The Lady and the Highwayman

The Lady and the Highwayman

A bodice ripper

Chapter 1 by Manbear Manbear

Charlotte Marlton watched her gelding limp as she led the tall roan a few steps across the pasture.

"Damn" she said aloud using language that she never would have spoken had any of her family or friends been present. Charlotte had a reputation for being spirited (her aunts would even say wild) but there are things a lady must never be witness doing, and swearing like a teamster is one of those things.

Still, at the moment the word was appropriate. Copper had landed awkwardly on the far side of a hedge and sprained the ankle on his left foreleg. The rest of the hunt had raced along the hedge rather than attempt the risky jump and by now were far ahead following the foxhounds deeper into the countryside leaving her stranded several miles from her father's country estate.

Looking around, Lady Marlton surveyed the landscape. Nothing but rolling green hills divided by hedgerows into different meadows and peacefully grazing sheep for as far as she could see. Not even a shepherd-boy she could send running for help. With a gentle word of encouragement to the gelding she slowly led him towards the road that would bring her to the quiet village at the foot of her father's estate. Soon she was swearing again as the thistles and briers pulled at the hem of her long skirt. The riding dress was going to be ruined, she thought with a frown as she wished for the thousandth time that her father would let her wear jodhpurs for the hunt.

Lord Marlton insisted that ladies wore skirts and rode side saddle, giving no reason. It had been Charlotte's Aunt Jane who had carefully explained that the rubbing of the saddle against a young lady's privates could stimulate her in inappropriate ways and added also that some women had been known to lose their maidenhead when landing hard after a jump. Charlotte did not need her aunt to tell her that her father would be mortified if his daughter's future groom found any reason to question her purity.

"It is a silly thing," Her aunt reminded her "to risk one's reputation just so you can ride after the hounds like a banshee." Charlotte had reluctantly agreed, but privately suspected that most of those cases of torn hymens were more easily explained by late night walks in the gardens with eager suitors than riding in a reasonable manner rather than trying to land a jump with just one foot in the stirrup and her knee wrapped around the front of the saddle.

The bright sunshine and the heat of the ground under her feet was decidedly uncomfortable and as she approached the edge of the great forest she looked forward to taking off her boots and soaking her feet in the cool brook that ran along the tree line.

Little did she realize that she was not as alone as she thought. Gazing at her athletic form from the woods Randolph Fuller smiled as she got closer. Lady Marlton was easily recognizable, far taller than most women and not as curvy as many, Randy still admired the way her breasts filled her bodice and peeked in a pale swell from the daring dip in her neckline. He wondered if her father approved of the latest fashion from Paris that showed much more of a woman’s delights than the dresses of his youth.

His face hardened into a scowl as he realized that he didn’t care at all what Lord Marlton thought. In fact, he thought as he scanned the open pastures for any signs of the hunt, this may be just the opportunity he had been looking for to strike back at his former Lord.

Randy had more than enough reasons to hate Lord Marlton. His family had worked the same few acres of land for over twenty generations, never getting rich, but always having food on the table. When Marlton announced that he was turning out his tenants to raise sheep Randy's life turned upside down. His home and livelihood swept away from him as surely as if struck by a hurricane. There was no work to be had except during lambing and shearing time, and even then Marlton preferred to bring in experienced sheep men, not the 'ploughboys' that he found in the village. During the summer Randy raised some coin to support his mother and sister by cutting hay, but by autumn it was clear that winter would be a hungry time.

His sister Mary got a job in the Marlton family manner house working as a kitchen maid, which took much of the burden off of him. In the end he signed on with a whale boat in exchange for enough money to provide a place for his mother. He was strong and willing and the captain signed him on the spot. It took two years for the New Bedford to return from the South Pacific and by the time he returned he was a junior officer with a real future. His pocket heavy with pay he made his way back to see how his family was making out in his absence.

He found his mother crying over Mary's bed, his little sister had died in childbirth and the bastard's father never once stepped in to help. It took much of his pay to settle his mother's debts and bury Mary and her stillborn son. Still full of grief Randy listened to his mother detail Mary's misfortunes. She explained that some gentleman at Marlton's estate seduced his young sister with promises he would never keep. His mother did tell him one bit of useful information about Mary's paramour.

"Sweet Mary would never say who the gentleman was, but as she fought her fever she called for 'Jack' over and over."

Randy heard his mother explain that neither this 'Jack' nor Lord Marlton was willing to help support Mary's condition. Worse, when Marlton found one of his maids heavy with child he had her whipped from his house and banished from the Marlton lands. Consumed with rage and grief, Randy walked the fourteen miles to Lord Marlton's estates the very next day.

He crashed a dance held for Marlton's daughter's twentieth birthday; a lively ball filled with both local landowners and eager suitors from London and beyond. In front of all assembled Randy rashly challenged Lord Marlton to defend his actions from the center of the crowded floor. There was no duel. Randolph was set upon by over a dozen of the household servants, thrashed soundly and then sent away with a warning to keep his foul mouthed family far from the Marlton estate.

That night Black Brand was born, but Fuller was not stupid. To protect his mother, Randy Fuller took the time to leave a trail back to Portsmouth where he signed on with an outbound whaler; but as the four-master was weighing anchor he slipped overboard and stealthfully headed back to his childhood home. Within the week of his return, several of Marlton's agents were robbed of their purses and the highwayman's reputation started to grow. Mostly, Randy admitted to himself, he was more of a poacher and thief than a Highwayman. However if caught, he knew he would be hanged for his attacks on the high road, so Highwayman he was whether he wanted the reputation or not.

Looking at the carefree beauty approaching his hiding spot Randy recognized the same attractive woman whose ball he had interrupted. He felt excitement building in his chest. Now at last he had an opportunity to hit Marlton where it would hurt him most.

What happens?

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