Lise could feel Jonathan bristle at the name.Tension came off him in palpable waves.
After a short hesitation, he said, “Henrik came away from his visit with you utterly distraught, thinking you deeply in love with the man.”
“He couldn’t have known,” Lise pointed out.“I lied very convincingly.”
“Iknew,” Jonathan said quietly as they reached the horses in the large lean-to.
Not quite a barn, yet it provided cover and shelter on three sides.Each horse was tethered in an open stall with a blanket over its back, a pail of water within reach, and hay.
“With one mention of you wishing on the Great Oak, I knew you had lied.That’s when we turned back to Lübeck to retrieve you.”
“You know me better than —” Lise stopped, aware of what she’d been about to say.It wasn’t fair to Henrik, and yet it was true.Somehow, in the short months and few hours she’d spent with Jonathan, he had come to know her better than her own family.
“I didn’t realize you were there, waiting outside,” she told him.“Henrik only said you’d escaped.I was exceedingly relieved to hear that news.”
Jonathan hung the lantern on a hook and reached out to stroke one of the horse’s velvety muzzles.
“You must know by leaving Lübeck you will cause a rippling effect, like a stone in a still pond.Henrik’s captain might not be too pleased, for one thing, when he finds out you’ve dishonored his brother.Moreover, Albrecht will —”
“Friedrich can rot at the bottom of a well,” Lise said, not saying the actual words in her head.
Jonathan glanced at her, but she kept her gaze on the horse, so he continued.“Nevertheless, your former betrothed will retaliate.Undoubtedly, he’ll claim you are his, by the marriage contract.That we stole you away.He could make serious trouble for your family.”
“I know,” Lise said, putting her hand near Jonathan’s and stroking the horse’s neck, tangling her fingers in its mane.“This is all my fault.If I hadn’t gone to Lübeck,” she trailed off.
“If you hadn’t gone to rescue me, for which I am deeply touched and grateful, you would have married that bastard eventually,” Jonathan interrupted.“Better to know his true nature now than after wedding vows were spoken.”
He was touched.And grateful.But ultimately, Lise knew she had accomplished very little.
“My parents will agree that it was better to know,” she said, strolling down to the next horse, the one Jonathan had ridden and which she didn’t recognize.“I suspected Friedrich had influence with the French when he told me he’d purchased a house in Lübeck and was allowed to trade freely there.”
“I found out he was a full-blown collaborator when he showed up where I was being held,” Jonathan told her.“He’d already mentioned to the soldiers about my horses in your stable and then came to identify them as being the same.”
Lise gasped.“I can scarcely credit such a betrayal.”
“He seemed quite chummy with them,” Jonathan added, moving along to stand beside her again.“And I had to leave all my equipment and the two horses behind.Damned inconvenient, if you’ll pardon my language.”
Lise shook her head.“While I was asking Friedrich for help, he was helping them.Once I found out you had escaped, then I understood why he’d returned home the day before so strangely unsettled.He had lost control of the situation.”
“Home,” Jonathan repeated, lightly, but seriously.“Almostyourhome.”
For a long moment, they simply stood there, in the dark, shoulder to shoulder.Then he added, “You told Henrik you intended to marry Albrecht, evenafterknowing I had escaped.”
Suddenly, her heart was beating so hard, she thought he could hear it.“Friedrich threatened everyone I hold dear.Even now, I know the threat is real, and I am terrified.”
Jonathan turned to her and finally, she looked up into his gray eyes.Serious eyes filled with questions.“Then you would have sacrificed yourself for your family?”
“Of course,” she said, not meaning to snap.“Wouldn’t you?”
“Yes, I would.And I think it beyond admirable of you.”Another hesitation.“It seems you were determined to marry him.Given that admirable determination, did you ...that is to say, did you share with him ..., not that it is any of my business, not that you need tell me,” he finished, his voice low and careful.
He was saying nothing, but she knew precisely what he was asking.Henrik must have been very upset and told Jonathan everything that was said in Friedrich’s drawing room.
“I know many a couple who don’t wait for the vows,” he blurted into her silence, which she didn’t fill only because talking about this subject seemed far more unsavory than letting him touch her in the throes of passion.“You may have decided there was nothing to keep you from allowing him ...”Jonathan stopped, clearly unable to say the words.
“Iallowedhim nothing,” she said, hoping that put an end to his questions.
“Then he forced himself upon you!”His tone was raw and angry on her behalf.
