The Highwayman's Daughter (13 page)

‘And then what happened? You and Mo— I mean Sarah, fell in love?’ Cora stared at Ned, still shaken by all these revelations.

Ned smiled and shook his head. ‘Not right away, no, although I won’t deny I was smitten. She’d had a shock, so I gave her time and …’ He shrugged. ‘Yes, we fell in love. We moved away from this area, so no one ever knew you weren’t really our child.’

‘And Lady Heston’s … remains? Who discovered them?’

‘I’ve no idea. Before we left, I unleashed the horses and shooed them off across the heath. I’m guessing the coach was found in the morning or soon after, but I didn’t stay to find out. I had to get you and Sarah away from there, and fast.’

‘So where did you go?’ Cora needed to know every last detail.

‘Well, back to my humble cottage first.’ Ned smiled. ‘That was when you stole my heart too.’

‘Me?’ Cora laughed. ‘But I was just a baby.’

‘Aye, but when we got there, you were wide awake. You seemed to be studying me as if I were the strangest thing you’d ever laid eyes on. I was probably just being fanciful; I’ve heard newborn babies can’t see that well. But your tiny fists were waving furiously and when I slipped my little finger inside your hand, your tiny perfect fingers closed around it, and that was it. You had me.’

Cora smiled. ‘You’re too soft-hearted for your own good,’ she murmured. ‘Was it your idea to call me Cora or did I already have a name?’

‘No, Lady Heston never said. But you had that birthmark on your cheek and very distinctive it was too, shaped like a heart. It gave me an idea – I said to myself, I’ll call you Cora, short for
corazon
, the Spanish word for “heart”. I’d learned a handful of words, probably none fit for a lady’s ears, from a travelling Spaniard I’d once shared a jug of ale with. It seemed fitting, and Sarah agreed.’ He sighed and sent her a tired smile. ‘You’re my heart and always will be, child.’

Cora stared at him, not quite able to take in what she’d just heard. When the impact of Ned’s words finally hit home, she felt as if her innards had been ripped out. ‘So … so …’ she said, struggling against the hard lump in her throat, ‘all this time, we’ve been living a lie?’

‘I assure you, my heart, Sarah and I were your mother and father in every sense of the word except through blood. No one loved you as she did. You were the first thing on her mind when she woke in the mornings, and her last thought before bed. Just as you occupy my thoughts now.’

And you mine
, Cora wanted to add, but her tongue seemed stuck. She knew one thing, though: she had to get the money they needed to leave this place. She had to protect him as he had once protected her. Get him away from Jack so he couldn’t threaten them anymore. It was too dangerous to stay.

‘Are we done, m’lord?’ The groom called down from the box.

He and Jack had driven from the outskirts of Hounslow to The Black Dog and back three times now. The groom could hardly disguise the impatience in his voice and Jack heartily agreed with the man. The constant dips in the bumpy road were beginning to grate on his nerves, and every time they passed the gibbets he felt the small hairs rise on the back of his neck.

Instead of his own carriage, Jack had chosen one without the family crest; it had been taken out of commission a while back and mice had chewed and nested in the leather seats till practically all the stuffing spilled out.

‘Another turn, if you please, Benning,’ he called back, and then cursed as the wretched carriage dipped into a hole in the road, and he knocked his head against the carriage window.

And after that another turn,
he added to himself.
I intend to do this all damn night if that’s what it takes to find her.

For a moment, assailed by doubt that he would ever see Cora again, he regretted his decision not to pursue her, but he knew it would have been futile. This was better. It had to be. He suspected she would leave the county altogether and settle somewhere else, now he knew her identity. He would if he were her, and for that she would need travel money, he’d bet his last penny on it. For an experienced highwaywoman there was an easy solution to that problem. And she didn’t seem like the type of woman who would wait once she’d decided on a course of action. She would do it tonight. He was even making it easy for her, travelling along the most deserted part of the Heath in a carriage with lanterns blazing and only one unarmed man on the box.

When they reached the ten-mile stone, Benning turned the carriage around, and with much cussing of the horses, they were heading back to The Black Dog.

A shot rang out, and the carriage came to an abrupt stop.
At last!
Tensing, Jack cocked the pistol in his right hand and peeked out of the window. In the glare from the many lanterns he and Benning had strapped on he could see a dark figure on horseback pointing a pistol, but he couldn’t be sure it was Cora.

Through the walls of the carriage he heard the muffled order for Benning to step down and lie by the side of the road. It was a young voice – not unlike a woman’s – and his confidence was restored. It seemed Cora had walked right into his trap.

‘You in there! Step out of the carriage!’ Cora yelled at the closed door.

Jack had to hand it to her; she was good and took no chances. Cora knew the dangers, that if she pulled open the door, there was a good chance she would find herself staring down the barrel of a pistol. Jack needed to lure her closer.

‘I can’t!’ he called back, making his voice high-pitched, like a hysterical old crone’s. ‘You have me frightened out of my wits, and my old limbs won’t move.’

‘Step out of the vehicle, now,’ shouted Cora, ‘or your driver’s a dead man! You want that on your conscience, you old bag?’

Benning whimpered pathetically on the ground, and Jack cried theatrically, ‘Lord, have mercy on us all.’

‘Oh, for the love of God!’ Jack heard Cora groan impatiently. She yanked the door open and pointed her pistol into the dark.

Jack was faster. He caught her pistol arm, pulled her inside the carriage, pushed her flat on her stomach and sat on her, pinning her with his weight.

‘What the …?’

‘Hello,’ he said pleasantly, ‘we meet again.’

‘You!’ Cora hissed.

She kicked out and fought to get up, but Jack was too heavy for her. ‘No, no, no,’ he said, ‘we don’t play like that, my dear.’ Grabbing her wrist, he wrenched the pistol out of her hand and uncocked it, placing it out of reach on the vermin-chewed seat. ‘There, now we’re all safe and sound. Or, on second thoughts, maybe not.’

He put his hand under her black cloak and felt for her second pistol; it was tucked halfway down the front of her breeches. His hand brushed against her naked skin, and for a moment he kept it there, enjoying the sensation of her soft, warm belly against his fingertips. Cora gasped.

Chuckling, Jack pulled out the pistol; then he unclipped her rapier and slung it on top of the pistols. Only then did he turn her over, although he kept her trapped between his legs and her wrists pinned down with his hands.

Cora snarled in frustration and glared at him. ‘What do you want from me? Are you going to violate me, is that it? How very noble of you.’

‘You’re very appealing, but no, not today. As for being noble, well, taking a woman against her will is hardly less noble than robbing honest, hard-working folk at pistol point, don’t you think? No,’ he said, ‘I want to talk with you.’

‘Is that what they call it now?’ Cora muttered defiantly. He wondered whether under different circumstances she would have liked to get intimate with him, but he would never do so against her will. He let go of her wrists and eased off her; then lifted her and sat her down, none too gently, opposite her weapons.

‘Yes, just talk,’ he said and removed her mask.

Flopping back against the seat, Cora rubbed her wrists and eyed him belligerently. With his pistol trained on her, Jack stared back, excited and disturbed by her presence. Her eyes blazed in challenge, but he recalled the softer look he’d seen in them on another occasion and knew she wasn’t as indifferent to him as she pretended to be right now. The thought pleased him, absurdly so, and there were a thousand things he would have wanted to say to her, if he hadn’t found himself strangely tongue-tied.

Unwittingly, Benning came to the rescue. ‘M’lord?’ he called tentatively from outside the carriage. ‘I heard a commotion, and I thought …’

‘Everything is in order, Benning. I’ve caught the miscreant.’

Benning stuck a dishevelled head inside the carriage, grinning from ear to ear. ‘Capital, m’lord, capital! I suppose we’ll be off to the magistrate’s now?’

Cora’s eyes widened and her whole body tensed, like that of a cat ready to spring. Her gaze fell on her weapons, and Jack placed his hand over them – he knew what she was contemplating, and it would do her no good.

‘Not so fast, Benning. This young person and I have some business to discuss. If you’d be so good as to tie his horse to the back of the carriage we can continue along as before. Oh, and, Benning,’ he added, with a hint of steel in his voice, ‘anything you see and hear tonight is strictly between us. Do I make myself clear?’

‘Yes, m’lord. I ain’t gonna breathe a word.’

He handed him Cora’s weapons. ‘You’d better take these, just to be on the safe side.’ He winked at Cora, who glowered at him.

‘Right you are.’ With a meaningful look in Cora’s direction Benning dusted down his coat, took the pistols and the rapier, and retreated from the carriage, muttering something about lords and their hare-brained schemes.

Jack closed the door and rapped on the roof, and soon they were rattling along the Bath Road again. In her corner Cora sulked, but she seemed more at ease now it was apparent Jack wasn’t planning on turning her over to the authorities. He didn’t doubt for a moment that she would bolt at the first opportunity, and he resolved to make sure such an opportunity wouldn’t arise.

Eventually, curiosity must have got the better of her. ‘Is that my pistol you’re holding?’ she asked with a bad-tempered toss of the head.

He shrugged. ‘I have yours, you had mine. Let’s not quibble about pistols. Let’s talk.’

‘What do you want to talk about?’

‘I wanted to pick up our conversation from where we left off earlier,’ Jack replied. ‘I’m quite certain you’re the daughter of my father’s late cousin, and as I’ve said before I believe my father should do right by you.’

Cora was silent for a moment; then she laughed and for Jack it was as if someone had let the sun in. ‘I must admit, m’lord, you’re not like other noblemen I’ve met. Most lords would wish to forget their illegitimate relatives, if that is indeed what I am.’

‘You don’t believe me?’

Cora regarded him warily, and from what he could see of the changing expressions on her face, she seemed to be engaged in some kind of internal debate. ‘Whether I’m the daughter of your captain, I do not know, sir, but I have good reason to believe that I am the child of Lady Heston. When I was hardly a day old, my father held up the coach in which the lady was travelling. She was feverish and dying and in her addled state she implored him to take me away and keep me safe from her husband. Although what I should have to fear from Lord Heston I can’t imagine. I have no wish to lay any claims to his property. Nor would I be able to.’

Jack nodded; he had already guessed as much from his investigation. ‘And so you were brought up as the child of a highwayman and a maid.’

‘What do you know of my mother … I mean … of Sarah Duval?’ Cora asked.

‘I’ve been making enquiries.’

Sitting up abruptly, she sent him a startled look. ‘Enquiries?’

‘Oh, Cora, you must know I have no intention of handing you over to the magistrate. If I wanted to, we would be heading there right now, not chatting amiably in a carriage. And I have no wish to harm your father either. You must trust me in this. You do trust me, don’t you?’

She was quiet for a while, but then she nodded.

‘Good,’ he said. ‘Now, I’ve not shared my findings with anyone. I’m aware that Sarah Duval was accused of having robbed Lady Heston and that there was a reward for her capture when she disappeared. I’m also aware that she’s been beyond reach these past nine years,’ he added gently.

Cora smiled sadly. ‘It … it broke my heart to see her suffer as she did. One miscarriage after the next. She was so tired and weak, and yet she never complained. Of course, I was only a child, I didn’t understand as much then. Being a family was all she ever wanted, and when her wish was finally granted, we thought …’ She lowered her eyes, and it was some time before she was able to speak again. When she did, it was with a rebellious glare and a toss of her head. ‘I will never think of her as anything other than my mother, regardless of what anyone says.’

‘I understand that,’ said Jack. ‘Truly, I do. The bonds we form are not governed merely by blood. But there’s also such a thing as duty.’

‘Duty?’ Cora’s tone was enquiring, but he detected a note of disappointment.

‘I feel it’s my duty to make sure you’re looked after, as a member of my family. Robbing coaches will only lead you to the end of a rope.’

‘Provided you’re correct,’ she countered.

‘I’ll admit that first I was working from the assumption that the good captain had got a young girl in trouble, in this case your … mother, but what you’ve told me about Lady Heston makes more sense. My father mentioned that there had been some scandal and his cousin was in love with a married woman.’

He had given her a lot to think about, and so had her father by the sounds of it. It was only reasonable that he gave her a moment to absorb these facts. Then he continued. ‘It seems clear to me that Cecil Blythe and Lady Heston had an affair, and that she fled her husband’s wrath when she saw that her child had the same distinctive eyes as her lover as well as his colouring.’

Cora shook her head and smiled. ‘A tall tale, indeed.’

‘At least humour me and let me show you his portrait,’ said Jack. ‘It will become apparent to you that there are other similarities.’

‘Is that what this abduction is about? You want to show me the family gallery? At this hour?’