“Nay, ’tis not bravery, lady, but the fact that I was born with a jest on my lips. Do you know what they calls me on the road?”
“No. Tell me!”
“The Joker! That’s my name and that’s my nature. If I forks your pockets, ’tis with a laugh.”
“I shall always remember you, sir, as a man who could laugh at himself,” Serena said softly. “It takes a brave man and great courage to be able to do that.”
“Pray Heaven then, when you do pray,” the highwayman replied, “that when the time comes for them to put a rope round my neck, I may die with a laugh in my throat. I’m told ’tis bone-eating cold on a gibbet.”
Serena gave a little cry.
“Oh, give it up, sir! Give up this life! There are places where you could settle and no one would know who you are or from where you have come. The risk is too great
