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The woman swatted at her husband’s sleeve. “Just give him your coin purse,” she said. “He will see that we have money.”
“Isabella,” the man warned, “will you stop being so infuriating?”
“These highwaymen are not robbing us because they think we are poor,” she stated, her voice shrill.
Guy put his hand up. “I never said that.”
The woman removed her coral necklace and extended it towards him. “Take it!” she demanded.
“I do not want it,” Guy said, taking a step back. “You two are free to go.”
The woman tossed the necklace to his feet. “That coral necklace is worth more than you will steal in a year.”
Guy reached down and picked up the necklace. “I have no need for a coral necklace, and I do not intend to steal yours, Ma’am.”
The man put his hand out for the necklace. “You must excuse my wife. She is rather inebriated at the moment.”
“I am not!” the woman exclaimed, tossing her hands up in the air. “I just have never heard of highwaymen who refuse to steal from the people they stop on the road.”
Guy set the necklace in the man’s hand and took a step back. “I’m afraid we are looking for something specific this evening.”
“Are you looking for coins?” the woman asked. “My husband has nearly ten pounds on his person.”
“Will you shut your mouth, Woman?” the man growled.
Guy resisted the urge to laugh at the marital spat he was witnessing. Instead, he said, “I suggest you use more caution when you travel at night.”
The man opened the door and ordered, “Get in the coach, Isabella.”
Isabella let out a huff as she stomped to obey.
Before the man ducked into the coach, he said, “Thank you for not robbing us.”
Guy tipped his head. “It was our pleasure.”
As he watched the coach drive away, Guy removed the covering over his face and remarked, “That poor man.”
Hawthorne chuckled. “I have never attempted to rob anyone before, but that was quite brutal.”
Guy went to mount his horse and said, “Let’s hope the next person we stop will yield more results.”
Chapter Fourteen
Sitting in thecorner of the coaching inn, Guy was eating his breakfast after being up the entire night before. They had only stopped the one coach, so staking out the main road had been a colossal waste of time. He was tired, cold, and his body ached from being in the saddle.
“Perhaps you got the information wrong?” Hawthorne asked as he sat across from him.
Guy frowned. “I doubt it,” he replied. “Burke was adamant that the note would be delivered last night.”
“What if the rider came by a different road?”
“It is a possibility. I just assumed he would have been traveling the main one from London.”
“Have you considered that this Burke doesn’t trust you?”
“I have, but that couldn’t be the reason.”
“Why not?”
