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upper hand, Victoria still hated to be taken off guard. Which was awfully ironic, considering her chosen profession.
    Stop dawdling, Vickie, and get on with it!
    Having chastised herself sufficiently, Victoria sprung into action, throwing open the door to the carriage. She pointed her gun at the man, who much to her surprise, sat opposite Lady Beecham. She still didn’t know who he was, as the darkness was thick tonight, with no moon to light her victims’ faces.
    Screwing up her courage and convincing herself that two was no harder than one, especially since one was a woman, she said, “Your money or your life.”
    Lady Beecham screamed and clutched her chest. At least, that’s what Victoria thought she did based on the way her rubies clicked together. Even if she had been willing to take her eyes off the man, she wouldn’t have been able to tell in the dark.
    There was a pause and then the man spoke beneath his breath. “Damn! Of all the nights for you to sneak into my carriage,” he said to Lady Beecham.
    Victoria froze. Oh, goodness. This was not good. Damn and blast, what was Fin doing in Lady Beecham’s carriage? No. What was she doing in his carriage?   And how had she and Gil confused the two?
    She took a moment to catch her breath and reminded herself that Fin didn’t know who she was, or that she was even a she. She’d had no trouble convincing anyone else she was of the male persuasion; this would be no different. Though she did hate to steal from Fin.
    “Your money or your life!” Victoria said again, hating the panic in her own voice.
    “Fine, fine,” Fin said as he reached into his coat to retrieve his purse. He handed it over, and Victoria weighed it in her hand. “I know it isn’t much, but I spent the rest on flowers this afternoon.”
    “Flowers?” This from Lady Beecham. “For whom?”
    Victoria swallowed hard. Who were the flowers for? And why did she care all of a sudden?
    “I’m afraid that’s none of your business, my lady.” He then turned to Victoria. “Now, may we be on our way?”
    Did he always speak to armed robbers this way? His bravado was quite alarming. If she were truly a highwayman with a loaded gun, she might find his attitude a bit off-putting, and who knew what a highwayman with a loaded gun would do in that situation? She ought to teach him a lesson, but she still had jewels to retrieve.
    She trained her gun on Lady Beecham and said, “The rubies. All of them.”
    “What!” Lady Beecham made as if she were going to swoon. “Not my rubies! My precious, precious rubies!”
    “Oh, give him the damned rubies,” Fin said. He clearly had little patience for the woman’s histrionics, which was somehow comforting to Victoria.
    There was an audible gasp from the lady, but once she’d collected herself, she removed the jewels from about her neck.
    Once Victoria had them in her possession, she did her best to refocus her attention on the task at hand. It wasn’t good that she’d let her mind wander while she waited on the rubies. Even worse was the subject of her distraction.
    “Five minutes,” she muttered to the pair. “Don’t move a muscle until then.”
    “Yes, yes,” Fin said, waving her off. “You’ve got what you wanted, now off with you.”
    Ha! Victoria wanted desperately to laugh in his face and remind him that she held the gun in this instance, but arguing with him would give her away. So instead, she held her tongue and headed back to her own carriage, trying desperately to ignore the annoying feeling of jealousy that nagged at her heart.
    ***
    Damn, damn, damn!   Well, this was certainly his lucky night. A boring dinner followed by a loathsome woman sneaking into his carriage, and rounded off with a robbery. How bloody coincidental, after hearing about the damned highwayman from Lord Culver all night.
    Well, at least no one was harmed. Though one wouldn’t be so sure if they heard the wails and cries coming from his carriage right now.
    “I