The highwayman was quick to shake his head.
Her shoulders relaxed slightly, but her grip on the pistol didn’t. “In that case, we can come to an agreement.”
The highwayman’s eyes darted to Wolfgang and back to Charlotte, and it was clear he wasn’t sure who scared him more.
“Here’s the conundrum,” Charlotte continued. “I hate to send you off with nothing to show for a day’s work, and yet you’re trying to rob us. How about this—I give you something valuable and you back away, get on your horse, and ride off as fast as you can. Agreed?”
“I… I…” stammered the man, and when it became clear he wouldn’t get anything else out, he simply nodded.
“All right. Then here, take my pearls.” Charlotte reached up with her free hand and removed her gold and pearl earbobs. “Ready? One, two, three…catch!”
The earbobs arced neatly through the air, and the young robber snatched them up and hopped away like a startled rabbit. Wolfgang climbed out of the carriage, keeping his pistol trained on the man until he was well out of range and the sound of his horse’s hoofbeats faded to nothing.
Something crackled and blazed in Wolfgang’s chest, something he could only call pride.
God, Charlotte was magnificent.
But when he turned back to the carriage to tell her so, he found her white-faced and shaking.
“Dear me, I’m afraid I’m being stupid.” She put her fists to her cheeks and rubbed hard, trying to force the blood back into her face. “I believe I require fresh air.”
Wolfgang’s heart clenched and he reached out a hand to her, but she ignored it, shoving the pistol into her reticule, jumping down onto the grass, and racing off into the trees.
Wolfgang stared after her until the dowager poked her head out of the carriage.
“Well, my boy, don’t you know what to do? Check on our coachman and then go after her!”
CHAPTER 15
The woods were thick, deep, and inconveniently quiet, which made Charlotte’s head ring even louder.
Oh look, there’s an alder, she said to herself, staring up into the trees and trying to ignore the clamor inside.I suppose that means there must be water nearby. Perhaps there’d be a pond to dunk her head in, or a stream where she might splash cold water on her wrists to stop her hands from shaking.
So she’d come face-to-face with a highwayman? So she’d stared down the barrel of his pistol and felt her heart spasm when it turned on Gran and Warrick? So what?
There was no need to goweepyover it.
There was also no need to hie off into the woods, especially as—oh good God, were there more robbers ready to pop out from behind the trees? Charlotte shook her head to clear nonsensical thoughts from it. She’d gone in the opposite direction from the highwayman, she had a pistol in her reticule, and, most important, she refused to let one incident convince her that the Kent countryside was riddled with thieves.
Deep breath, she told herself sternly.You had an adventure! You handled yourself brilliantly!One day she’d climb under the sheets and thrill her grandchildren with the tale, adding more highwaymen and a splash of blood, presuming her grandchildren were the ghoulishtype. See? If only her hands would stop trembling, she and her future progeny would all be perfectly fine.
“Lady Charlotte!” called Warrick from behind her.
Blast.
Charlotte walked faster. What if she cried? In front of Warrick? She’d rather call the highwayman back and plonk Gran’s best tiara on his head.
“Lady Charlotte!”
Charlotte broke into a jog. Warrick’s stride was at least double the length of hers, but she was wilier and—
Two enormous hands landed on her shoulders and he spun her around. “Lady Charlotte, please don’t run off. Your grandmother—”
One look at her face and Warrick hauled her into his arms. “Christ! You’re all right. Don’t you know I’d never let anything happen to you?”
Charlotte held herself rigid, but only for a moment. Warrick was simply too large, warm, and familiar, and she couldn’t resist crumpling against him and letting him rest his chin in the bramble of her hair. She burrowed deeper into his chest, and that seemed to encourage him to whisper comforting nonsense at her, rumbling something male and satisfied as she pressed her cheek against his jacket and let thethump thump thumpof his enormous heart roll through her.
Why was fear so cold? But it melted away to nothing against Warrick, with his hot eyes and blazing hot chest. He generated such incredible warmth, and it amplified his earthy scent until it curled in the air and filled her lungs. She became aware of the delicious stretch of muscle beneath—
