Free The Highwayman by Catherine Reynolds

declared dramatically, “It is the highwayman. He has struck again, and this time much closer to home, for it was the squire’s carriage he held up last night.”
    “Oh, my,” Jane murmured with a frown. “So close to Dunby?”
    “Well, no. He still seems to prefer the environs of Leeds. When I said that it had happened closer to home, I meant only that this time the victim was one of our own neighbours. I cannot say what Sir Alfred was doing, returning from Leeds so late at night, but you know what he is.”
    Agatha did not approve of the squire, who was one of the Prince Regent’s rather decadent set.
    Jane ignored her companion’s comment and said, “How terrible for the squire.” But her face had brightened considerably, and she continued, “But, in a way, it is good news.”
    For a dreadful moment, she had feared that Jon had somehow managed to leave the house last night to ply his trade, but now she realized that such a thing was patently absurd. Even were it not for his wound, which would make riding extremely uncomfortable, if not impossible, he was far too weak to have ridden all the way to Leeds.
    Certainly, if the highwayman had struck while Jon was safely ensconced here at Meadowbrook, they could not be one and the same person. Of course, it was very wrong of him to have deceived her so, and she fully intended to have that out with him. Still, it was a great relief to know that he was not, after all, a criminal.
    Agatha was looking at her as though she had lost her senses.
    “Don’t you see, Agatha?” Jane explained eagerly. “This proves that Jo—that Mr. Sebast cannot be the highwayman.”
    Instead of looking pleased, Agatha merely shook her head sadly and said with great reluctance, “It proves that he could not have robbed the squire last night, but I fear that it does not prove his innocence in the matter.”
    “What on earth do you mean?” demanded Jane. “Of course it proves his innocence.”
    “Oh, my dear, I very much fear I have made a dreadful mistake,” said the older woman, shaking her head again. “And all because I wished so much to believe—but that is neither here nor there. The fact of the matter is that I knew he had an accomplice.”
    “An accomplice! Will you please tell me what you are talking about?” cried Jane.
    Agatha explained about the message Jon had asked her to send to the man Kearny, and as she did so, Jane felt the heaviness of disappointment settle over her. She bit her lip as she recalled that just before entering his chamber last night, she thought she had heard voices. Subsequent events had blotted that from her mind, but now it seemed very significant, especially as she had found him standing at the open window.
    Silence fell as Jane sat, frowning thoughtfully, toying with the food on her plate.
    Agatha watched her worriedly, but after several minutes, when Jane still had not spoken, she asked, “What shall we do?”
    Jane straightened in her chair and said firmly, “Why, nothing at all. We shall go on as before.”
    She had quickly decided that there was no reason at all for her spirits to be so lowered. Nothing had really changed, except that now it was more important than ever to get on with her goal. In point of fact, she was even more determined to try to turn Jon from his wayward and destructive path.
    “But should we not at least tell the squire of our suspicions?” Agatha enquired doubtfully.
    “Certainly not! Suspicion is all we have, and that is not enough to condemn a man. And it is not as if we did not suspect from the beginning that Mr. Sebast was the highwayman.” Jane did not add that Jon had, in fact, admitted as much to her.
    “Yes,” conceded Agatha with a puzzled expression. “But do you know, I had convinced myself that we were wrong and that he was a gentleman. I don’t know how my intuition could have led me so far astray. It has never done so before.”
    Agatha seemed more overset by the thought that her intuition had