“Oh, there you are,” she said to the guards in French, giving a little smile. Transfixed, the men edged closer. They made it only four steps before an unidentified robed figure lunged from a gap in the wall. In an acrobatic flourish—slashing arms and whirling cloak—the figure whacked the nearest guard in the back of the head with what looked like an unlit torch. The man dropped like a stone.
Spinning toward his felled partner, the second guard reached for his sword, but he was too slow. The figure spun, took up a new position behind the second man, and knocked him in the head with the same blunt object. The second man fell.
Luke was too stunned to go on the offensive, but he dropped into a defensive crouch, ready to evade the next blow.
“Bannock,” said the figure. “Get up and help me restrain them. Hurry. I didn’t hit them so very hard.”
Luke shook his head. The robed figure was a woman. And she’d called him by name. He took a step closer, eyeing Danielle at the same time.
“Bannock,” the robed woman hissed. “Help me.”
“Who are you?” he asked. “Daniell—”
“This is my sister’s friend, Marie,” Danielle told him, dropping beside the nun and shoving the guards’ boots together.
And then Luke remembered. Elise Crewes had arrived at their wedding with a woman—a nun. But did this nun knock men unconscious and restrain them? And why was she here? With Luke’s wife?
“Bannock,”the nun called again.
Luke forced his brain to function. His wife was on her knees, tying up a French guard, and he stood dumbfounded. He shook his head and dropped beside her.
“What are you doing here?” he asked Danielle. His voice came out in a rasp.
A length of rope had appeared from nowhere, and she unfurled it.
“Danielle,” Luke repeated. Reaching out, he grabbed her wrist. If he’d dreamed her, she would vanish beneath his touch.
She did not vanish. She sat back on her haunches and he followed her, refusing to let go. She gave him a self-satisfied smile.
“What are you doing here?” he repeated, gaping at her beautiful face. He could smell her—geraniums and wind and a smell distinctive to her alone. Her wrist was warm beneath his touch. The sleeves of her gown were short, and he felt soft skin between the hem of her sleeve and the top of her glove. She was so achingly familiar, so precious and beloved—but so incrediblynot supposed to be here.
“Mr. Bannock,” called the nun, “if you cannot assist us, will you please move aside?”
Luke looked to her. “Forgive me. Sister—?”
“Marie,” provided Danielle. She shook free of Luke’s hold and gathered up the rope. “Sister Marie is a guardian to the Orleans family. She has attended my sister, Elise, for years. And tonight, she is assisting me. At the moment, I suppose I am assisting her.”
“I assist you, Princess,” the nun corrected, tying the first guard’s wrist in a complicated knot.
Something about hearing English words, addressed to him, coming from Danielle’s mouth, broke through Luke’s stunned confusion.
She is real.
And she’s here.
And she’s binding a man by hands and feet.
“Wait,” he said, “let me. We’ll cut the slack so you don’t have to go around so many times.” He pulled a blade from his boot and sliced the rope. The nun bound both men and Danielle gathered up the extra length. When the guards were bound, Luke pulled their bodies into the dark recess where Sister Marie had lain in wait.
“This way,” the nun said, taking Danielle by the arm, pulling her up the passage. Danielle shot him a look over her shoulder, part smile, part can-you-believe it, and went where the nun pulled her.
Luke checked around the corner, checked the bound men, and hurried after the women.
“In here,” said Sister Marie, yanking open a door and shoving Danielle inside. “You have five minutes to reunite. After that, we absolutely must go. I’ll stand guard. Hurry.” She shot Luke a hard look.
Luke blinked at her, trying to decide if he should thank her, or contradict her, or—
“Five minutes, Captain Bannock,” the nun said. “This is an indulgence for which we have no time, but you’ll be useless until you speak to your wife, that much is clear. She’s come after you, Captain.Reckon with it.”
