A Highwayman Came Riding Read Online Free PDF

have, Cap’n. You’re a caution for sure. What your mama would say if she ever knew—”
    “That is why she must never find out, Mickey. Not likely she will, as she seldom leaves home.”
    “She reads the journals, I suppose?”
    The captain laughed. “It was Mama who taught me not to believe everything I read in the journals.”
    “I wager you believe in the results of the races at least. Have you read how my nag fared?”
    There was the sound of bottles and glasses tinkling. It sounded as if they were settling in for a drinking bout. When the conversation turned to horses, Marianne thought it wise to leave, before they became drunk. She crept back to the bedroom, put a chair under the doorknob, and went to report to the duchess. The old lady was sound asleep. Some help she would have been in an emergency!
    Marianne gave up any thought of sleep. She built up the fire and sat, scheming. The diamonds were here, somewhere in or near this little cottage. Where would the captain hide them? Not in the stable, with the grooms sleeping there. Not in the kitchen or parlor, where the ladies might be expected to venture. There were no other bedchambers. He had not ordered them to stay in their rooms, only inside the cottage. This suggested he had hidden the diamonds outside the cottage. Was there another building nearby?
    Having arrived in the dark, she had little idea what places of concealment the environs might offer, but tomorrow she would find out. If he forbade her to go outside, she would spend time at every window until she discovered his hiding place, and slip out of bed the next night to recover the diamonds. Who else had he robbed tonight? He obviously knew the man would be passing by and carrying a supply of gold. How did he know that? Who was he? His mama appeared to be a respectable, educated woman, to judge by the conversation she had overheard.
    As she closed her eyes, she heard the first chirp of birds outside the window. Although it was not yet daylight, the darkness was beginning to lighten.
    When she awoke a few hours later, she had the strange sensation that she had slept for twenty hours. It was darker than when she had gone to sleep. She heard the patter of rain on the window, and when she looked out, she saw the sky was a dark, sullen gray that looked as if it would rain for forty days and nights, as in biblical times. Impossible weather for traveling, and difficult to make any excuse beyond the cottage to look for the diamonds. The bedroom window looked out on the spinney. If he had hidden the diamonds there, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
    The duchess soon stirred. She peered toward the grate and said in a querulous voice, “So, you got back. Where are my diamonds?”
    Marianne gave a brief recital of her nocturnal spying adventure.
    “Hmm. Outside, you think. I daresay you are right. Build up the fire, Marianne, and help me with my toilette. And order breakfast. Two soft-boiled eggs, not fried in that disgusting bacon fat as they were last night.”
    As the room was chilly, Marianne tended to the fire first, then tidied herself and went for water and to order breakfast. She found Ned alone in the kitchen. The fire was lit, water boiled on the hob, the aroma of coffee and bacon hung in the air. She asked for boiled eggs for the duchess, and he began to prepare them.
    “How did you sleep, miss?” he asked.
    “Fine. And you?”
    “Like a baby. A terrible day,” he said, glancing at the window.
    “Yes, the roads will be a shambles.”
    “Mud to the axles. You’re as well off here for the nonce.”
    “How soon do you think he’ll let us go, Ned?”
    “As soon as the roads are passable. It’s no pleasure to him, having unwanted company, miss. He’ll not stop you, once the weather clears.”
    She went to the window and stared out, looking all around at the stables, a kitchen garden well past its prime but with still some late vegetables growing, and, beyond, a small apple