Quick as a flash his hand was at her elbow, steadying her. “You’re not going to swoon, are you?” he asked, his fingers offering just the right amount of pressure to keep her on her feet.

Without letting her go.

Grace shook her head. “No,” she said softly.

“You have my heartfelt thanks for that,” he replied. “It would be lovely to catch you, but I’d have to drop my gun, and we couldn’t have that, could we?” He turned to the dowager with a chuckle. “And don’t you go thinking about it. I would be more than happy to catch you as well, but I don’t believe either of you would wish to leave my associates in charge of the firearms.”

It was only then that Grace realized there were three other men. Of course there had to be-he could not have orchestrated this by himself. But the rest of them had been so silent, choosing to remain in the shadows.

And she had not been able to take her eyes off their leader.

“Has our driver been harmed?” Grace asked, mortified that she was only now thinking of his welfare. Neither he nor the footman who had served as an outrider were anywhere in sight.

“Nothing that a spot of love and tenderness won’t cure,” the highwayman assured her. “Is he married?”

What was he talking about? “I-I don’t think so,” Grace replied.

“Send him to the public house, then. There is a rather buxom maid there who-Ah, but what am I thinking? I am among ladies.” He chuckled. “Warm broth, then, and perhaps a cold compress. And then after that, a day off to find that spot of love and tenderness. The other fellow, by the way”-he flicked his head toward a nearby cluster of trees-“is over there. Perfectly unharmed, I assure you, although he might find his bindings tighter than he prefers.”

Grace flushed, and she turned to the dowager, amazed that she wasn’t giving the highwayman a dressing down for such lewd talk. But the dowager was still as pale as sheets, and she was staring at the thief as if she’d seen a ghost.