A Highwayman Came Riding Read Online Free PDF Page B

orchard. Unless the captain had buried his ill-got gains or hidden them in a tree, she did not think they were in that area.
    When the tray was ready, she took it to the duchess and they ate their breakfast together, discussing their plight. Her Grace’s chief interest was recovering her diamonds. Marianne was concerned with making sure the grooms were alive and well. Quite apart from her feelings for them—and she liked the servants—if anything happened to them, she and the duchess would be at the captain’s mercy. When they were finished, Marianne returned the tray to the kitchen.
    “The duchess is concerned about her servants, Ned,” she said. “Especially as Tom was wounded. Could I see them, just have a word with them to make sure they are all right?”
    “I’ll ask the captain when he wakes up, miss.”
    “Where is he sleeping?”
    “In the stable. I slept on two chairs and a bolster by the hearth.”
    “I’m sorry. I expect we are in your bedchamber.”
    “ ‘Tis no problem, miss.”
    “The captain sleeps late,” she said, glancing at the clock on the mantle. It was nine o’clock.
    As she spoke, the back door opened and the captain entered.
     

Chapter Five
     
    Captain Jack wore the signs of his night’s dissipation. His eyes, red from drink, and the whiskers shadowing his lower face, lent him an even more menacing air than before. His shirt was wrinkled and his jacket was dusty.
    He clamped his lips in an angry line at seeing her in the kitchen, catching him in this unusual disarray. The captain was a little vain of his appearance.
    “Is the duchess hungry again?” he asked ironically.
    Impatience was beginning to wear Marianne’s nerves thin. It was bad enough to have to take ridiculous orders from the duchess, but to have to grovel to a drunken criminal was the last straw.
    “Yes, she has adopted the unaccountable habit of eating three times a day,” she replied, and was astonished at her own bravery. She expected a sharp retort and a command to return to her room. To her astonishment, the captain looked a little sheepish.
    “I daresay Ned can manage something?” he said, looking to Ned.
    “The ladies have already ate, Captain. Missie was kind enough to bring back the tray.”
    “We do not expect you to perform such duties, Miss Harkness,” the captain said. “Next time, just put the tray outside the door. It will be picked up.”
    She sensed a softening in his attitude and determined to make gain of it. “Why, to tell the truth, I am bored to flinders sitting by the grate all day. I would be happy to help Ned about the place. I shall clean up the kitchen for you, Ned.”
    “Certainly not!” the captain said at once, in his old, overbearing way.
    “The young lady is worried about the servants, Captain,” Ned said. “She’d like a word with them. I told her I’d ask you.”
    “They’re fine,” Jack said at once. “Beeton is busy repairing that broken axle. Best not to disturb him if you hope to get away today, Miss Harkness.”
    “I doubt anyone will be traveling today,” Ned said, glancing out the window.
    Jack frowned at the rain, which came coursing down the windowpanes in sheets. Occasional rumbles of thunder echoed beyond the window.
    “I could go out to the stable,” Marianne suggested. “That would not interfere with Beeton’s work.”
    “It’s pouring rain. You’d be drenched,” Jack objected. “Ned has no umbrella.”
    Ned reached to a hook behind the door and tossed a blanket to her. “Here, put this over your head, miss. That’s what I do. And mind the puddles.”
    “Thank you, Ned.” Marianne snatched it up and darted out the door before the captain could order her to stay put. The path to the stable was cobblestoned and did not do much harm to her slippers. She found Beeton working on the axle, as the captain had said.
    “How is Tom, Beeton?” she asked.
    When Beeton looked up from his work, she saw his left eye was dark and swollen. “Beeton!