“You’re not mine officially yet, either, Ester. Let’s get back on the road to make it true, you as my wife.”
A shaky curl lifted her lips. “He can’t die out here tied to a tree. That shouldn’t happen.”
“Compassion on a man who just called you low names, who threatened to assault you, maybe kill you when he was done?”
“I’m safe. We are both safe. I can’t focus on the bad. Frankly, there is just too much.”
After putting the gun in his waistband, he took her bag and led her through the woods to his phaeton. “I’m sorry, Ester. I was careless. I forced you to act…that was an act, right?”
Her smile hadn’t quite returned. For the first time, he couldn’t read her emotions. “No greater love hath a man than to lay down his life for another, for his friend.” Her voice was low. “I think of you highly. I hope you know me as a friend, too.”
He put her bag into the carriage and then spun to crowd her against the wheel. Tapping the two brass buttons she’d opened to entice the bandit, he drank in her beauty. “May I.”
“Yes. I mean, what?”
Her eyes went wide as he buttoned the first one, then the second. “No one sees you but me, Ester. I’m claiming this figure that has me intrigued beyond a mere distraction. Don’t risk yourself, this loveliness. I’m not worth that sacrifice.”
“Maybe you are to me.”
“Because you’re in love with an actor on the stage?”
“Maybe. But the man, the one who promised he’d come at five minutes after twelve, the one who I knew wouldn’t truly leave me with a highwayman, has me in a serious state of bliss. I’m in serious like for Arthur Bex.”
At this moment, he wished he were Arthur Bex, the one she saw with her topaz eyes. His throat tightened a little. “There is a coaching inn another hour or two ahead. We’ll send word of the highwayman’s capture. No doubt, he’s taken advantage of others. He has to be a wanted criminal.”
“Good, and you’ll tell them. You’ll be a hero. And no one will think it’s my fault.”
He dove his fingers into her loosened hair. Her tresses were silky with heavy curls. It was something to clasp, perhaps strong enough to keep them bound together. “You think they will blame you because you’re Blackamoor?”
She backed away, moving from his hands that wanted more of her.
Fingers working fast, smoothing her locks behind an ear, she nodded. “Yes, and I’m also a woman. The rules are always different for us.”
“They shouldn’t be.” He took her back into his arms and held her for a moment, then lifted her to the padded seat. He climbed up next to her. Before he could stop her, she reached for the reins.
“I could drive for a little longer, Bex.”
“Oh, no. I’m wide awake now.” He’d lowered his tone, but it was too late.
She drew back from him.
“Sorry, Miss Croome, but I’ll drive.” He forced the horses forward. “My emotions are a bit scattered. I need the hum of the road to collect myself.”
“Your voice, Bex. You sound quite angry.”
“I’m angry at myself. I put you at risk. I made you feel as if you had to coerce this man to spare me. I’m not worth your safety.”
As the phaeton moved from grass to the gravel path, Ester looked small again, deflated. It was a long time before she took pins from her pocket and finished righting her hair.
Prim and proper again, and he felt more the heel. He was a good actor; he had to be able to make her smile again. He smoothed the edges of his temper. “Ester.”
“Yes, Bex.”
“Have you done any theater? That little performance was quite good. Makes me wonder of an encore.”
“You were in danger, and I went with the myth about Blackamoors and mulattoes being loose and wild. The horrible man fell for it. I only wanted you out of harm. I knew you could figure something out if a gun wasn’t being waved in your face.”
“Well, save the theater for me. I’m the actor in the family. But thank you for caring so much, so soon about me, Arthur Bex, the man.”
