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Once the door was closed, Elena walked around the room. Everything was of the best quality. Gilded frames of watercolors and pastel landscapes complemented the yellow silk on the walls. The room was also a generous size, but the fire kept the room at a comfortable temperature. When the maid entered the room, she helped Elena out of her dress and into the nightgown, tucked her up in bed like a child, and prepared to leave the room.

“The shawl,” she said.

“This?” The maid picked up the shawl.

Elena nodded. “Maid.”

“Oh, yes. I will return it to her.” With that, the maid closed the door with a distinct click.

Elena was alone in a huge bed in the massive home of a duke. Safe. Tomas would be so worried about her. Or would he? Perhaps he was so angry with her he didn’t even bother to look for her. No, her husband would never do that. For all that he was angry with her, he would have been out in that fog, looking for her. He could still be out there. What if something bad happened to him while he was looking for her? This was all her fault.

She wished she were not so impulsive. Her hurt at his insensitive words and her embarrassment of them being uttered in front of Lord and Lady Ashton had made her flee. She should have owned up to her lie and begged his forgiveness. She should have stayed and taken her punishment. Instead, she ran. Ran like a guilty child might run from a spanking.

Now she felt a different type of guilt. What if he was still out there in that godless fog while she was tucked up in a warm bed? She clenched her fists and turned on her side and punched the pillow next to her. Her hand hurt, and she remembered how she had punched that man when he had grabbed her. There were slight abrasions on her knuckles, but nothing of note.

She longed to be back in Benalmadena tending to her garden and chatting over the fence with Christina. Eating oranges in the cool of the afternoon. Sipping her tea as she watched the sun rise. A simple, uncomplicated life. A useful life. A lonely life.

A single tear fell onto her pillow.

*

Thomas was beginning to think he might never find Elena. Hours had passed, and this blasted fog would not dissipate. It was like he had not been able to take a full breath since she had run out of the house. All the scenarios running through his head were on repeat, and none of them were good.

A high, shrill whistle broke through the fog. Thomas swung toward the sound. Had they found her? Was she unharmed? His heart beat like war drums.

There was another. He stumbled over a step and had to stop. He brought his lantern low so he could make out the ground. Another whistle. He quickened his pace as much as he could. Within minutes he heard two more whistles. Was he even close? Every second felt like hours as he followed the sound of the whistles. Finally, he saw the faint light of another lantern. He tried not to run, but his feet had other ideas. Two lanterns, three, four. Thomas reached the other men, looking frantically for Elena.

“Where is she?”

“At Warrington’s. A watchman found her and took her to the duke. She is a lucky one that.”

“Can one of you take me there?”

Merchant looked around him. “Better to wait until morning, Captain. This fog looks like it will hang around until then. You are more than welcome to come back to Bow Street until then. I am sure we can find you a bunk.”

He looked around him; surely the fog would lift soon. “I need to see her now.”

“Look around you. We do not want to be looking in the Thames for you come morning now do we?”

He was right, of course. It would be foolish to be in this any longer than necessary. “Of course. I am indebted to you gentlemen.”

“You pay us for a good night’s work and all will be well.”

Of course, and it was worth every penny it would cost him to get his wife back. “Show me to a bunk.”

“Lord Ashton will be waiting for you.”

Ashton was indeed waiting for him, and he was not happy. “Thank God she has been found. Of course, none of this would have happened had you not acted like an arse.”

“Believe me, I regret every moment. I put her in danger.”

“I had a look at them. The documents. They do show what we were looking for but if they knew we had them, they would have simply changed their plans. We would do the same. Therefore, we cannot use them as reliable intelligence,” he said as he sat next to Thomas. “I do take the blame for some of this. I should not have talked about it at the dinner table. It is something you and Elena should have discussed in private. It was her shock and embarrassment that drove her to run out into the night.”

“The fault is mine entirely,” Thomas said. “What if her feelings for me have changed? What will I do if she wants to go back to Spain?”

“You are married. Twice in fact. She does not seem like the type who would shirk her responsibilities as a wife. I am sure she is feeling as miserable as you. We can be grateful that she is smart and resourceful and thought of using my brother’s name.”

“I have always known she is smarter than most men I know, but she is an emotional creature at her core, which is why I love her. Her care and empathy for people whether she knows them or not is awe inspiring. And now I find out that she is with child. Why will she not trust me? I can understand the papers as we hardly knew each other then, but surely she could have told me about the baby.”