“Tell him while we ride,” Gabe said, resigned.
The story was repeated as they traveled out of London.
“Dimity is a Saint-Bonnard?”
“It seems so,” Zach said. “You know about the family?”
“Oliver and Louis, the current Comte Saint-Bonnard, know each other. Louis came to England many years ago, and Lord Levermarch introduced them. They both are driven to provide housing for those in need. Since then, they write to each other constantly.”
“He has been to London?” Gabe queried.
“Yes, a few times,” Daniel said. “I cannot believe Dimity is a Saint-Bonnard. Oliver talked about Louis’s sadness over not knowing what happened to his sister.”
“We cannot be sure,” Zach said.
“We can,” Gabe said flatly. “There is a birthmark.”
The men fell silent then.
“And where is it we are going?” Daniel asked instead of what he was thinking.How did Gabe know about a birthmark?
Gabe appreciated that he would not hesitate to stand with them if needed. His sister, however, would kill him—if Ombrage did not—if her husband returned in any other condition than the one he was currently in.
“If you are sure.”
“Yes.”
“If he gets a scratch on him, Abby will kill us,” Nathan said.
“Then make sure he is not scratched,” Zach said.
“I’m right here, you know.”
“Can Walter simply gallop beside us for hours?” Michael asked, ignoring Daniel.
“Likely as not,” Nathan said.
“Gabe can carry him when he tires.”
As it turned out, Walter tired easily and simply sat on the side of the road when they left London. As they kept riding, they did not discover this disappearance immediately. Tracking back, they found him resting against a tree. Zach dismounted and lifted the beast, draping him over Gabe’s legs.
They rode on, and soon he lost all feeling from the waist down, but he found the weight of the dog comforting in a small way.
Christ, Dimity.
Ombrage would pay for taking her. Pay for any distress he’d caused her. Gabe would not contemplate her being in anything other than full health when he found her.
They reached Broad Clunsden just after midnight. Walter had slept most of the way, snoring loudly.
“What now?” Daniel asked.
“There was no location on the note, which tells me Ombrage is watching for my arrival. I will enter the town alone.”
“I don’t think so,” Nathan said.
“It must be this way, brother. You will follow and blend into the shadows as you are so good at doing.”
Gabe looked at the men with him. Good men, brothers he’d had a hand in raising, and Daniel, the man who loved his sister. The man he now counted as brother also.
