Page 73 of The Miracle of Love
“Truly?”
“Yes. Oh, he will be angry as blazes at first and give me a blistering lecture about ignoring orders and doing things on my own. He will excoriate me on why I must learn to accept authority and how I must always answer to my superiors. Then he will thank me for a job well done and hand me another assignment.”
He tossed the displaced earth back atop the grave.
“And what of me?” Grace asked as he tamped down the dirt.
“I told you, I am with you to the end. I do not leave your side until I am certain you are safe. We are not going back to London until I know that foreign government has been appeased.”
This wasn’t what she had meant by the question.
Perhaps what she ought to have asked is, what about us?
He had been going on about not following orders and doing as he wished. She thought he had made some progress in changing this attitude, at least toward a future wife. They had spent hours talking about feelings, about spouses being considerate of each other and accepting to deal with their problems as a couple.
But he must have taken none of it in.
He was the leopard again.
Alone. Apart from everyone. Hiding up in his tree.
She ought to have known he would not change, but he had been so attentive to her while on this journey. Was this all she would have of him? “How will you know it is safe to return me to London if we are in hiding? Who will send word to us?”
“Something will turn up in the newspapers. No mention of the theft, of course. Perhaps the papers will report on a grand feast to celebrate strengthening ties between our two nations.”
“Can you tell me the nation in question?”
“No, Grace. I have not been given leave to reveal that information yet. Irritating my superiors is one thing, but revealing secret information is quite another. It is something I will never do, not even to confide it in you.” After uttering a brief prayer along with her, he tucked the tin under one arm and placed his other arm about her waist to escort her back to their horses. “Why are you suddenly so quiet?”
She forced a smile. “Just taking it all in.”
He nodded. “It is quite a lot to absorb. You have been splendid throughout. I mean it, Grace. I could not have accomplished any of this without you. Now, all we have to do is meet Lorcan and Donal as arranged, hand this thing over, then it is off to Brighton for us.”
“What if I wish to return to London?”
He did not mask his surprise. “No, love. I dare not take you back there yet. The risk is too great.”
She did not argue because she trusted his judgment and he had explained the dangers.
Although not experienced in matters of war or politics, she had read enough in the newspapers to understand how delicate negotiations could be and how often outrageous demands were made.
Anything could happen, especially if that foreign power was still seething over her brother’s theft.
She could be tossed in as part of an agreement to secure peace.
Why anyone would want the daughter of a notorious thief was beyond her, but it was not outside the realm of possibility this demand would be made to spite her father and brother.
Only she would be the one to suffer.
Then Deklan would come after her because this was just the marvelously reckless sort of thing he would do. Ignoring Home Office instructions. Ignoring promises made from one king to another.
Keeping to his promise to protect her.
She said no more about London.
A few hours later, they met Donal and Lorcan in Eastbourne at The Salty Dog, a seaside tavern of questionable reputation that seemed to attract a respectable working crowd during the daylight hours. She was not the only woman dining there, and her sturdy woolen gown was no more remarkable than the garments worn by the other ladies who must have been local shopkeepers. She was rather proud of the way she blended in.
“Bloody hell,” Donal muttered when Deklan passed the tin over to him. “Sorry, Grace. Pardon my language. But how big is this thing? It won’t fit in my pouch.”
