Page 17 of Her Wicked Highwayman
“Miss Fox, youstolethis from the highwaymen?” Mr. Peele’s quiet voice held a deep tone of concern.
“I know that it is not the action a lady would take, but we need the money. I believe this will cover the debts we have to the bankers in London. Once I’ve had a chance to rest, I should like to collect all the paperwork on our debts and arrange for payment as soon as possible. I can take it back to London myself and have the solicitor handle the rest.”
“This is good news, but there is still the matter of our future expenses,” the housekeeper said. “We would need something like this coming in at least four or five times a year if we want to improve the house and finally be able to provide the staff with decent wages.”
“I agree. The tenant farmers have been keeping us afloat, but I want them to be able to keep more of what they earn and for the house and its staff to be less reliant on tenancy income.” Diana leaned back against the desk and crossed her arms. She was stiff from the tension of the previous night, her head ached a little, and her stomach reminded her that she hadn’t eaten in more than a day. But she could eat after she’d told them her idea.
“This ordeal has given me an idea, a rather mad one, but perhaps it will save us. However, I don’t want to put anyone at risk for my actions without their explicit agreement to participate. Until we decide what to do next, you are the only ones who can be aware of my plan. If we are discovered, it would mean prosecution and possibly death as my accomplices.”
“Accomplices?” Mr. Peele uttered. “Just what is it that you are proposing?”
Diana lowered her voice even more. She trusted everyone who worked in this house, but she would not put them in harm’s way if she could help it. She did not want to risk anyone who happened to be walking past the door overhearing even part of the conversation.
“What if I were to become a highwayman myself? I will keep this estate running and food in our bellies until we find another means of support.”
Her butler and housekeeper stared at her as if she had gone mad. “But theyhangthieves. Menandwomen,” Peele muttered. “You cannot do this. You are a gentle-born lady. Your father?—”
“My father would want me to do something about our situation, even if it meant taking a great risk.”
“Risk?” Mrs. Ripley said sharply. “This is not a simple risk you suggest taking. It is your life in your hands, and ours if we agree to help. This isn’t the way, Diana.” Mrs. Ripley’s voice turned soft, full of motherly concern.
It struck Diana then how much these two had come to mean to her in recent years. They’d become surrogate parents, ones who cared about her and handed out good advice when she needed it. Her heart swelled with love for them both, but her idea held merit, and if she did it well, they would be well off for a few years until she could sort out a better solution, like investing the extra money in funds in London with someone in the city who knew his way around investments.
“I know it is not proper, but it is the only solution we have at the moment.”
“Assuming we agree, how would you go about it? Dress up as a man? Act like one? What about help? Many coaches have not only a driver but other men who might try to fight you. What happens then? Will you be armed?” Mrs. Ripley asked.
Diana had given this situation quite a bit of thought during her flight from the hunting lodge, and she was convinced she knew what to do.
“Reports of highwaymen are easy to read. TheMorning Postcarries accounts almost daily of various robberies committed. I will read up on those and I will pretend to be like the men who stopped me yesterday. There were three of them. They used nicknames and had at least six horses that I believe they use interchangeably. One also spoke with different accents at different times. I can do that, and if I take two men with me, it should be easy enough to manage. The travelers we stop will think that we are those other three men. We will have to carry pistols, and I am prepared to use them if necessary.” She was a decent shot, had to be, since they’d often hunted for pheasants, rabbit, and even some deer on her lands when winters were leaner.
“I hope to save up enough to invest the extra money so that we can live upon the dividends,” she added after a moment.
They both stared at her before Peele spoke. “What men could you trust to do this with you? Surely no strangers? The authorities always offer steep rewards for highwaymen, and I’m sure they would give you away in an instant.”
“I thought I might ask Matthew and Luke.”
“Our footmen?” Peele gaped at her. “But they are barely over twenty. Smart lads, yes, but they still run about like young pups when overexcited. You couldn’t possibly keep them under control during such a dangerous activity. You’d risk their lives?”
“They are both strong, good riders, and I believe the danger of the situation might help them focus. More importantly, they are also loyal to this house. I will offer them a fair percentage of what we take in order to make up for the added risk. It will be entirely their choice. I will not force them, and I will remind them of the inherent risks that come with such a decision.” She sighed and rubbed her temples with her fingers. “We can discuss this in more detail later. I desperately need a bath and some breakfast. We also need to hide this new wealth in a safe place.”
Peele eyed the bags thoughtfully. “I have a place in mind.”
“Good,” Diana replied. “Take the bags. I need to find the list of accounts we owe for the solicitor.”
She left her butler in the study with the burlap sacks and went up the grand staircase that led to the rooms in the east wing. The bedchambers were all empty now except for hers. She’d tried to convince the staff to move out of the servants’ wing, but they had refused, insisting it wasn’t proper. Mrs. Ripley had offered to move Diana’s things into her parents’ bedchamber, but Diana had declined. The house still held the lingering presence of gentle spirits within those lifeless rooms, and Diana couldn’t bear to chase those spirits away by changing anything.
She entered her bedchamber and closed the door, leaning back against it. The velvet day gown she wore was stiff and heavy on her skin, making her feel even more weary than she had moments ago. Perhaps it was because she was home, and she was alone, and no one now would see her crumble and cry. She covered her mouth with one hand as tears crept into the corners of her eyes and she stifled a sob. She was so tired, so very weary of everything she’d had to face these last few years. What she wouldn’t give to have justonemoment that wasn’t driven by fear, anxiety, hunger, or despair?
Wiping away her tears, she faced the room and squared her shoulders. Morning light crept through the gossamer curtains of the tall bay windows, muting the light a little. The pale-blue walls were painted with branches bedecked with flowers, birds, and bees. As a little girl, she’d begged her mother to live in the garden behind the house. Her mother had politely told her that young ladies did not dwell in gardens like fairies, but she would see to it that Diana’s room felt like a garden. She’d gotten out her paints and her brushes, and for a full two weeks she’d painted the floral elements along the base of the walls. Her mother had added woodland creatures like foxes, hedgehogs, badgers, and rabbits. The beasts were so wonderfully lifelike, even after all these years. Diana never wanted to sleep in another bedchamber, not when her mother’s touch of magic was everywhere.
Diana unbuttoned the front of her gown. In the quiet bedchamber, she finally let herself feel what her body had gone through in the last day and night. She could still taste Tyburn’s kiss, like a ghostly presence whenever she dared to let herself think about him. She was still sore between her thighs, and she blushed with the memory of how she’d come to be so. She had been loved,well loved, last night, and she had loved him back the only way she’d known how. She had given herself to a stranger with no regrets.
Diana curled her fingers around her bare throat, missing her necklace and missing Tyburn even more. She placed her other palm against her abdomen, wondering,hopingthat perhaps she would have something beyond her memories to carry forward in her life. Her bearing a child would be impossible to hide from the families who lived on the lands around them, but she would gladly suffer the scandal to have a piece of that wonderful night that she could cradle in her arms. Her best memory would havea name. It would have adorable chubby cheeks and a laugh that would banish the storms and bring out the very sunlight.
Only time would tell if she had such a life within her womb. Tyburn would never know her name or if she had a child. She couldn’t meet him again in two months, not after what she’d just done.
Diana dropped her hand from her throat. It was time to put aside her emotions. It was time to protect her future. Tyburn and his friends had shown her the way. She would not let her servants,her family, down.
