Jonathan settled back against the hay, his expression thoughtful.
“The French emperor talks endlessly about ‘Germany,’” he said, “as though it were a single entity.And yet he denies its existence as a nation, carves it up into client states and puppet kingdoms to suit his purposes.”
“Perhaps one day it will be a nation,” Lise mused.“If all the people who speak the language decide they should have a unified territory.”She shook her head.“But the French should leave us alone.Why do they even care if the British are here in Eutin?What does it matter to them?”
Jonathan was quiet for a moment, as though deciding how much to tell her.
“It’s about trade,” he said finally.“Bonaparte cannot defeat Britain at sea.Your brother would tell you that, if he were here.So instead, he’s trying to strangle us economically.TheContinental System, he calls it.Shutting Britain out of European trade, denying British goods, money, influence.If he can starve us into submission, he wins without firing another shot.”
“And northern Germany matters because ...?”
“Because of the ports.Hamburg, Lübeck, Bremen.Access to the Baltic trade.And smuggling routes straight to Britain.”He gave her a rueful smile.“From Bonaparte’s perspective, northern Germany is Britain’s back door.If he can shut it, lock it, guard it, then he controls who comes and goes.Every English mapmaker or merchant trader becomes a potential threat.They imagine spies behind every birch.”
Lise absorbed this, thinking of the French officer’s questions, the way he’d studied her father’s face for any hint of deception.
“But you are a spy, aren’t you?”
“I am here to make maps,” Jonathan said firmly.
It was an admission and a deflection all at once.Lise felt a shiver of fear.She realized she had edged closer to him, close enough that she could see the darker flecks in his gray eyes, a small scar above his left eyebrow.Close enough to touch.
As her mother’s words echoed in her mind, she made herself pull back.Casually reaching out, she gripped the top of the ladder, turning her body toward it, if only to keep herself from leaning toward him again.“You should come to the house.”After all, he was heir to an earldom.“You can’t sleep in the hay indefinitely.Surely, you’d rather be in a proper bed than —”
“No.”Jonathan’s voice wasn’t loud, but it was definite.“I won’t endanger your family.If the French come back and find me here, under your roof, it would mean trouble for all of you.Out here, if I’m discovered, I’m merely a trespasser.I can claim I was lost, that I meant no harm.At the very least I can vow you had no idea I was in your stable.”
“That’s absurd,” she said, although she knew it was perfectly reasonable.
“It’s prudent.”He reached out, almost touched her hand, then seemed to think better of it.“Please, Lise.I need you to trust me on this.”
She wanted to argue.Wanted to insist he come inside where it was warm and safe.But she could see the resolve in his eyes.What’s more, she knew safety was an illusion anywhere in her homeland.
“At least let me bring you some food,” she said.“And a blanket for tonight.”
His gaze flickered over her face.“That would be most welcome.Especially something to drink.”
“But how will you spend your day?”she asked.And how would she be able to do anything other than think of him out here?
“I have notes to work on, drawings to finalize.”He gestured at some of his belongings piled against the back wall.That’s when she realized what was missing.
“Where are your horses?”
He sighed.“I left them tied to branches by a stream about a mile away.They have access to water and grass.That’s enough for now.They may escape, in which case, that’s too bad for me.”
She frowned.“My father won’t mind if you bring them here.Even if soldiers return, they would have no way of knowing those aren’t our horses.But if French soldiers find them, they will spread out, looking for you.They’ll come here eventually.”
He hesitated.“I was going to ask you not to tell your parents that I’m here, but now I believe you’re correct.I need to retrieve the horses, and for that, we must ask your father’s permission.”
Suddenly, he groaned, and the sound resonated through her chest.Then he said, “I’m sorry to have involved you and your family.I should simply leave now.”
“No,” she said, as firmly as he had done.“Let me feed you, and then we’ll see about your horses.”She started to rise, when he caught her wrist, gently, carefully.Her pulse began to race at his touch.
“Thank you,” he said, and the look in his eyes made her breath catch.
For a moment, she was back in the garden, his mouth on hers, his hands roaming.She felt the attraction like the pull of a tide, inexorable and dangerous.
Then she nodded and slowly drew her hand away.After climbing down the ladder, Lise fled to the house before she could do something foolish.
After dawdling outside her father’s study, knowing he always went in there before going into the dining room for his breakfast, she finally knocked.Why she was nervous, she couldn’t quite say.After all, he’d accepted Jonathan as Henrik’s friend and had invited him to their dining table.
