Part 1
The plump young woman bent over the bed while making it. Molly grumbled to herself about having to do all the upstairs chores since Pauline had complained about her bursitis acting up. Molly was so involved in her annoyance that when the hand clapped over her mouth and the arm went around her waist, her eyes widened in terror-but not for long. The arm around her waist spun her and she was looking up into the smiling face of the most handsome man she knew.
"Adam, you nearly scared me life out of me," she said.
He feigned remorse. "Why Molly, me darlin' love, I just wanted to stop in and say hello." He threw his tricorn hat on a nearby chair, leaned down and kissed her plump bosom that was exposed by her chemise, the stomacher pushing up her pink flesh.
"And how did you manage to get in here," Molly hissed, gently pretending to fight him off.
He looked at her, seemingly disappointed. "Why, Molly, I can't give away my modus operandi."
"Your what?" Molly asked.
"Oh, Molly, Molly," he sighed, "the only thing that keeps you from being the perfect woman for me is your wanton ignorance." He kissed her milky neck and tipped her backwards on the bed.
"Why we can't do anything here on the master's bed," Molly said, flat on her back as Adam crawled onto the bed and looked down at her.
"And why not? I'm sure fat old Master Parsons uses it for nothing but sleeping as if beds were of no more service than that. Now, Molly, haven't you missed me? Haven't you wondered where I've been?" He kissed her gently and then looked down at her, smiling.
"I just assumed that you found another you liked better than me," Molly said, with a pout. She coyly looked up at Adam. His wide grin always charmed her and he always smelled so clean and fresh, unlike the stable boy she usually sported with. And his clothes were always immaculate and his high, black riding boots, polished to a fault. The whole man glowed with a radiance she had never seen in any other man. But then, he wasn't like any other man. She wondered who he really was.
"Oh, no one is better than you, my dear Molly, and your round, warm thighs." And he kissed her again. Molly sighed deeply and let Adam have his way with her.
Molly remained on the bed, still enjoying the pleasing warmth coursing through her, her skirts still up, while Adam adjusted his clothes. He picked up his hat, brushed a speck off it with his hand and put it on. He pulled two coins from his pocket.
"Molly, shall I put these in your…'purse?' He glanced at her lying on the bed, smiling at the double-entendre which even in her ignorance, Molly would understand. Molly pushed her skirts down and sat up.
"Oh, you are the nasty one, aren't you? I don't know why I put up with you," Molly said.
"Because you love me, girl, and because no one can make you happier to toss up your petticoats than I can." And still grinning, Adam dropped the two coins down her bodice and then climbed out the window and jumped. By the time Molly managed to get to the window, Adam Cartwright had disappeared.
"I swear, that man-he's no good but by all that's holy, I do love him." And Molly sighed, reached inside her bosom for the coins to check them-it would just be like that blackguard to cheat her, she thought. They were real silver coins and she smiled to be paid for receiving the delight that she would willingly give him for free. And then she finished changing the sheets on her Master's bed.
It was nearly dark and Adam sat on his large, black horse in the lowering shadows of the forest near Hounslow Heath. His two partners in crime were on foot standing behind the bushes and trees on the other side of the road, their horses nearby. They were two men who had owed Adam large gambling debts; he had impressed them to operate as his cohorts and since doing so had proved so lucrative to Dick and Mac, they remained his loyal accomplices. Adam, as that was the only name by which they knew him although they called him Captain for his stint in the dragoons, was most generous in sharing the booty; it was as if he didn't need the money but robbed travelers merely for amusement; he could have made his living at the gaming tables alone.
Adam sat, his horse who was eager to go; Jupiter didn't like to remain still when his muscles were tensed, eager to go, just as his rider's muscles were prepared to go into action; they made a magnificent pair, the dark rider on the dark horse. Adam held his blunderbuss at the ready; he had a pistol in his waistband. The silk mask covered the upper part of his face, his nose and the rest of his face exposed. And he waited with pleasant expectation of the adventure to come.
"Captain," he heard Dick say, "I believe we may be gettin' our reward for bein' ever so patient."
"Well, you know the old proverb, Dick, all things come to those who wait!" And Adam smiled, ready to have a good night's work.