While Gemma silently agreed, aloud she said, “We will get our life back.I promise.”
“You mean,youwill.”Lucy pulled away looking suspiciously red about the eyes.“I want to help.”
“You are helping,” Gemma protested.“We’d never have gotten the Five Mile this far along without all the work you’ve done.”
“I could’ve done more, though,” Lucy admitted, biting her lip.She darted a look up at Gemma from under the thick fringe of her lashes.“I didn’t tell you what I heard about in the village.”
Gemma frowned slightly.She vaguely remembered sending Lucy out to scour the town for gossip days ago, but she hadn’t truly expected much to come of it.“Oh?Anything that can help us?”
Shrugging, Lucy ducked her head.“I don’t know.Maybe.There’s apparently a highwayman on the loose?”
Gemma blinked.She hadn’t been expecting that.But before she could come up with a reply, Lucy burst out, “But that’s my point, you didn’t even ask what I’d found out.No one listens to me.I’d wager my friends haven’t even noticed I’m gone.”
A small part of Gemma would have liked to roll her eyes at her sister’s adolescent melodrama.Not for the first time, Gemma wished they had the sort of mother who would be able to lend a guiding hand in a moment like this.But as sweet as Henrietta was, she’d never been much good at the guiding hand sort of parenting.She certainly hadn’t helped when Gemma had needed her advice most, that first month after her debut.
And the genuine unhappiness in Lucy’s tone called forth an answering empathy in Gemma.She had never struggled with feeling invisible—rather the opposite.But she could understand missing one’s friends.
Although that made Gemma realize suddenly that she hadn’t spent more than a passing moment missing her own group of so-called friends since she left London.
Putting that errant thought firmly away, Gemma said with an ache in her throat, “Lucy.I’m certain that’s not true.Your friends miss you.I should certainly miss you, if you weren’t here now.”
Lucy made a scoffing noise and Gemma put a hand on her arm, pulling her to a stop.Meeting Lucy’s wide, surprised gaze, Gemma said, “I know I haven’t been much of a sister to you.But we are here now, together.You and Mama are all I have, and I promise that I will listen to you.I see you, Lucy Lively.And if your friends don’t, that can only be considered a tragic loss for them.But I imagine that if you did write to them, especially with something as sensational as the tale of a highwayman, they wouldn’t hesitate to write back to you!”
Lucy’s mouth twisted to one side, as though she was trying not to smile too widely, and Gemma felt another pang of sisterly affection.
“He is supposed to be very handsome,” Lucy said grudgingly.“Beneath his mask, I mean.And with a very gentleman-like air about him.”
Rather than pointing out that most gentlemen, even those of Gemma’s scandalous acquaintance, didn’t spend their time shoving pistols in travelers’ faces and demanding their purses, Gemma linked her arm with Lucy’s and started walking once more.“Excellent.Your friends will have nothing so interesting to share with you!There they sit, bored and listless at home while you are having adventures.They shall be positively puce with envy—and perhaps they’ll demand that their parents bring them to Five Mile House for a visit!”
Lucy gasped, a light glowing from behind her sharp blue eyes.“Oh, Gemma.You’re a genius.”
“I am?”
“Yes,” Lucy cried, and her wide smiled beamed out like a beacon from under the shadow of her bonnet.“I know how I can help bring people to the inn!As soon as we get back to the inn, I’ll write a letter.”
“To one of your friends?”
Her sister’s eyes gleamed in a faintly alarming way.“No.To the editor of theLondon Observator.I’m going to make that highwayman famous—and when people come from miles around hoping to catch a glimpse of him, where will they have to stay?”
Gemma grinned.“Perhaps the new and improved Five Mile House?I believe I see where you’re going with this.Only one problem—will people come from miles around to an area known for armed robberies of carriages?Or will they not rather stay as far away as possible?”
“Ah, but recall that this highwayman is said to be quite handsome, and every inch the gentleman.He hasn't injured a single one of his victims—unless one counts the injury to a lady’s reputation, as it’s rumored he steals more than their jewels…if the lady is willing, he will steal a kiss as well!”
“Is that true?”
Lucy waved an airy hand.“The bit about the injuries is accurate.He must be quite clever about it, not to have been shot already.”
“And the bit about the kisses?”Gemma asked, amused.“Did you make that up, or is it the truth?”
“What is truth?”Lucy responded with a philosophical air.“How important is it, when it comes to a good story?Not very, would be my guess.Certainly the truth is less important than the ability to weave a thrilling tale.”
Having had personal experience with the tendencies of gossip columns to exaggerate and distort their reports, Gemma snorted.“You’re not incorrect.And if you just this moment invented those details about him stealing more than a lady’s jewels, I must say you have a knack for this sort of thing.How brilliant you are.”
The praise brought Lucy’s shoulders straight, her small, pointed chin lifted with pleased pride.“I told you I would do whatever I could to help.”
Bemused, Gemma let the conversation lapse into silence as Beeswax, the draft horse, placidly followed the path through the birchwood.
She had no idea if Lucy’s supposition that travelers would flock to the scene of a highwayman’s crimes was correct.But she had to admit, it felt good to not be the only one with a scheme to get their family out of this mess.
