“Oh, but I believe that it is.” Lady Yardley’s eyes danced. “The description of him is exactly the same as the man you have described. Tall, with flashing eyes hidden behind a dark mask. A hat – the same description as you have given – and dark hair curling at the edges. No indeed, my dear Elizabeth, I believe that this highwayman is the very same. It is only that somehow, and in some way, he has changed his ways from when he spoke with you.”
Elizabeth still could not quite take it in. It was most extraordinary, for what sort of highwayman changed his ways in such an odd manner as this? He had taken her brooch, so why then would he not seek to do more? Why would he not desire everything that others could give him? It made very little sense, and Elizabeth passed one hand over her eyes for a moment, taking a breath as she attempted to come to an understanding of the situation.
“Mayhap it is that, in meeting you, he has decided to alter himself.” Miss Millington smiled brightly as Elizabeth shot her a quick glance. “When you met him, no doubt you spoke with determination, and your words affected him in some way.”
“Certainly, I did speak freely.” Elizabeth frowned. “But why should my words make any particular difference? I am sure that many a person has spoken to him in such a way.”
“Unless they have not.” Lady Yardley shrugged. “Miss Millington might be correct. There could be something about you that caught his attention. After all, you said that you believed he was someone from the upper classes – so he has no need of the coin, and has chosen to mend his ways so that, if you meet again, you will think better of him.”
The slight smile on her face made Elizabeth laugh as Miss Millington giggled.
“I hardly think a highwayman would develop a wish to improve himself, simply based upon me and my considerations.”
Elizabeth laughed again, only to stop suddenly as the way he had kissed her came to mind. Absently, she touched her lips with one hand and did not see the way that Lady Yardley and Miss Millington exchanged a glance.
“Lady Yardley might well be correct!” Miss Millington giggled again, her eyes dancing. “This highwayman is a gentleman and, fearful you will not accept him if you discover the truth, now seeks to do good so that when the truth is revealed – for a gentleman cannot hide such a thing as that from any lady he desires – you will not think too badly of him.”
This was all said with a slight twinkle in the lady’s eye, which Elizabeth caught easily. She grinned.
“I do think that a little farfetched.”
“As do I,” Miss Millington replied with a chuckle. “But it is still within the realms of possibility.”
“It is in thefarrealms of possibility, I think,” Lady Yardley laughed. “But all the same, it seems as if this highwayman is not as he once was. I think…” Tilting her head, she nodded slowly, as if considering. “I think I shall publishallof these accounts. I think it only wise.”
Elizabeth nodded.
“I agree.” Something came to her and, biting her lip, she hesitated as Lady Yardley waited for her response. “Although I do not think it gives us any further way of identifying the highwayman. This last account - one from Lord and Lady Stanfield - states that the highwayman ended the betrothal between his daughter and a gentleman of theton. At first glance, I thought it was that the highwayman had done something roguish, but it appears that the highwayman knew of this gentleman and was able to inform the young lady of what her betrothed had been doing in her absence.” She shook her head, nibbling on the edge of her lip again for a moment. “Surely Lord Stanfield could have demanded that the highwayman remove his mask, that he make his features plain… but he did not. He could have shot him dead but, again, he did not.”
“Because he identified that there is some good in this highwayman.” Lady Yardley spoke softly. “There are always reasons behind the actions someone takes. I do not know precisely what this highwayman is doing, but whether he is a gentleman or not, there will be a reason for his change. There will be something that has shifted in his world, which now results in an altering of temperament and behavior. I am not suggesting that we need to discover what such a thing is. I only state that, from these accounts, we see that thereisgoodness within this person. He has a desire to aid, rather than to steal. And did you notice this also?” Getting up, she picked up one of the letters from the table and brought it back across to Elizabeth. “There are a few more than this, all stating the same,” she finished quietly. “People who have had their precious items taken only to find them again some days or even weeks later. They cannot account for it, of course, being quite sure that the highwayman took such things from them. In some way, however, he appears to have given them back.”
Elizabeth’s eyebrows rose to her hairline.
“No, indeed I did not see this.” Her heart twisted with a sudden painful jerk. “Though he has not returned my brooch as yet.”
“He may.”
Miss Millington rose, came across the room, and read the letter Elizabeth held in her hand, standing a little behind her.
“Does this not also suggest that it is someone from the higher classes? Someone who has no need for such wealth and therefore returns it?”
“Then why take it in the first place?” Elizabeth asked, still reading the few lines penned in the letter. “Why become a highwayman, if not to steal?”
There was a short pause.
“Simply for the sheer enjoyment of it? A diversion, almost – although not one I can condone.”
Elizabeth looked up at her friend, her heart quickening.
“That is a wise thought.” Pressing her lips together, she looked back at the letter. “Then am I to expect the return of my brooch at some unexpected moment?”
“You may have hope, certainly,” Lady Yardley answered. “You must be careful to keep watch, Elizabeth. It may not require these accounts and letters for you to identify the highwayman.”
It took a moment but, as she realized what Lady Yardley meant, Elizabeth caught her breath.
“You mean to suggest that he is already known to me,” she said softly. “And therefore, at some moment I will find my brooch returned. When that happens, I will need to consider which gentlemen have been near me.”
Lady Yardley nodded.
