The Highwayman (Rakes and Rogues of the Restoration Book 3) (20 page)

‘They have provision soe plentiful they may Live wth very Little Expense and get much variety; here if one Calls for a tankard of Ale which is allwayes a groate its the only dear thing all over Yorkshire, their ale is very strong;’

A pleasant buzz of conversation, punctuated by the clanging of steel cutlery and an occasional burst of laughter led Arabella to The King’s Coffee Room. She paused for a moment outside the door. The room was crowded with diners, bustling servers, and those who sought diversion before settling in their beds. With its stone walls and massive fireplace, it was grander than the other common dining rooms she had frequented on her travels.

A roast turned slowly on the spit and the succulent aroma made her mouth water. A sharp pang of hunger reminded her that other than bread and tea she had eaten nothing all day. The tables were covered with immense joints of beef, fowl, fish, pies and even game. That it was illegal to sell game seemed to trouble no one, including the red-coated soldiers dicing and drinking by the fire. It took her several moments before she finally spotted Jack.

He was holding court in the far corner, his hat on the table beside him and one hand grasping a tankard of ale. An avid group of well-dressed travelers and what looked to be locals were gathered around him, no doubt pressing him for tales of his adventures as Swift Nick. He looked very fine in a coat of embroidered black silk, with silver and diamond cuffs and buttons, and a brilliant white stock and lace cuffs. But tangled strands of hair framed sculpted cheekbones, his face was cast in shadow by a half day’s growth of beard, and he had the same brooding lips and long lashes no matter how he dressed.
He forgets that it is Jack, not Nevison, who wears black and is careless of his appearance. Or is he dressed this way to remind me of the night we met?

She flushed, and tugged at her skirt and straightened her sleeves, feeling a little shabby. She
had
considered wearing the emerald green dress but she needed help with it, and by the time she had convinced herself, Caroline was fast asleep. The girl was looking ever more haggard, and she hadn’t the heart to wake her. Well...no matter. He had never seen her dressed her best and it had yet to deter him.
He seems to like me as I am
. The thought warmed her and as he leaned in to share a story with his companions she watched him with possessive eyes.

Her gaze moved to his full mouth.
He will kiss me again. Sometime soon. When there is no one to see us. He said he would
—

She was bumped from behind with so much force she was knocked against the door frame. She turned to see a pretty dark-haired girl with too much face powder, and too much cleavage stuffed in the tightly laced bodice of a bright yellow dress.

“Here now! Make way. Don’t stand there like a lost wooly-bird blocking the bloody door.” The girl rudely elbowed Arabella aside, looking at her dismissively and sloshing beer on her neatly brushed skirt as she passed.

Arabella watched through narrowed eyes as the woman sauntered over to the soldiers and filled their mugs, trading jokes and quips, as pleasant to them as she had been rude to her. She was too well dressed to be a doxie or a simple serving maid. The landlord’s daughter perhaps? If so, she seemed a brazen coquette. Proper young women did not giggle and flirt with soldiers so.

And what about highwaymen?
Do proper young women kiss and flirt with them?
Even as she thought it, he looked up and saw her, flashing her a brilliant smile. Her heart squeezed painfully and she had to catch her breath. He stood up, ignoring the protests of his bewildered audience, his attention focused only on her. He was halfway across the room before the rude young woman ran up and threw her arms around his neck. Arabella stiffened in outrage.
He is mine!
She clenched her hands, fighting and uncharacteristic desire to knock the young woman flat on the floor. The ferocity of her reaction stunned her.

Jack bussed the girl’s cheek and gave her a warm smile before removing himself from her grasp.

Why must he seek to charm every woman he meets?
It was clear that he knew her. Perhaps he had a woman to kiss at every inn in England. How would she know?

Jack interrupted her thoughts by capturing her elbow and sweeping her from the room.

“I hope you don’t mind, Bella.” He leaned into her as they walked so she might better hear him. “I have ordered us a private sitting room. It’s been too long since I had you to myself.”

The gesture was an intimate one, and his voice made her shiver. Although his hold was light, just enough to guide her, his arm brushed against her breast, and even through layers of linen and silk it set her nerves on fire. She had never felt so...off balanced. One moment she was joyful, one moment nervous, one moment jealous––and the next moment thrilled. Up, down, down, up…the only constant was that her pulse quickened whenever he was near.

The sitting room was a cozy parlor, with a couch set before the fire, a small table set for intimate dining, and silk and velvet upholstered chairs.

“Something is troubling you,” Jack said as he seated her at the table. “You have yet to say a word.”

“For some men that would present no cause for complaint.” She gave him a slight smile.

“But I enjoy our conversations,” he said, taking the seat across from her.

“And yet you chose to end them by risking jail.”

“I explained what happened. I thought you accepted it and understood.”

“You appeared out of nowhere. I had been worried about you and was very glad to see you safe. But no. I don’t really understand. A favor for some friends, you said.”

He looked as though he were about to respond, but in the end he simply nodded.

“I need to know, Jack. Is this real, or am I just some passing amusement? I waited quite a while for you to return. I left my windows open, even as the nights grew cold. I made certain to be home every evening, thinking each night might be the one you’d finally come. My heart leapt each time a breeze stirred the curtains. When days turned to weeks I grew frightened, fearing you might be wounded or dead. But you are someone people speak of in whatever guise you choose to take. When no word came of your death or capture I tried to lay my fears to rest and move on.”

He looked up, fixing her with a sharp gaze. “So the countess decided to entertain suitors? Take a lover perhaps? Someone more suited to your worth and circumstance than a highwayman,
Lady Saye
?” He strove to keep his tone conversational and sound amused rather than annoyed.

“You must know I have feelings for you, Jack. But the way you disappear for days or weeks on end...the risks you take...the dangers you face...I fear that acting on them will only bring sorrow.”

Her words rankled. “You have known who and what I am since the day we met.” She had not been so squeamish about highwaymen when he had come to her rescue. Nor when he had kissed her in her bedroom or under the stars on Shooter’s Hill. He had been a fool to follow her there with news of her cousin. Did she have any
real
idea of the risk that had been? Doubtless there were far better men for her than him. But where had they been when she was in danger? Where were they when she had needed help?

He was a man who hated prison. He could not abide confinement, whip or chain. There wasn’t one yet that had managed to hold him, but risk it he had, to keep her safe.
As I lay in my cell, imagining sweet kisses, she was laying her fears to rest and moving on
. Bedamned if he would tell her that the favor was for her. The price he’d agreed to for the help of Richard, Ned and Billy in putting her cousin away. If she didn’t want his company, let her not feel beholden. There were others who would count themselves lucky to be in her place.

He gave her a rueful smile. “You are right, of course. I am entirely unsuitable. Poor company indeed for a countess.

“Yet here you are wearing diamonds, and when I first saw you this evening I would swear you were holding court.”

He chuckled appreciatively and inclined his head, acknowledging a point scored.

“There
is
no other man who captures my interest. As I told you before, I am perfectly content on my own.”

No other man.
He noted the words carefully, hearing the acknowledgement even if she did not.

“Yet you are such a vibrant woman. Would you really choose to spend your life alone?”

Her stomach growled, prompting a nervous laugh.

He slid her a tankard of ale and she reached for it gladly, thankful for the diversion, snatching it to her before his fingers touched hers. She downed it in a few quick swallows, drawing courage from its malty depths.

He filled her tankard again, and she emptied it almost as quickly as she had the first. She caught his eyes as she wiped her lips and gave him a defiant look. “I am
very
thirsty. As to your question, one can be alone without being lonely, and there is much in the world to see and explore. I would not be some man’s chattel and lose my freedom, nor some man’s amusement and lose my self-worth. I have come to cherish both too much.”

“Yet how can such a bold and curious woman deny herself the chance to explore life’s greatest adventure? One that has confounded philosophers and poets since time began?”

Arabella sat back in her chair with her hands folded in her lap, feeling more relaxed. He had a lovely voice, really. Rich and expressive when recounting a story, sinfully beguiling when he meant to seduce. It seemed unfair that one man should have so much. Handsome, charming, horseman, swordsman…. Womanizer too? And now he spoke of philosophers and poets. He conversed as easily as one of the courtiers at Lady Ferrar’s salon. Whence came his education and manners? How had he learned to speak so well?

“That is your third tankard of ale. Perhaps you should save some room for dinner.”

“I am a country girl, Jack. I daresay I could drink you under the table.”

“ Do you really think you’re just an amusement to me?”

“Am I not?”

“A very difficult and dangerous one, if so.”

“What am I then? What are we?”

He leaned forward, his elbows on the table, and regarded her intently. “I don’t know, Arabella. How can I? I see no way forward and no way back. I don’t even know how we got here. What I do know is that what feels wrong to you, feels right to me. Are you brave enough to explore it and see where it might lead?”

“I would start by knowing more about you.”

“Ask me anything and I will answer.” He spread his arms wide.

“Who was the girl?” The words tumbled from her mouth before she could stop them, as if they had a will of their own.

“What girl?” To his credit, he actually looked bewildered.

“The girl in the yellow dress who ran up and hugged you. She seemed over familiar to say the least.”

“Oh! You mean Peg! Aye, she can be overeager but she means well.”

“She seemed to know you very well.”

He shrugged. “Not
that
well. She’s just a lass I helped out of a bad situation.”

“Oh, I see. Like me.”

“No! Not at all like you. More like Allen. I will tell you about him some day. I gave her a bit of coin to get her started and introduced her to Sullivan. The rest she has done on her own. She has a good head for figures and a way with the customers it seems.”

Arabella snorted but he took no notice, clearly proud of his giddy protégé.

“He is very pleased with her. She has done so well he often leaves her to act as hostess in his stead.”

“Does she know you as both Gentleman Jack and Swift Nick?”

“No. She knows me only as Swift Nick, as do all of them here. This is a safe city for me. They like to think I was born in Ferrybridge, and claim me as a native son. Why do you ask?”

“You seem rather cavalier about your identity at times. Caroline, my maid has guessed you are both men by the way you greeted me. I thought I was guarding a very great secret. You shouldn’t underestimate the talkativeness of impressionable young women, nor their very long memories when it comes to fascinating men.”

“I shall heed your advice. It
is
a very great secret, Bella, though I grow tired of it at times. Outside of my own small circle, I have only ever shared it with you. I suppose that makes you part of it now.”

She flushed, pleased and proud to be included among his intimates. More than anything, it told her what she needed to know.

“The truth is, it’s all beginning to blur now and I am growing tired of the charade. Jack, Nick, it makes no matter. I only truly feel myself when I am with you.”

His words warmed her, and the ale was loosening her limbs, her tongue and her inhibitions. She leaned forward, resting her hands on the table. “How very different we appear on the outside. Yet often your thoughts seem to mirror my own. There is a woman in me who at first seemed a stranger, but I own her more boldly each time I see you.”

His slow smile made her catch her breath, and when his fingertips brushed hers all her reservations melted. She closed her eyes and parted her lips, willing him to kiss her. Seduced and captivated by this dangerous adventure, she
did
want to explore it, and see where it led.

‘Soe drinking without eateing some of their wine, which was exceedingly good Clarrett which they stand conveniently for to have from France, and indeed it was the best and truest French wine I have dranck and very clear. I had the first tapping of this Vessal and it was very fine.’

A soft knock on the door made Arabella pull back, startled, but Jack, half standing, leaned forward and pressed his mouth to hers. His kiss, though quick, was firm and heated. It stole her breath and made her lips burn.