Chapter Eight
Alice huddled down beside the blackberry bush, keeping her head lower than the surrounding foliage. She pushed away the absurd thought of how silly she would look if caught in this situation, a duke’s daughter acting like a spy in the British government.
But she doubted even a spy would scamper about on the ground as she was doing.
Victoria slid in beside her. Her sister, too, dressed in boy’s breeches and a shirt that had surpassed its public use. Their hair was pulled back in simple ribbons and neither resembled who they should. Just thinking about what their mama would do to them should she ever find out about this escapade sent her stomach to coil in knots. The duchess, a normally placid soul, would not see this at all acceptable. They would both be married off to the first gentlemen their mama saw.
They lay there for a time, watching the workers of Kester House. A gardener dug and raked a large garden bed that was waist high with weeds, his sweat-stained shirt evidence of the laborer’s hard work.
Over the last few minutes, Benny had come and gone from the stables multiple times, busy with his chores, while other men had pulled a traveling carriage from a nearby shed and oiled the leather straps and polished the equipage until it shined.
“Well, what can you see?” Victoria asked, remaining hidden.
“Nothing yet. Just a few workers going about their business, but I do think his lordship will be traveling to London tomorrow.”
“How do you know that?” Victoria lifted her head to look and frowned.
“Because the carriage is out, and his lordship never goes about the county that way. He’s always on a horse.” Speaking of which, Alice hadn’t seen nary of Bandit. Furthermore, all of the stable doors that led out into individual pens were open, but there was no sign of the stallion.
“I think he’s done something with the horse he used to rob us, but I may be wrong. We should look at the other fields to see if he’s hidden him from view.” Alice watched in silence for a moment, her sister Victoria gasping and hiding when a maid on the first-floor landing hung a worn floor covering out a window and started to hit it quite forcibly with a cane.
“Get down or she’ll see you,” Victoria hissed, worried that they’d hear them as well, even though they were quite a distance from the house.
“We’re too far away for anyone to see or hear us here.” Alice bit her lip, wondering if she should confront Lord Arndel before his trip to London or after. The weight of knowing he was the Surrey Bandit lay heavily on her mind, so it was probably best she spoke to him before.
“We should tell Josh. I know you do not wish to, but I think it would be best. We don’t know how Lord Arndel will react to us knowing, and even though up until now the Surrey Bandit has never been violent, I’m not sure we should take the risk and find out if his lordship has a breaking point.”
Alice sighed, knowing her sister had a point. But then an idea came to her—wickedly inappropriate but keeping them free from censure due to the nature of the plan.
“What are you grinning about?” Victoria clasped her arm. “Please remember the Worthingham name will only protect you so far, Sister, and by the scheming look on your face, I have a feeling whatever it is, I’m not going to like it.”
Alice threw her the most innocent look she could muster. “Do not worry, for what I have planned will only ever be between you, me, and Lord Arndel. And no scandal shall ever darken our door because of it.” Looking back toward the estate, she stilled when spying his lordship. Her attention fixed on the strong muscled line of his legs and broad shoulders that were on show as he strode his determined path.
“What is it?” Victoria asked.
“Stop being a ninny hammer and look for yourself.”
“Just tell me,” she pleaded.
Alice sighed. “Lord Arndel has entered the stable.”
Out the corner of her eye, Alice noted her sister roll her eyes. “I fail to see how seeing the gentleman enter a stable proves anything.”
Alice waved her comment aside. “Of course it doesn’t prove anything, but we’re not here today to prove anything absolute. We’re merely observing the workings of an estate. From afar. Undetected.” And should Alice find him guilty of the crime, he would pay for it dearly.
Regaining her gumption, Victoria looked. “We should go, before someone sees us and we’re made to explain our presence.”
“We don’t have to explain anything to anyone.” Arndel certainly played by those rules and thought nothing of it, so why shouldn’t we?
“What do you plan to do about this, Sister, if you’re not going to tell Josh or the authorities?”
His lordship came out of the stable on his usual brown gelding and anger reverberated through her that he’d had the audacity to steal from them, his so-called friends, have luncheon with them and talk about the theft, while all the time being the low-bred whelp who’d orchestrated the whole thing.
How dare he…
Revenge coiled about in her mind as a plan on how to get back at his lordship outlined in her head. “Let’s be off, and I will tell you all when we’re ensconced safely in my room.”
…
“This is the most absurd, dangerous thing you’ve ever made me do.”
Alice glanced over at her sister, and behind the brown bandanna that covered all but her eyes, a sheen of tears threatened to topple over.
“Don’t you dare get upset. Nothing untoward will happen, and we’re merely taking back what is ours.”
“You cannot be sure he’s even the bandit, and you’re going to confront him! This is madness, Alice.”
“Oh, I’m sure he’s the thief, for no other gentleman has eyes like his lordship.” Eyes that were as dark as the deepest oceans and as stormy as the high seas. That had looked at her with such hunger that she’d felt like the most delicious treat. “We know he’s not traveled to Town for quite some time, so there must be a reason behind this hasty departure.”
Victoria swiped at her eyes. “He might be buying a suit for the ball.”
“It’s too coincidental. He knows I saw the horse and he’s going to London so he’s not caught with all his plunder. He thinks I’m going to go to the authorities and is protecting himself by ridding himself of the jewels.”
“What if he’s not, Alice? What if he has no contraband on him at all?”
Alice shrugged. “We will worry about that, if it eventuates that way. But it won’t. Trust me. I know to the very core of my soul that he’s up to something.” Lord Arndel was the Surrey Bandit and Alice would prove it.
“He could shoot us.”
Alice didn’t disagree with her sister’s statement, for Lord Arndel could very well shoot them both, or his driver could, for that matter, but nothing ventured, nothing gained and all that.
“I wish you had never talked me into this.” Victoria’s grasp on her reins was brutal and her horse’s prancing only paid heed to its rider’s rioting emotions. “Relax, you’re making your horse nervous, and I don’t need him to bolt. I need you here, helping me.”
Victoria glared at her. “Thanks for the concern.”
Alice turned her attention back to the road. “You said you would help me. I don’t understand why you’re acting the princess. You’ve never been afraid of doing what you know is right. And this is right, no matter how nervous it makes you feel.”
“There is a difference between stating your opinion, giving a set down to a too high-in-the-instep lord, and robbing one at gunpoint on the road.”
Alice ignored her. Lord Arndel needed to feel what it was like to be stolen from, for his opinion and feelings to be trampled and ignored, all because money and fortune beckoned with pretty earbobs or emerald brooches.
“He may have nothing in his carriage besides himself and then what will you do?”
“We will go home.”
Victoria huffed out a breath. “You will look like a fool and, by the way, these costumes are not adequate enough, and he’ll see through my bandanna and your mask. This escapade of yours, which I truly do not think you’ve given enough thought, could ruin us.”
“It shall not and you will see that I’m right and you’re wrong and then, my dearest little sister, you may apologize.”
“I shall do no such thing. This could kill me, and I refuse to act contrite to anyone who may put me in harm’s way.”
The sound of an approaching carriage rumbled down the lane and Alice smiled a little to calm her sister’s startled visage. She adjusted her seat, ensuring the flintlock that was seated in her lap was ready. “He’s going to London to sell the jewels. I’m certain of it. Now,” she said, walking Juno to the side of the road and behind some hedge groves. “Join me here. We need to surprise him.”
Victoria mumbled something about wishing she’d never had her as a sister and Alice smiled. Riding up beside her, they both sat in wait. Alice scratched her scalp, the men’s short hair wig that sat atop her head itched terribly. “Nothing will happen to us, my dear. I promise you, although I cannot guarantee the same for his lordship.” That she couldn’t promise at all.
…
Callum frowned, looking outside the carriage window at the passing foliage, his mind a whirl with guilty thoughts. Under the seat opposite him, in a little nondescript bag, was the jewel he’d stolen from the Duchess of Penworth. By tonight, it would be in the hands of the moneylender near London’s East End docks.
The carriage lurched to the side as they rumbled around a corner and shouting with a gunshot sounded loud in the air. He stilled, trying to see what was before the vehicle, and when his driver pulled up, dread coiled in his gut.
“What the hell.” He clasped the leather handle above the window to stop himself from flying forward. He looked out the window and cursed the offending dust, which stopped him from seeing anything. “What’s going on out there?”
No answer was forthcoming, and opening the door, Callum stepped out. It was an action he should have thought through more, before being so hasty to investigate. The cold barrel of a flintlock pressed against his temple and he stilled.
“We go there,” the feminine voice drawled, a humorous tone to her words. “And I believe it would be best that you cooperated with us, lest I have the urge to shoot you.”
“You wish to shoot me?” Why he asked such a question he didn’t know, but there was something familiar and comforting about the voice that gave him the nerve to press his luck a little.
“Oh, most certainly, Lord Arndel. In fact, right at this moment, I don’t believe there is another in this whole county that I would enjoy shooting more.”
Now he recognized the voice and how this game would play out. “You wound me.” He paused, wondering if he could make a go at clasping her gun and turning the advantage over to himself. He discredited the thought instantly. He couldn’t do that to Alice, he would merely let her have her fun and then he would see what came next. “How will I ever recover.”
“Shall your hand twitch again my lord, you will find my bullet in your nether regions, so it would be best to listen to the woman who currently holds a gun to your head.” Callum looked toward the other voice. Lady Victoria sat atop a large bay gelding, her hair pulled back and a bandanna covering her mouth.
Callum jumped when a shot rang out, but as quick as he could breathe, Lady Victoria pulled a second gun from her saddle bag and aimed it toward his driver. His servant was holding his gun out to his side, the stark, shocked visage of the man making it only too clear to him that he’d tried to take control and failed.
“Put the gun down, John,” Callum said, watching as his driver threw it to the side of the carriage.
“What do you want?” he asked, knowing only too well what the Worthingham women were after. He watched as Alice raised her brow and grinned.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk, my lord. Impatience is not something that I will take lightly, nor do I believe you should rush those who are holding up your carriage.”
“What would you suggest, then? You’ve stopped us, and I’m curious as to why.”
Alice took the gun away from his temple and keeping her attention fixed on him, walked to stand before him. “We’re curious, of course, what our little robbery of you today will grant us. Tell us, dear lord, what treasures your carriage holds?”
The driver shot Callum a curious look and he ground his teeth. The last thing he needed was for his servants to know what he’d been doing around their own home county. Not that he ever stole from the poor, but still, they had morals and wouldn’t look upon his thieving as respectable behavior.
“Let John go and we’ll discuss this further.”
Alice tipped her head to the side, thinking over his request. “Very well. John,” she said, yelling out to his driver, but not taking her attention off Callum. “You may leave. Now.”
His driver looked to Callum for confirmation and he nodded. Within minutes he was without help and alone with the two hellions.
“Now, Lord Arndel, don’t make me ask my question twice.”
“It’s in the carriage, under the seat closest to the driver.”
Alice smiled, her lips a deep red and as delectable as ever. With the mask over her eyes, he became more aware of how beautiful the other features on her face were. An overwhelming urge to touch her, pull her hard against him and kiss her, consumed him and he fisted his hands at his sides, lest he do exactly that.
“I’m so glad you’ve decided to cooperate. I do hate conflict.” She waved her gun over toward Victoria. “Now stand over there so I can get on with the business at hand.”
Callum did as she bade and turned to watch as she climbed up into the carriage, the tight-fitting breeches, an article of clothing he’d never thought to see on Lady Alice Worthingham, caught his full attention, not to mention the perfect round globes of her ass. He let out a relieved breath when she disappeared from view.
“I would suggest your attention be diverted to something other than my comrade’s bottom, my lord.”
Callum looked up at Victoria and grinned, liking how Alice’s sibling’s eyes narrowed further, and she aimed the gun a little lower on his person. “Apologies,” he stated, not apologetic at all. In fact, it was one item of clothing he hoped to see her sister in again, if only to strip her of them and enjoy what pleasures lay beneath.
Alice mumbled something in his carriage and then jumped out, laughing, the sound mocking even to his own ears. She slipped her hand into the bag that held the jewel he’d stolen, and he cringed at the disgust that flittered over her visage. “Like what you see?” His tone was scathing, but more at himself than Alice or her sister. That he’d been forced into this life was no excuse. His actions as the Surrey Bandit were reprehensible.
She nodded. “I do, and I like this piece more than anything.” Alice lifted out the emerald brooch that was the duchess’s and he cringed. “I think I’ll keep this piece for myself.”
“That pin belongs to the Duchess of Penworth. Maybe you ought to gift it back to her,” Callum said.
Alice’s eyes held no mirth. “Do not get the impression, Lord Arndel, that just because we are thieving from you, that we will keep these goods for ourselves. On the contrary. We will do the right thing and ensure that what we take is returned to the rightful owners.”
“How Christian of you,” he drawled, hating that she was right, no matter how much her thievery from him would make his life hell. The moneylender would not be happy that the emerald brooch was lost. He would simply have to find an alternate way to raise the funds equal to the brooch’s value. And in a way that would not raise eyebrows around the county. There was always the few mares and even Bandit could be sold. He must think of something.
Alice threw the bag to her sister and, amazingly, Victoria caught it one-handed. Callum shook his head, having never known women of such rank to be so capable. “What do you intend to do with me now?”
Alice placed her gun in the holder on her saddle and strolled up to him, smiling. “Oh, what will we do with you now?” Her words were low and not without a little flirtation.
Callum couldn’t tear his eyes from her and he swallowed. “What will you do with me?” he asked for only Alice to hear.
Her blue orbs darkened with contemplation, but she didn’t lose stride. “What would you like for me to do, my lord? I may be a thief, but do not be deceived, even I have morals.”
“I’m well aware of those. Believe me.” She laughed at his words and his lips twitched. That they could find the humor in this situation, and make light of it, said a lot about her character and he liked her more for it. Maybe if she knew the truth, she could forgive him.
“Perhaps,” she said, sliding a finger across his chest and making his heart beat wildly, “I will go to my family and tell them what I know about the mysterious Viscount Arndel of Kester House.”
Callum denied her a reply, not sure if provoking her would be wise.
She clasped his hand and pulled him toward the back of the carriage. It was uncannily reminiscent of what he’d done to her only weeks before, and fire ignited in his blood, hot and heavy.
“Do you want me to tell the authorities and have the full force of the law come down on your head?”
“No.” Callum crossed his arms and leaned against the equipage. “I want only you to punish me.” The words left his mouth and the moment he said them he wanted to rip them back. He was acting the cad and with a woman whom he shouldn’t bait. By the gleam in her eyes, she understood his meaning.
Dammit he liked that look. A lot.
“Tell me if you need me,” Victoria yelled from the front.
“All is well,” Alice countered, her inspection of him lowering to his wrists. “What lovely cufflinks you have, my lord. Are they gold?”
Callum glanced at them. “Yes.”
She smiled. “I may be willing to do a deal with you, my lord.”
“A deal.” He fought not to smile, hoping this conversation was going where he thought it might. “What kind of deal?”
“I believe you ought to hand over your gold cufflinks, and in return I may sweeten the sting of losing such a valuable bauble.”
“Such as?” he asked.
“A kiss.”
Without hesitation, Callum undid the small pins that held his shirtsleeves together and slipped them into her palm. In silence, she watched him, but he could see her mind was whirring at the thought of what she’d suggested. But then, when you poke a lion, what did one expect? No cufflinks, even if they were made of the finest diamonds or purest of gold would be worth keeping, if a kiss from Alice were on offer. “I’m all yours,” he said, not moving but waiting for her to initiate the kiss.
Her fingers fisted about his cufflinks and she placed them into her pocket. “As a gentleman, I didn’t think you would agree.”
He laughed, shaking his head. “I may have been born a gentleman, but I did not grow up as one. And you should not offer such temptation, if you did not wish for me to taste it.” A light blush rose on her cheeks and a jab of pity took hold. “But of course, as a gentleman now, if you do not wish to kiss me, I will not make you.”
Her shoulders stiffened and her chin lifted. Anticipation throbbed through him. I have her now…
“I do not go back on my word, my lord.”
“Very well, then.” He waggled his eyebrows at her and her eyes narrowed.
“Having said that, Lord Arndel, do not push your luck.”
He bit back another laugh and conceded. “Very well. I shall wait patiently.”
When she didn’t move, he said, “When you’re ready, of course, so, too, am I.”
With a huff, Alice stepped forward, clasped his jaw, and kissed him. The first thing Callum realized was Alice was quite tall for a woman, and it didn’t take very much effort to lean down and deepen the embrace.
She was as stiff as a board in his arms before he wrapped his arm about her waist and hauled her in against him. On her gasp, he kissed her hard, just as he’d longed to for many weeks.
With each glide of the kiss, the slight stroke of his tongue against hers, she relaxed, became compliant in his arms and gave him what he’d dreamed about. And her kisses were what dreams were made of: sweet, explorative, untutored. Never had he been as intoxicated by an embrace as he was right now in Alice’s arms.
The soft sigh that she released as she sank into the kiss sent his wits spiraling. For a moment, Callum grappled for control, but when her tongue lightly touched his, it all vanished.
With his free hand, he clasped the nape of her neck, feeling the hard, fake wig that she wore. He wanted to rip it from her scalp. He wanted to run his hands through her beautiful locks and hold her right as she was, for all time. Kiss her senseless for as long as she’d allow.
She pulled back and stepped out of his arms altogether. Callum let her go with regret and consoled himself with the fact that her eyes looked heavy with desire and, if he wasn’t incorrect, a little awe.
“I shouldn’t have done that.”
“Why not?” He shrugged, the action in some way releasing his taut muscles. “You’re not worried about your reputation, are you? I thought you were a highwaywoman and nothing else.”
“I am, but I’m also a woman who should not have done that.”
“Are you a woman of rank?” Callum watched as her eyes darkened in warning. He smirked. “Preferably, I would like you to come back here and do it again.”
Her mouth opened on a gasp, and he strode up to her, clasped her face, and kissed her hard, quick, and deep, before pulling back and bowing. “I hope we see each other again.”
Alice nodded and walking over to her horse in what looked like a daze, mounted quickly, and joined her sister. “I’m sure we will, Lord Arndel, and sooner than you’d like, if you continue this type of thieving lifestyle. Do I make myself clear?”
“Very,” he said, watching as the women turned their mounts and cantered down the road before turning into the trees. Callum swore, running a hand through his hair.
For all his teasing of the little minx, she’d still run off with his portable blunt and now he would have to send word to London and notify those his deceased cousin owed money to, that the debt would not be paid. Not with the jewels that had been required, at least. Damn it!
The thought brought unease, and he wondered what else on the property and estate he could sell that might get him out of such a bind. All that came to mind were the horses. It was all he had left. Everything else had already been sold. The breeding program he’d hoped to rekindle to create extra income for the estate would no longer be possible. The whole situation he’d allowed the moneylenders to get him into was a disgrace. He was a disgrace.
Climbing up onto the box of his carriage, he clasped the reins of his matched pair and turned the vehicle about, heading back to Kester House.
The sound of approaching horses met his ears, and he looked up to see his carriage driver along with other men from the estate barreling toward them. They pulled up in a cloud of dust, looking about for the two thieves who had been there.
“Are ye all right, my lord? We came as soon as I could gather some men.”
Callum pulled the horses up and waved their concern aside. “I’ve been robbed, but little else.” Other than a kiss that will occupy my mind for many years to come…
“Are we to continue to London?” his driver asked, frowning.
“No. When we return to Kester House you may put the carriage away. It’s no longer needed.”
“Right ye are, my lord.”
“You men may ride ahead. I’ll not be far behind.” They nodded and rode off, looking into the forest as they went, no doubt searching for the two hellions that were the Worthinghams.
He flicked the ribbons and the horses walked on. He didn’t focus on anything at all, merely thought back over the recent events, wondering when he would see Lady Alice again. For he was certain the little minx was she.
But what would she do with the brooch, and how would she explain to her mama how the jewel came back into their hands? And worse, how was he to secure his future without the jewel the moneylenders wanted so badly? Under no circumstances would he ever take it from Alice’s family again, so what would pacify the money shark?
Above all else, Amelia was his main concern. Her safety was paramount, and to keep her so, he would tell the few men who worked for him to remain on guard and armed, even if he had to tell them about his cousin’s debt. Explain that men of ill-repute wished him and his daughter harm if he didn’t pay what was owed and soon. After all Amelia had faced losing her mama, she deserved a future free of trouble or scandal. He wanted her home to be something to be proud of, not founded on a father who did as he was bade to men who deserved no respect. If the money from the horses would satisfy the moneylender, then Callum would have to learn patience, work the estate with what he had, and grow it from there. In time, maybe he could purchase more horses and breed them. He would make his daughter proud, if it were the last thing he ever did.