Tarnished, Tempted and Tamed. Mary Brendan

brightly. ‘We could play ’em one off against t’other.’

      ‘He’s poor as a church mouse, according to the major’s report, that’s why she’s eloping—because her father won’t hear of the match.’

      ‘But maybe we can’t trust his word!’ Sam exclaimed.

      ‘You’re all talking rot!’ Fiona shouted in frustration. ‘And you might as well let me on my way, for I’m expected elsewhere to take up a position in service. The authorities will be on your tails by now. My travelling companions will have reported this outrage.’

      ‘She’s no domestic, I’ll stake my life on it! She’s lying!’ Sam triumphantly declared.

      ‘I’m a governess and I’ll be missed by my employer. He’ll send a search party if I don’t turn up,’ Fiona warned.

      Jeremiah Collins again raised a hand to touch her, but Fiona stepped out of his reach, glaring at him. He looked quite inoffensive with his wispy fair hair and wiry frame. But she sensed that behind his pale eyes lurked a vicious and devious mind and she wanted to be quickly out of his clutches.

      ‘I think you’re a crafty wench, accustomed to lying,’ Collins said slowly. ‘If you’re Thornley’s spawn, you’ll have been deceiving your papa for some time, gallivanting with a ne’er-do-well to escape being married off to an old roué.’ He clucked his tongue. ‘His Grace won’t be popular if he tries to pass off spoiled goods to his new son-in-law, even though the fellow can match him for years. Thornley will pay handsomely to get you back and keep quiet this escapade.’

      A glimmer of revulsion flitted across Fiona’s features at the idea of a young woman being forcibly married off to an aged lecher. As for the poor young lady being compromised following her abduction by highwaymen... Fiona realised that fate now applied to her. If it ever got out that she’d been in the company of three brutes—and of course it would because many people knew of it—then she would be thoroughly ruined.

      Collins had noticed her distressed reaction and smiled with nasty satisfaction. ‘Come...come... I have sympathy for your plight, my lady, but I’ve money to make and pleasure to take before I swing on Gallows Hill.’ He strode to his comrades to mutter beneath his breath, ‘I think she could be Thornley’s brat, but if she’s speaking the truth, and is Miss Chapman, we’ve got ourselves a millstone round our necks. There’s only one thing to do with such: cut ’em loose and cast ’em in the sea so they sink.’

      ‘Shall we scout around the local hostelries for the major? If he’s still in the neighbourhood, that’ll tell us what we need to know,’ Fred Ruff hissed.

      ‘If Wolfson’s still in the vicinity then we won’t need to go looking for him, he’ll find us,’ Collins answered with a sly grin. From the two meetings he’d had with Major Wolfson, Collins had gauged he was not a man to cross. But then Jem Collins could match any man alive for ruthlessness. Nevertheless, he was regretting agreeing to do business with him.

      By straining her ears Fiona could just catch snippets of their conversation. She heard the name Wolfson and a hand squeezed at her heart. ‘Are you talking about Luke Wolfson?’ she burst out.

      Three pairs of eyes were swung in her direction.

      ‘What do you know of the major?’ Collins demanded.

      ‘Nothing... I’ve just heard his name before,’ Fiona murmured, feeling as though she’d taken a blow to the stomach.

      So, the major they were talking about and Luke Wolfson were one and the same. He was the fellow these thugs thought had crossed them in a deal they’d struck to kidnap the Duke of Thornley’s daughter. But when Wolfson had come across their broken coach he’d had the intelligence to deduce that Fiona Chapman was who she said she was. No doubt he’d gone after the real prize...wherever the poor wretch might be.

      Now she realised why he’d paid her such attention: Luke Wolfson hadn’t been flirting with her, he’d been assessing her and, unlike these fools, had come up with the correct answer. She supposed it had been rather good of him to warn her about the hazards for a young woman travelling alone! He was preparing her for villains such as himself who preyed on female victims.

      Suddenly Fiona felt very alone and frightened. From the moment these thugs had hauled her away from her travelling party she’d harboured a tiny hope that Mr Wolfson would somehow discover what had happened to her and ride to save her from these savages. But he was no better than them and he’d provide no service she’d welcome! Of that, Fiona was certain.

      * * *

      From the age of sixteen, when she’d left her home in the countryside to make her fortune, Becky Peake had regularly used payment in kind for things she wanted but couldn’t afford. But rolling in hay with a yokel for a ride on his cart was a new low for her. She felt ashamed of herself and wished she’d not spent all the cash Luke had given her on a fancy hat and a night of gambling at the Red Lion at Exeter. Then she might have had the wherewithal to hire a tired nag, or a two-wheeled gig, to follow her lover without resorting to soliciting.

      Luke had paid for Becky’s coach fare back to London but, on impulse, she’d disembarked before the vehicle had travelled east far enough to cross the county line. Her need to stay close to her lover, lest he replace her with somebody else, was lately always on her mind.

      Becky doubted that she would ever love Luke Wolfson in that selfless way her mother had adored her father, but she did know that she craved his company. Major Wolfson was the most attractive and exciting man Becky had ever known; she wanted to be permanently in his life, sharing his adventures and his riches. She fantasised that they would have a brood of beautiful children and then, if the fire in her blood was quenched by the passing of the years, she’d settle into a comfortable life in Essex as lady of the manor with five handsome sons about her silk skirts, and her husband providing her with every little luxury that her heart desired.

      ‘Take you on a foo more miles if yer like.’ A gap-toothed fellow shattered Becky’s delightful daydream with his coarse country brogue.

      ‘Here will do very well, thank you,’ Becky replied in her crispest tone. She continued tying her garters and ignored the farmer grinning at her while he buttoned his trousers. She brushed down her dress and stood up, picking bits of straw from her bonnet.

      A moment later Becky was at the barn door and peeking through a crack. Nobody seemed to be around so she slipped out and sashayed off towards the village square, tying her new hat in place as she went. She was hoping that Luke would still be lodging at the same inn; she knew he’d planned to see a chum before heading home. He’d not told her any more about it, no doubt chary of her turning up unannounced at the fellow’s home. Becky knew she might have been tempted to do so, too, in her obsession with Luke. But she was sure he’d again put up at the King and Tinker on his way back so she headed in that direction to wait for his return.

      * * *

      ‘How is he, sir?’

      Luke had been saddling up in the stable yard of the Pig and Whistle when he spied the doctor exiting the hostelry. He had quickly intercepted the physician, keen to know how young Bert fared now he’d been ensconced in one of the inn’s bedrooms.

      ‘I’ve dosed the patient with a sleeping draught to aid his recovery.’ The doctor gave a grim shake of the head. ‘His wound is clean now and luckily the bullet passed through. Bert Williams is young and strong, but he’s bled a lot.’ He sighed pessimistically in conclusion, then climbed aboard his trap and flicked the reins over the pony’s back.

      Luke was about to swing into the saddle when he saw Mr Jackson and Toby Williams coming towards him at quite a pace. He hesitated and patted the flanks of the replacement beast he’d hired. Star was limping a little after his punishing ride and Luke didn’t want to risk a lame horse hampering him in his search for Fiona Chapman.

      ‘What are we to do about...you know...?’ Mr Jackson blurted in a whispering hiss. ‘My lady wife and I cannot in all