Page 82 of A Stolen Heart

“In our discussion or our journey?”

“Both. I haven’t seen a house along this road yet.” Alexandra cast a look around. It had been growing darker as they walked. The trees and hedges on either side of the road had made the lane shadowy, and she realized that the sun was almost gone, and there was an evening gloom in the lane. “Oh, dear. It’s almost evening.”

“Yes. It won’t make walking any easier, particularly on this road. Hopefully we will come upon something soon.”

They were tired, but the closing twilight made them pick up their pace. Night came fast, and they trudged on, picking their way more carefully. The road gradually widened, and after a while they came upon a crossroad that was larger than their lane. Their spirits revived somewhat as they started along the road.

They were nearing a curve when Sebastian stopped suddenly and raised his hand. “Listen.”

Alexandra came to a halt, too, and they stood still and silent for a long moment, their ears straining. A noise sounded softly, and it took Alexandra a moment to realize what it was—the jingle of a harness.

“A horse?” she breathed.

There was a cough and then the faint sound of hooves on a dirt road. “Thank heavens!” Alexandra exclaimed, her face lighting up, and she darted down the road, waving her arms. “Hello! We need help!”

“No, wait!” Sebastian reached out for her, but he caught nothing but air. With a grimace he started after her. “Alexandra!”

He reached her and grabbed her arm. “Shh! We don’t know who it might be.”

“They’re bound to help us,” Alexandra replied confidently.

“Not everyone is a friend.”

The horses rounded the curve toward them. It was a small group of men, four at the most, and they led with them a riderless horse. When they rounded the curve and saw Alexandra and Sebastian standing before them, they paused, then came forward slowly. It was difficult to see them. They seemed very dark, with no spot of white on their clothing, and their horses were all black, without any markings.

They stopped a few feet from Alexandra and Sebastian. Alexandra drew in a sharp gasp when she saw that the face of the man in front was dark from the nose up. The next instant she realized that he was wearing a half-mask over his eyes and nose. The effect was chilling.

“Bloody hell!” Sebastian breathed beside her. “A highwayman.”

She felt him tense beside her, and he crossed his arms. Alexandra remembered the knife hidden in a scabbard up his sleeve. A shiver ran through her at the thought of Sebastian going up against these four men with only a knife, and she quickly ran through her mind what she could use as a weapon to help him. She wished desperately that she had not dropped her reticule in the struggle with her attacker. Her gun was in it, useless, where the balloon had taken off.

“Good Lord! What have we here?” the man in front said lightly. Despite his appearance, his speech was that of a gentleman. “Out for an evening stroll?”

“Hardly the place I would choose to take a stroll,” Alexandra replied. “We are lost and in need of help.”

“Alexandra…” Sebastian cast her a quelling look.

The stranger glanced at him and grinned, his even white teeth glinting in the darkness. “Ah, the husband, I think.”

Alexandra opened her mouth to deny it, but before she could speak, Sebastian said loudly, “Yes. This is my wife. I am Sebastian, Lord Thorpe.”

Alexandra looked at him oddly, but said nothing. “A lord?” The rider laid a hand over his heart in an gesture of awe. His dark eyes danced, and his lips curved in mocking smile. “I am—overwhelmed.”

“I doubt that,” Sebastian retorted dryly.

“It is most tedious to be lost,” the stranger went on, ignoring Sebastian’s comment. “Perhaps we can be of assistance.”

“Yes!” Alexandra agreed quickly. “That would be very nice.”

“But forgive me.” The man made a show of looking around. “How did you come to this place?”

“Balloon.”

“I beg your pardon.” The man looked at them blankly, and Sebastian felt a certain sense of satisfaction.

“We came by balloon,” Sebastian explained. “You know—in the air.”

“Yes, of course, I know. But where is the balloon? And is it not usual to have people on the ground? Followers?”