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smiling coyly up at him, nor was she flirting boldly. Instead she met his gaze squarely and said, “It is quite important to me that I get home for Christmas.”
    “But I fear it matters little to me where you spend the holidays,” Gabriel said curtly, picking up his whip.
    Undeterred by his deliberate rudeness, she tried again. “I am quite prepared to pay you the amount that I had intended to spend for the hire of Mr. Noke’s gi g.”
    Gabriel was about to tell her how little he needed her money, but something about her straightforward manner stopped him. If she had batted her eyelashes at him once, or if a single tear had trickled down her cheek, he would have driven away without a qualm. Instead, he said tersely, “Climb in.”
    He regretted the words as soon as they were out of his mouth, but it was too late to alter anything, because the woman instantly did his bidding, and no sooner was she seated beside him, than the landlord tossed her baggage in behind her.
    Had he taken leave of his senses? Apparently so, because now he would have to endure the vapid chattering of a female for an hour or two.
    In this she also surprised him. After they had gone a mile along the road, he himself broke the silence by asking her name.
    “Verity Jolliffe,” she replied without elaboration.
    “Well, Miss Jolliffe,” he said, “allow me to tell you that you are a remarkably foolish woman.” His tone was sarcastic, and his words provocative, but apparently the lady was not easily miffed.
    “In what way?” she replied calmly, tilting her head so she could see his face.
    Her hair, he noted absently, was a mousy brown, and her eyes were gray. All in all, a most unprepossessing female. “Has your mother never warned you that it is unsafe to accept rides with strange men?”
    With a smile tugging at the corner s of her mouth, she answered him. “But, my dear sir, I am six-and-twenty and so plain no man would look at me twice. I am quite past the age where I need to worry about being compromised.”
    Her appalling naivety angered him. “Are you so ignorant of the world, then, that you do not realize there are dangerous men who will not hesitate to assault an unprotected woman whether she is young or old, beautiful or ugly?” He scowled down at her, but again she refused to act suitably chastised.
    “Are you one of those dangerous men?” she inquired, her voice still calm.
    “No, I am not!” he barked out. “But you had no way of knowing that when you climbed into my carriage.”
    After a short silence, she said meekly, “Indeed, sir, you are right. I shall make it a point in the future not to accept invitations from strange men.”
    “If you will recall,” he said, “I did not issue any invitations.” He regretted the words as soon as he uttered them. They sounded petty and vindictive even to his own ears.
    “Then I shall endeavor not to accost strange men from now on,” she said meekly.
    Unfortunately, her head was now tipped down and her bonnet concealed her face, so he could not tell if she planned to heed his admonitions or if she was merely being sarcastic.
    They drove another mile up into the hills without speaking, then he asked, “So what are you doing traveling alone?”
    “I am going to spend Christmas with my family,” she said, as if that explained everything.
    “And who is your family?”
    “My parents are Sir Sidney and Lady Jolliffe of Oakwood Manor. My brother Francis also lives with them. He is married and has three children.”
    Gabriel waited, fully expecting her to elaborate in great detail just how she and her family were connected to all the most important families in Northumberland, but she remained silent. It would seem that she was not cut from the same cloth as the vast majority of women.
    Or was she perhaps slow-witted, that she did not utilize the opportunity to brag about her connections?
    “And is that your entire family?” he prompted, giving her a second chance to drag out her