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a moment of frowning silence, he rose and prepared to leave. He had much to do before he met her at eight o’clock.

Chapter Four
    It was a dark, gloomy night; the rain that had been falling steadily since morning seemed determined to continue. It dripped incessantly from the trees, falling softly on the dead leaves below.
    The huge black stallion standing just inside the woods pawed the ground restlessly; he was unaccustomed to standing still for such a long time. The woman on his back soothed him with a gentle hand, then turned her gaze to her companion. “You’re very quiet, Jason. Something wrong?”
    Jason drew his cloak tighter about his shoulders and glared at her. “What could be wrong? You drag me out on a night like this—a night not fit for man or beast—just so I can catch my death.”
    “Don’t fuss, Jason. You have to identify that coach for me.”
    “What makes you so bloody sure the coach will even be out tonight? The gent’s probably at home hiding under his bed after being robbed the other night.”
    Quietly, she responded, “Jason, I—may not have much time. I must look for the man every chance I get.”
    “What do you mean by that?” He frowned at her.
    “There are—problems. Problems that may force me to go away for a while.”
    “What kind of problems?”
    She sighed softly. “Family problems. Never mind that now, Jason, just hope that the ‘gent’ had somewhere to go tonight.”
    Jason continued to frown. “An’ if he ain’t got somewhere to go? What then?”
    Jenny uttered a very unladylike word. “Jason, will you stop asking me questions that I cannot possibly answer? If I do not find him tonight, I shall continue my search. I have no other choice.”
    Deciding that a good argument might serve to warm his chilled bones, Jason deliberately set out to anger his young friend—a calculated risk, her temper being what it was. “Don’t be a fool. You ’ave another choice,” he said.
    Icy yellow eyes regarded him expressionlessly. “I should be delighted to hear,” she remarked with awful politeness, “what that other choice is.”
    “You can stop your thievin’ an’ go back to bein’ a proper young lady like your papa wanted. You ain’t helpin’ your papa, lass—an’ how would he feel if he could see what you was doin’? D’you think he’d be proud of his little girl? No! He’d be grieved to see you actin’ like a common thief.”
    It was a long speech, especially coming from the normally taciturn Jason, and Jenny stared at him rather blankly. Instead of taking offense, as he had intended for her to do, she merely seemed concerned.
    “Jason, are you all right? You do not sound like yourself.”
    He sighed. Addressing the heavens, he said, “Ain’t that just like a woman. They never act like you expect ’em to.”
    “Jason, what are you talking about?”
    “Nothin’, lass.”
    She stared at him for a moment and then shrugged slightly. He was, she decided, in a very peculiar mood tonight. She spared very little thought for it, however, as her ears caught the sounds of distant hoofbeats. Both the horses shifted restlessly as their riders’ tension communicated itself to them.
    As the coach rumbled past, Jenny strained her eyes to see if there was a crest on the panel, then turned a questioning gaze to the highwayman. He shook his head silently.
    When the coach had disappeared into the darkness, Jenny swore softly and jerked off her hooded mask. “That makes the fifth coach tonight,” she exclaimed irritably. “I am beginning to agree with you, Jason—this was an idiotic idea.”
    At that moment the moon made a brief appearance and, before it hid again behind the clouds, Jason was treated to the sight of Jenny’s unmasked face. Astonished by the beauty he had been given a fleeting glimpse of, he was moved to say sharply, “For God’s sake, woman, put that mask back on!”
    Jenny shrugged and carelessly responded, “It’s all right, Jason. I trust