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looked directly at her, ignoring the others, and something in his eyes – a flirtatious twinkle and slow appraisal of her person – had her insides tied in a knot. Blushing furiously, she looked away.
    The man regarded their group for a moment longer; then smiled and tilted his hat. ‘Well, I wish you all a good day.’ After one final long look at Cora, he rode away.
    On shaky legs, Cora sat down on the tree trunk again, but not before she had caught the look in Mary’s eyes and a ribald gesture from the girl next to her indicating a big belly. Annoyed, Cora moved closer to her father with gossip already ringing in her ears. There was no doubt the man, whoever he was, cut a dashing figure, but to come this close to someone she had recently robbed reminded her that what she was doing carried a real danger. If someone were to uncover her identity, she’d end her life on the gallows, no question about it. Swallowing hard, she glanced at her father.
    What would happen to him if she died?

Chapter Three
    Jack hadn’t wanted to stop and talk to their neighbours, Lord Heston and his son, Kit, but the earl wanted to discuss the subject of selling one of his fields to Heston, so Jack quelled his impatience and greeted the neighbours cordially. Lord Heston, who was dressed in an exquisitely tailored riding coat, white silk stockings and black shoes with gold buckles, could easily have been described as a handsome man, if it hadn’t been for a curiously unlined face completely devoid of any real emotion.
    As always in his presence Jack experienced an involuntary shiver running down his back, and while his father and Lord Heston discussed estate matters, Jack turned to Kit to engage him in conversation. Kit was a handsome young man, tall with broad shoulders and the hallmark thick auburn hair of all the Heston boys, and negotiations were underway that he might one day marry Alethea.
    Normally Kit was very affable but today he seemed subdued, cowed even. Even talking about hunting, shooting and fishing, which had always interested Kit, elicited no more than a few words, and – puzzled – Jack had soon given up. It would have been easier to converse with a stone.
    Instead he’d allowed his gaze to roam, and it had landed on one of the haymakers, a beautiful girl, stretching out the kinks in her back by the looks of it. Fascinated, he’d ridden over to her group and spoken with one of the labourers, and eventually she had looked up and noticed him. Her reaction to him was most gratifying and he saw a flush stain her cheeks as she looked away again. On the ride home to Lampton Hall, he couldn’t get her out of his mind. There had been something about her that captivated him, although for the life of him he couldn’t say what. The sensuous way she’d moved? Her dark hair, shining in the sun? The fact she was taller than any woman of his acquaintance?
    He shook his head. What was the matter with him? First the highwaywoman, now a common labourer. Was he going soft in the head? Perhaps he should have availed himself of the courtesan’s services last night after all.
    ‘Don’t you agree?’ The earl’s voice startled him back to the present.
    ‘I beg your pardon? I was wool-gathering I’m afraid.’
    ‘I said’—as the earl repeated himself, Jack tried to clear his mind of images of lovely women. He had better things to do, such as catching himself a criminal. With a frown, his thoughts returned to their meeting with the magistrate.
    They’d found the man at his home in Hounslow, finishing off his breakfast, and the frown on his face when the servant showed them in indicated his displeasure at being disturbed this early. His expression quickly turned to one of false delight at the sight of the earl.
    ‘My lords, what a pleasant surprise,’ he boomed and indicated for them to sit. ‘To what do I owe this honour?’
    A rotund, middle-aged man, Sir Christopher Blencowe wore an old-fashioned grey wig and severe suit of