidly beating heart.
The door next to her was wrenched open, illuminating them in moonlight and silhouetting the figure staring at them. A masked man peered inside the coach, his pistol raised at the occupants. He wore no billowing cloak, but a trim black wool greatcoat that sparkled with rain droplets.
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,” the highwayman said. He had a Scottish burr that rippled across Diana’s skin. She frowned at the unexpected reaction. Perhaps it was just the rich timbre of his voice that she admired?
Admired?Was she going mad? She didn’t admire this man. He was a petty thief—there was certainly nothing to admire about that.
The highwayman grinned, the domino he wore concealing all but his mouth and eyes.
“Please kindly step outside and form a line. If ye cooperate, this will go smoothly and I willna hurt anyone. I request that ye remove all valuable coins and jewels from yer persons.” He waved the pistol at Edwin. “Ye will exit first.”
Edwin climbed out of the coach and helped his wife down. The poor woman was trembling so hard she nearly fell.
The highwayman pointed his pistol at Claude. “Ye go next, laddie.”
“You vile thief!” Claude puffed his chest out but made no move to reach for the man’s gun. “Howdareyou rob us!”
The thief chuckled and spoke over his shoulder to two other riders, also wearing masks, who waited nearby, their pistols raised and ready to shoot.
