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back his head and laughed. "I applaud your logic, Miss Stone," he said, chuckling even as the carriage was slowing. "But in any case, I think we had best do precisely as he says. Something tells me this particular villain means business."
    "Of all times to be waylaid," Matty was grumbling, as the marquess lifted her off the floor and back onto her seat. "I cannot think what this country is coming to."
    "Indeed, it is too shocking to contemplate." Joss was leaning negligently against the cushions, his arms folded across his chest as he regarded her. "They'll be kidnapping innocent people from balls before you know it."
    Matty turned a bright scarlet at the hit, but there was no time to reply, as the door to the carriage was jerked open and she found herselfgazing down the barrel of a pistol. She swallowed in fear, wondering fatalistically if it would hurt to be shot.
    Beside her, Joss gazed at the gunman with what could only be called marked impatience. "It's about time you got here," he accused in a deep voice. "What the devil kept you?"

Chapter Three
    Rajana gazed steadily at Joss, his dark blue eyes enigmatic as he searched his friend's face. What he saw must have satisfied him, for he lowered the pistol with an apologetic shrug. "The gentleman at the last inn seemed reluctant to part with his horse," he said by way of explanation. "It took me a few minutes to . . . persuade him."
    "Is he still alive?" Joss asked, recalling how deadly Raj's methods of persuasion could be. "Or will it be necessary for me to slip you quietly out of the country?"
    "Alive," Raj assured him, "and feeling quite pleased with himself. I paid him a hundred guineas for the wretched animal." His eyes drifted to the other occupant of the carriage, and he gave her a polite bow. "Miss Winkendale."
    "Sir." Matty managed a stiff nod. She recognized him as the marquess's friend, and knew his presence meant the end of her carefully laid plans. Of all the poor luck, she fumed, resisting the urge to stamp her foot in frustration. They were less than an hour from Kirkswood, and to have come this close to achieving her goal, only to be thwarted, was almost more than she could bear.
    Raj's attention had returned to Joss. "Are you all right?" he asked in Hindustani. "When you disappeared, I fear I thought the worst."
    "As did I," Joss admitted in the same language, "but other than my pride, I am fine."
    They continued talking while Matty listened in mounting frustration. In the past few hours she'd kidnapped a marquess, raced half way across East Anglia, and been fired upon by a ruffian who was still holding the pistol in his gloved hand. Having endured all that, she was cursed if she'd sit meekly by while the pair of them jabbered away about her as if she wasn't there.
    "Excuse me," she said, her voice loud as she glared at them, "but if you are going to talk about me, you might at least have the decency to do so in English. It is very rude to prattle on in some foreign tongue when you must know I cannot understand a word."
    They gazed at her, and there was another incomprehensible exchange. Mr. Fitzsimmons was the first to speak, his expression mocking as he dropped her a bow. "Your pardon, Miss Stone, if I have offended your delicate sensibilities. Few criminals of my acquaintance are so concerned with social niceties."
    "Ah, but Miss Stone isn't a criminal," Joss drawled before she could speak. "She is a lady; she told me so herself while holding me bound and gagged."
    "I didn't gag you!" Matty denied indignantly. "And more is the pity. Perhaps if I had I might have been spared some of your arrogance!"
    "I stand corrected," Joss amended, with a sardonic grin. He'd regained control of his temper even before Raj's dramatic appearance, and was in an oddly lighthearted mood. "I was not gagged, Raj."
    "That is reassuring." Raj was surprised by his friend's playful response. After hearing the incredible tale of his abduction, he would have expected Joss to be