‘Take me home, please, Mick,’ Molly begged, her features contorted with pain and her arms clinging to this man whom she loved so much.

‘Oh, Molly… my sweet darling,’ he murmured, his heart heavy with love. He wanted nothing more in this world than to take his Molly home. To take her and keep her, and love her forever.

Seeing that the young woman would live – and some feeling cheated because of it – the crowd began melting away. Only one man lingered a while longer: a man attired in evening suit and with an air of prosperity about him, a man with brown eyes and a serious look on his attractive face. In the dark, in the background, he remained unobserved, although he was in a position to see both Molly and Mick clearly. For one uncertain moment it seemed that he might make himself known. But then he abruptly turned away and climbed into the waiting carriage.

Now, as he smiled at the redhead waiting there, her slim shoulders wrapped in fur and her long fingers bright with diamonds, the seriousness of the previous moment swiftly left him. ‘Drive on!’ he urged the man up front.

‘Was it an accident?’ his companion asked, her pink-painted nails stroking the vivid scar down her cheek as was her habit.

Taking hold of her fingers, he put them to his mouth and began playfully biting them. ‘Don’t worry your pretty head about such things,’ he told her with a twinkling grin. ‘Just concentrate on me, darling. Because, now that the Justice has gone to his maker, I intend to be the only man in your life. And I won’t complain if you should blackmail me to your heart’s desire!’ He laughed aloud. ‘So long as it’s me body you’re after… and not my money!’

‘That’ll be the day, when you’ve got money of your own,’ she chuckled. ‘No wonder they call you Jack-the-Lad.’

The sound of their raucous laughter echoed behind them. There was a moment when his face peered from the back window to see Mick gently raise Molly from the pavement. His arms about her were strong and sure. She clung to him, and they looked so right together.

Turning to his vulgar, teasing companion, Jack kissed her full on her scarlet mouth, his fingers reaching inside her silken blouse. They laughed and drew closer. Suddenly he felt as though a mountain of responsibility had fallen from his shoulders.

Lapsing into a short, troubled silence, he realized that Molly would never willingly give herself up to any man while she believed herself to be wed to another, and he was filled with guilt. He should have told Molly long ago how their ‘marriage’ had been a carefully arranged sham. He was not one to be shackled by any woman, even one as captivating as Molly, and he knew she would not sleep with him unless it was with a ring on her finger. He had cheated her. Now, he must right that wrong. Somehow he must get word to her that she was a free woman. No doubt she would curse him for the rogue he was, but he hoped she would forgive him. He believed she would, for Molly was never vindictive. He chuckled aloud.