Chapter Two

H er brothers ought to have returned to London by now.

Well, most of them.

Theodosia slapped the book in her lap shut and wondered whether Seth would chase after her. If he was already home, hopefully her mother was keeping him in London in some way or other.

The marchioness was good at that.

Of all her brothers, he was the most difficult one to anticipate. Unpredictable in most ways, yet still entirely predictable in others. But it was still hard to guess what he would do when he learned of the list, the wagers, and everything else. In any event, she'd taken a different route from usual, just in case, and had stayed in a quaint little village for a night with her lady's maid, Nancy, and the driver, Thomas. And wouldn't you know, just the act of leaving London had washed away the tension that had been building in her body this entire season.

Ah, bliss.

No blind matchups.

No talk about wagers and fortune hunters.

No Saville.

And certainly, no addition of six demanding brothers who could only find satisfaction through constantly badgering her. She loved those big ruffians, but they could be a touch much at times. Especially when so many of them were home at the same time.

"Whoa!"

Theodosia scrunched her brows at the sudden call of the driver. She glanced at Nancy, who lifted her shoulders in a small shrug.

The carriage drew to a slow halt, and Theodosia peered through the window, but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"Why on earth did we stop?"

"Perhaps there is an obstruction barring the road, my lady," Nancy said.

The gallop of hooves approached, and she rapped on the roof, calling to the Thomas, "What's the matter?"

"Ah," he murmured, shortly pausing before hesitation filled his voice, "it seems the Earl of Saville hailed us down."

The who did what ? "Keep going," Theodosia commanded. Why in Heaven's name had he followed her? And how had that devil even found her?

"My lady?"

"Keep on going, Thomas." Just because he had followed her—and even found her—didn't mean she had to accommodate him. "That man has no business with me."

"Now that is not a very nice thing to say," a low, raspy voice came from outside.

Theodosia grit her teeth. She rapped on the roof again. "Ignore him and leave."

The door wrenched open, and a disheveled head popped in. The head glanced at her maid. "Can I have moment with your lady?"

"No, you may not," Theodosia said with a lift of her chin. "Stay put, Nancy."

"If Nancy stays put, then—"

"Then what?" Theodosia interrupted, wanting to roll her eyes to the carriage ceiling. "Will you carry me out of the carriage to get your way?"

"I..." He blinked. "What do you take me for? A mongrel?"

"Well? What should you say, then?" She sent him an arch look.

His clenched, but he still bit out, " Please ."

A small bud of interest began to form. In truth, she was a bit curious and still rather shocked that the earl had chased her all this way. Theodosia nodded to her maid. Best to find out his motives and get this over with so the man could be on his way. Saville stepped aside for Nancy to pass, then took her place and shut the door with a resounding slam.

"So," Theodosia crossed her arms over her chest, "what are you doing here? I cannot believe you followed me from London."

"Believe it, my lady." His eyes bore into her. "For I am here."

"How did you even know—" She suddenly cut off. "Selena."

He didn't deny it.

"And just how did you find me on this route?" She matched his stare. "Don't tell me you had someone spy on me? Or is it just that you can't seem to stay away from me? I must have some great power of attraction for you to cling to me like this."

"Spy? What am I—a scorned husband? A lovelorn lord?"

Theodosia arched a brow.

He pulled a face. "I followed you, yes, but it's quite by accident I caught up to you on this road."

"You expect me to believe that?"

That already intense stare intensified further. "Upon my honor, it is true."

She studied him, and then sighed. "What do you want, my lord? Speak up so that I can get this unpleasant interruption of my journey behind me."

He didn't hold back. "You missed quite a lot happening in England over the last few days. Selena and Warrick are betrothed."

Theodosia started. " What ? How on earth did that happen?"

"How could it not?" Saville retorted. He sounded thoroughly put out. "They've been having an affair behind my back." He rubbed his temple "Then we got kidnapped and she and Mortimer saved us."

What on earth? "Selena saved you? And Mortimer, the duke? Why didn't she tell me anything?" She had missed all that?

"Knowing my sister, she probably didn't wish to bother you since you decided to leave London."

How aggravating! "I have so many questions."

His eyes narrowed, his complete focus directed at her. "I also have several."

"Is that why you followed me? Because you have questions?" Theodosia had to hand it to the man, he had gall.

"I've followed you for less reason than that."

A pertinent instance. "How chivalrous of you to remind me. Then go on, what is your first question?" The sooner she answered them the sooner she could remove him from her sight.

His gaze burned into her. This should be good.

"Did you call me a weed?"

Her mouth threatened to drop open. Of all the things... Selena must have told him so in another of their bickering matches. But just how much had her friend blurted out?

"Nothing to say?" He settled back into the cushions. "Am I to take that as a yes, you did call me a weed?"

Confounding man. "It's not that I have nothing to say." And it wasn't that she hadn't called him a weed—she just couldn't recall. Had she called him a weed? She had called him lots of things over the season. A weed might very well have been one of them.

She shrugged. "So, what if I did? Is it not a compliment? Weeds do not perish easily."

"Weeds tarnish all the other plant growth."

She grinned at him. "So you do understand. Next question."

A vein in his jaw flared up. "Why did you snip up my waistcoats?"

Well. "To be fair, I did not snip up all of them. Only some. Your sister took scissors to the rest. But to answer your question, Selena said it would feel rewarding, so I wanted to try." And it was a most rewarding memory. "I must admit, it did feel like heaven."

The corner of his lip lifted in a sneer. "What about the rouge you used to color my cheeks on a damn expensive painting of me?" He clenched and unclenched a hand. "And you made my eyes black."

"Pure revenge," Theodosia admitted. "Did you not call me Satan? I was curious to see how Satan's eyes would look on you."

His face contorted. "Damn it, I never called you Satan."

"Was that not implied when you said I have Satan's eyes?" Theodosia cast a venomous look his way. "And do not even think to deny it. Avondale told Ophelia, and Ophelia told me."

"Very well, I deserved the eyes. Did I deserve the pink cheeks?"

"That was for my own satisfaction."

"And cutting up my waistcoats? What would you call that?"

"Double the pleasure?" Theodosia couldn't help but taunt. "Would you like an apology? Because I can apologize, but I'm sure I will not mean it."

"Did I ask for a bloody apology?"

"Do you have any more questions," she countered, "or are you done? If you are done, please make haste back to London."

"I'm not done." He crossed his arms over his chest. "I demand restitution."

Theodosia stared at the man in disbelief. "Who do you think you are to demand restitution from me? Have you lost all your senses? Shall I help you search for them?"

"Don't be tart, Lady Theodosia." He leaned a bit forward. "But while we are on the subject, who am I to you?"

What sort of question was this? "Who you are to me does not matter as much as how you make me feel."

"And how do I make you feel?"

"You make my skin crawl."

That vein in his jaw flared up again. "In a good way or a bad way?"

"Is there a good way for such a thing to occur? My skin crawls when I see you. My skin is crawling right now. I assure you, it's not a pleasant feeling."

"It can be." He rested his elbows on his knees. "If it's really anticipation."

Shivers raced over the bumps of her arms. Not shivers of anticipation. She drew back to gain some distance between them. "Your signals must be getting tangled, Saville. It's called repulsion, not anticipation."

"Your eyes say otherwise."

"My Satan eyes? Are you even sure you can read them?"

"I'll ignore the first, but I will say I've never been wrong about these things before. You do not find me repulsive."

Fine. She didn't. No exactly. But she still didn't like him. That should be clear. So, what exactly did this man want from her? "You are making my head spin."

"In a—"

" Not in a good way," Theodosia snapped. Her palms stung from her fingernails digging into them. "You, my lord, are a hellion. Hellions belong in London. You should promptly return to your habitat."

"Harsh," he shot back with a scowl.

"But the truth."

"Is this what you think of me? That I'm a weed. A rogue? A weedlike scoundrel?"

"A said hellion."

"Are they not the damn same?"

"Yes, but hellion as the word hell in it, which is what my life has turned into since you entered the fray."

The furrow between his brow deepened. Two lines that always seemed to split his face when with her. He tugged at his cravat. "You certainly have a knack for ruining the mood."

"I don't know what mood you are in, but I doubt we have been on the same page at any point. No, we aren't even in the same book. So please, I beg you, get out of my carriage before I do or say something we both might regret."

"There are tons of regrets already," he muttered, almost too low for her to hear. "Well, this is certainly the first time I've been kicked out of a woman's carriage so boldly."

"If it's payment you want..." She pulled a smaller pouch from her reticule filled with coins and tossed it at him. "There you go. It should be enough to cover the cost to your waistcoats and your portrait."

"I don't want your blunt." He tossed the pouch back to her with a foul expression. "There is something else we must discuss."

"Oh?"

"Your brothers paid me a visit."

That caught her attention. "Which brothers? And why would they call on you?"

"The marquess and three others. As to the why, they wanted to warn me away from you, of course."

Her head tilted to the side. Well, it didn't surprise her all that much. "And you didn't even think to heed their warning?"

"Never crossed my mind." He gave a remorseless shrug. "They also want my head."

"I've wanted your head plenty of times. You still have it."

"This is different. This is about a new rumor circulating about town."

Theodosia paused. "That doesn't sound good."

"It's not," he admitted. "It's horrific."

"Well, tell me what it is!"

"It's..."—he dragged a hand through his hair—"that we are secretly engaged."

" What? "

"That was my same sentiment," Saville said bitterly.

Theodosia blinked that the man, then burst out laughing. "You are right, that is horrific." She clutched at her belly. "Who on earth would start a rumor such as this?"

"How the hell should I know?" He eyed her askance. "It's not that funny."

Theodosia took several deep breaths to calm herself. "Ah, well, I'm sure the rumor will die down shortly."

"Your brothers also seem to believe that this rumor is the cause of you running off to Brighton. I want you to pen them a note telling them that I am innocent of all their claims and they have nothing to worry about. I want them off my arse."

"And what if I don't?" She crossed her arms.

"Then I shall follow you until you do, as I am reluctant to return home under the threat of multiple Kings wanting my head without clarification on matters."

Hah! "Do you want me to give clarification on all matters?"

"No need." He picked at the seams of his sleeves. "Just about the rumors of an engagement and that I am the reason you are taking to the waters in Brighton." His eyes bore into hers. "Or am I the reason?"

Oh, wouldn't you love to be the reason, you rogue? She'd rather gnaw on a piece of bone than give him the satisfaction of ever answering in the affirmative. "Rest assured, you didn't even make the list of reasons. As you must know by now, my brothers are a rowdy bunch, hotheaded, and annoying as hot summer sun glowing on your skin."

"An apt description. Be sure to put that in the note as well." He paused, considering her. "But that's hardly a reason to leave London."

"Those hellions live to provoke my temper," Theodosia said. Much like you . "I'm afraid my brothers will push me to choose a husband, and given this absurd new rumor, who knows what they might do now?" She'd made a good decision by leaving town.

He inclined his head. "I can understand why they would."

"Oh, you can now, can you?"

"I have a sister, too."

"And how did attempting to marry her off to Warrick work out for you?"

"To be fair, they are engaged now, so it worked."

"If they are engaged, they are so because your sister chose Warrick as a partner and they must have feelings for each other, not because of anything you did, I assure you."

"Such a harsh tongue you have, Lady Theodosia."

She was about to answer when they were interrupted by a deep voice coming from outside.

"This is the Black Knight. And you are hereby being held up."

*

Field's last week had been hell. Hell on a scale he had never experienced before in his life. Not even his childhood memories of his father topped this, and that had been true fire and brimstone.

In no particular order, he'd been held captive in a damn brothel, had to watch his best friend and his sister flirt right in front of his eyes, and his own sister shot him in a duel. Not even to mention being called a weed, having all his waistcoats cut up, and his painting being turned into a devil.

And now highwaymen?

"God, this is not happening right now."

Of all the near-death experiences he'd navigated so far, was this one to be his end? On a dirt road in the middle of nowhere? He glanced at Lady Theodosia. And with her, the one woman who drove him damn near to insanity? They had never been on good terms to begin with, and he couldn't say their relationship had improved since they were first introduced. Not that he had tried. And not that his recent deeds had helped.

It wasn't that he didn't like Lady Theodosia. This had nothing to do with like or dislike and everything to do with the fire that exploded in his chest whenever their gazes locked. If he could, he wished to avoid that feeling, and yet every step, every decision seemed only to bring him face to face with it—with her—again. But surely even Heaven had been mocking him these past weeks.

Perhaps he should have heeded Kingsley's warning.

But bloody hell, he couldn't accept that she found him repulsive. He just couldn't.

"Are we being robbed?" she hissed softly.

He placed a finger on his lips to indicate that she should remain quiet. Would it be possible to convince the highwaymen he was alone? Well, he could try.

"Who the hell are you?" Field called out. "Away with you. I'm not in the mood to be robbed today."

Lady Theodosia pinched his leg, her eyes filling with question marks. Field shot her a warning look. Don't fuss .

She returned a warning look of her own. Then don't say anything idiotic .

Outside, a bark of laughter met his statement. "That's the attitude you take before the most infamous highwayman in England. How interesting. This has never happened to me before."

"Well, then," Field shot back, "we have something in common. This has never happened to me, either. What highwayman announces himself in such a fashion? The Black Knight, you said? I've never heard of you. How bloody famous can you be?"

"You've not been held up by many highwaymen before, have you?" The Black Knight's voice held a hint of edge. "Or else you would know arrogance has no place in in those being robbed."

"Fair point," Field begrudgingly muttered through clenched teeth.

"And, you cannot dispute," the highwayman went on, "you've heard about me now."

Was the man in a romantic relationship with his image? Field pulled his lip upward.

"I shall be gracious today and give you three seconds to exit your carriage," came the condescending voice.

Field's lip pulled up in a sneer. "Gracious my arse."

"One."

"Saville!" Lady Theodosia hissed in a barely audible whisper, though her eyes bellowed obscenities at him.

Hell and damnation.

"Two."

She stomped on his foot.

"Fine, I'm coming, I'm coming," he muttered, reaching for the door. Stay here , he mouthed to Lady Theodosia. It was wild hope, but a chance he would take if it meant her safety.

She cut him a look designed to peel his hide before whispering, "You think I'm just going to sit here and await my fate?"

"The lady, too," the man called as if reading his mind.

Field cursed.

Confound it! All his wild hope dashed.

He wrenched open the door and stepped from the carriage, turning to help Lady Theodosia down. She refused his hand. He didn't bother to insist but kept her shielded from the highwaymen's greedy eyes as much as possible.

Before them stood a man on horse flanked by six riders. Tension crackled the air. Danger , his head bellowed at all the nerves in his limbs. All but his eyebrows and mouth, which remained arched and loose.

They cut seven imposing figures, and yet none of the men moved from atop their horses. He instantly noticed Dream, his thoroughbred—now in their hands—and inwardly cursed. That was his best horse.

"Nancy!" Lady Theodosia suddenly called out and motioned her lady's maid over to them.

Nancy glanced at the highwayman, who shook his head, and she retreated a few steps farther away from her mistress, making her stance clear.

" Nancy? " Lady Theodosia sounded just as shocked as Field felt. "What are you doing?"

Nancy averted her gaze, saying nothing. The driver was also not looking at them, his back straight as he looked ahead.

Field sighed.

So that's how it is.

"I believe they are betraying you," Field said, his pure loathing directed at the two servants. "Is this the part where we hand over our baubles?" Field said with a dry calm he was not feeling.

"No need."

No need? He didn't need to wait long to find out what the man meant.

"I hear that the lady doesn't wear bits and baubles, but she does carry hefty money pouches. If you can toss them over, I'd be much obliged. No one has to get hurt today."

Lady Theodosia tossed a pouch over without protest.

The Black Knight didn't so much as glance at the pouch, only arched a brow. "I heard the lady travels with more than one pouch."

An elbow nudged Field, followed by a low whisper, "Should we run?"

"I'd love to," Field tossed back, "but can we out run?"

"So pessimistic" She rummaged through her netted purse, which she'd brought along outside, and three more money pounces flew over while a sharp glare was flung to the maid.

The Black Knight grinned. "Much obliged." His gaze turned to Field. "You too, my lord."

Field gritted his teeth and tossed over all the coin he had on him, then motioned to Dream. "You already have the rest."

The highwayman tipped his hat.

Field scowled while Nancy scampered to collect the money pouches before retreating into the carriage. The driver flicked the reins and all they could do was watch it drive away. Usually, he could find even a slight silver lining in any nightmarish event, yet he could not locate even the slightest of slightly silver threads as he watched the man in question send them a parting smile.

The Black Knight tipped his hat. "A good day to you."

Was leaving them in the middle of the road not harming them? Damn blackguard. "Forgive me if we don't say the same."

A chuckle.

One by one they turned to follow the carriage. Not one of the men looked back at them has they followed the carriage, but each did tip their hat.

Field clenched his fists.

Were they mocking them?

"What the hell just happened?" he muttered to himself. Were all hold ups so structured? He turned to Lady Theodosia, half expecting her to collapse in fright. Instead, two black coals shot fire at him. "Are you... all right?"

"This is your fault."

Field started. "How is this my fault?"

She jabbed a finger at him. "You brought those highwaymen here with your twisted luck."

"How am I responsible for this? Your servants betrayed you. Just how did you come to hire such poor candidates for servants?"

" I did not hire them," she shot back.

"But you did end up traveling with two betrayers. Could you not have chosen your traveling partners better? Why blame me?"

"No one expects to be betrayed like this."

Field swallowed his biting retort. Arguing over the matter solved nothing even though he wanted to shout and rage. What if she had been alone today? Would the outcome still have been the same?

He balled his hands into fists before slowly unclenching them. He didn't even want to think about what might have happened. "Fine. Let's not argue over this."

They both averted their gazes.

"Those dratted traitors. How could they be involved in such a plot?" She gave him a reluctant glance and sighed. "I'm sorry. This was not your fault."

"No need to apologize. We both had a shock."

She nodded. "What do we do now? We have no money and no carriage. All my belongings. My—" Her head snapped back. " The book ."

A bad feeling formed in the pit of Field's stomach. "What book?"

Her head swung to him. "The betting book."

"You mean the betting of White's is in the carriage the highwaymen absconded with?"

"Yes!"

Of all the things... why was this happening to him? "Mortimer is going to kill me."

"Why? Did something else happen that I don't know about?"

Field shut his eyes.

Yes, something had happened.

Something that told him their shared sojourn through hell had only just started.