Will’s hand on Josette’s was hot and solid, his strength unnerving.

What was he asking? To continue with him on his travels, by his side, as his partner? Or as something more?

Josette did not dare wish for more. She’d want to hang on to him, and Will was not a man who took well to clinging.

But who was she to turn up her nose at his offer to keep her by his side? For how long was a question for another time.

“I believe I can manage,” Josette said. “But Glenna must be safe.”

“We’ll send her to Celia and Mary.” Will’s face set with new determination. “Glenna will kick up a fuss, I predict, but send her we will.”

“Of course she will—she’s sixteen. But I’ll not have her running about the Highlands while men like Mr. Macdonald are in them. Nor will I let Chadwick take her away from me.” Josette said the last with a tremor.

“Neither will I, believe me. And no, he’ll not have me either.” Will touched the box by his side. “I have plans for this gold, love, and for Clennan Macdonald. Help me carry them out?”

Josette squeezed his hand, glad he’d ceased talking about sending her away. She made her choice, and would take the consequences. “I’d be happy to.”

By the time they reached Sir Harmon’s, midnight’s dusk hung in the sky.

The restless guests roamed the house—they’d barely noticed Sir William’s and Anna’s absence, though they greeted them with interest upon their return—anything to relieve the ennui.

Will gave the casket to Captain Ellis for safekeeping. He trusted the captain, and knew even the hardiest soul would think twice about robbing a British cavalry captain who’d been decorated for bravery.

Not that Will would mention to the other guests what his errand had been about. Will only shook his head when asked why he’d gone off into the wilderness.

“It’s beautiful country,” Josette said when pressed. “Not civilized by any means, but lovely in its own wild way.”

“Did you tramp about like Scotsmen?” one of the gentlemen asked, wrinkling his powdered nose. “How awful.”

“Good heavens no.” Josette looked shocked he’d suggest it. “We had the coach.”

Henri did not look happy with Will, but he fortunately kept his resentment to himself. He was young and wanted things to happen now, Will understood. He understood all too well.

Soon, lad.

Sir Harmon cornered Will on the terrace in the rear of the house while the other guests settled down for cards.

“Satisfied?” he asked Will.

“Oh, yes.” Will let his voice grow fervent. “You and Mr. Macdonald are giving me so much for so little.”

“The terms are to your liking?”

“Of course. I’m your man.”

Sir Harmon’s eyes held a sparkle of triumph. He thinks he’s just snared his fish, Will thought. He’s probably snared every man and woman in this house.

“Good. You’ll understand then, when I ask you to leave tomorrow. To begin your visits,” Sir Harmon added curtly to Will’s wide-eyed stare.

“Oh, yes, yes, I understand. Tomorrow? So soon. I’m not certain my wife will be ready as early as tomorrow. The ladies, you know, with the packing …”

“The next day then, at the latest.” Sir Harmon pretended indifference, but Will saw his impatience.

What secrets did the people Macdonald and Sir Harmon want him to talk to hold? Will had glanced at the list and recognized several of the names—one had stood out in particular—but he didn’t know all of them, which was odd. Will knew so very many people, or at least of them. Captain Ellis might know those Will didn’t—he’d ask him about the rest.

“If you do not mind, I’d like to take your footman, Henri, with us,” Will said. “I’ll need someone to carry things for me, and he’s a sturdy lad.”

Sir Harmon’s brows furrowed in true confusion. “Who?”

“I believe you call him John. The West Indies lad who carried our fishing things.”

“Oh, him.” Sir Harmon waved him away. “The boy’s a bit ham-handed, but I suppose there’s no harm in you borrowing him.”

The man had absolutely no idea who Henri truly was or where he’d come from. For that, Will should have gutted him with the fish knife himself.

Will forced himself to beam at Sir Harmon. “Thank you, sir. I’ll return him in one piece.”

Not until after breakfast did Will manage to escape with Josette to the summerhouse where they met Captain Ellis. Will insisted Henri join them, and the young man did so with great reluctance. He didn’t want to attend anything so tame as a conference, and was doubly unhappy that Will had persuaded Sir Harmon to let Henri accompany Will when they departed.

“Don’t want to go,” Henri said stubbornly. “What’ll he get up to while we’re gone, eh?”

Will gave Henri a stern look. “Lad, I’m not leaving you here to murder Sir Harmon and then be tortured and executed for it. When the time comes, Sir Harmon will have his comeuppance, and you can tell the world all the things he has done. Preferably in front of elderly, bad-tempered, long-wigged judges who will sentence him to the worst.”

“No judge in a court is going to listen to the likes of me,” Henri said with a scowl.

“They will if I have anything to do with it. They do not like trumped-up, new men who have lied, cheated, and slaughtered their way into the soft life. Sir Harmon will not last, I promise you.”

“It’s the best way,” Josette told him in her gentle tones. “You will be a hero and go on to live your life. That is the best revenge of all.”

Will agreed with her—partly. Living well after trouncing your enemies and making certain they stayed down was even better.

“She is right,” Captain Ellis said. “Let the law take care of Sir Harmon.”

Henri glowered but subsided. He wandered to the door to be a lookout, and Will turned to Captain Ellis.

“Do you know who these people are?” Will asked him, indicating a few names on the list. “I’ve never run across them.”

Captain Ellis nodded as he tapped the paper. “He is the uncle-in-law of the Lord High Admiral. And this is the second cousin of the war minister. Not men of extreme power themselves, but they have connections and are powerful within their own families.”

Will understood now why he didn’t know them. They were somewhat distant relations of prominent men, and Will had the tendency to deal directly with the prominent men themselves, without going through their families. He did not make use of innocents, as Sir Harmon and Clennan Macdonald obviously liked to.

“Not the sort of gentlemen who’d welcome Sir William Jacobs into their homes, I’d think,” Will remarked. “Why does Sir Harmon believe I can get close to them?”

“You have a tie through Lord Marsden, with whom you stayed in Salisbury—Sir Harmon told me about that. Lady Bentley will have pried your connections from you both on your arrival, as she did me, and passed the information to her husband. Lord Marsden will likely vouch for you. So would a few other names on this list.”

“Yes …” Will drew out the word as he thought. “I certainly will visit one of them.”

Ellis knew which he meant. “Are you certain? Do you trust him?” Ellis did, but Will’s encounters with the man in question had not always been friendly.

Will nodded. “He’s a wily old goat, but fair-minded, as you know, and he’ll do anything for his daughter’s sake.”

“Including give you information you can feed Sir Harmon and Macdonald? To get them arrested?”

“Maybe.” Will continued to study the paper. He felt Josette’s eyes on him—she wondering what he was up to. “I’ll visit him, no matter what.”

Josette watched him sharply, suspicion in her gaze. Before he could tell her not to worry—not that she’d believe him—a shout sounded outside the folly.

A moment later, Henri hauled a small lad into the summerhouse, one with wiry red hair and equally wiry limbs.

“Let me down, ye great lout!” the lad shouted. “I have t’ speak to Lord Will.”

“And you need to keep your voice down,” Will said severely. “Let him go, Henri. Thank you for your vigilance.”

Henri thumped the smaller boy onto his feet but watched him closely, ready to grab him if he made any wrong move.

“He sent me t’ warn ye,” the lad said, out of breath. “Mr. Naughton did. The Macdonald has left his house, and he’s heading here, to pay a visit to Sir Harmon Bentley. At this very minute, m’lord. I came straight across the hills, while he’s meandering on the road, but he won’t be long behind me.” The boy’s legs buckled, and he fell to the floor before Will or Henri could catch him. He sat up and rubbed a hand over his sweat-soaked hair, making it stand up in spikes. “Lord, I could murder a pint.”

Josette was amazed how well frightening news focused her mind. Instead of worrying about what they might have to do, she knew exactly what they needed to do. Immediately.

So did Will. They exchanged a glance, which said everything.

“Henri, run for Bhreac and tell him to bring the horses,” Will said. “Coach will be too slow. Ellis …”

“You’ll need to come with us, Captain,” Josette finished for him.

“Or hide myself,” Captain Ellis argued. “When Macdonald is gone, I’ll return to the house and tell Sir Harmon the pair of you begged me to escort you to the next town, afraid to travel the wilderness alone. He’ll believe that.”

Will was already shaking his head. “If Macdonald and Sir Harmon compare notes too closely, they’ll start to wonder why you had to take on Sir Jacobs’ identity, and I do not want them to put you to the question. Better to let them think, at worst, that we’re a gang of confidence tricksters running off with a bit of gold.”

“He’ll chase you for that,” Ellis said. “I can’t disappear. I am known by name to them.”

“If they believe we’re robbers, yes, they’ll give chase, but not as enthusiastically as they will if they find out who I really am.”

“And the longer we debate, gentlemen, the closer Macdonald comes,” Josette broke in. “We need to go now. You too, Captain Ellis.”

Captain Ellis did not look happy at the abrupt end to his mission. “I was close to finding hard evidence that Harmon is up to no good,” he growled.

“No worries about that,” Will said with confidence. “I’ll let you make the grand arrest when the time comes. You’ll have to leave your things behind.”

Captain Ellis’s mouth pinched, but he nodded. “I have learned to travel light. They’ll find nothing but my shaving gear.”

Not long later Bhreac appeared in the open land beyond the summerhouse, leading sturdy horses, one of them belonging to Captain Ellis.

“Do ye know what it cost me to procure that carriage?” Bhreac growled to Will even as Will lifted Josette to a mount. “And all those clothes?”

There was no saddle—no time for it. Will sprang up behind Josette, his body a warm bulk, arms coming around her to take the reins. Captain Ellis got himself onto his horse with the ease of long practice, but Henri stared up at the beast he was to ride with complete distrust.

Naughton’s lad gave Henri a leg-up, and Henri, after sliding around a bit, found his seat, but remained uneasy.

“I’ll pay ye for them,” Will said to Bhreac, letting the tones of Sir William depart forever. “I’m always good for it, aren’t I?”

Bhreac sent him a dark look.

Josette reached down and handed the Scottish boy a coin—not one of the French ones, but a silver crown. “Thank you, lad. You rest yourself, and enjoy your pint.”

He snatched up the coin and gave Josette an elegant bow. “Thank ye, ma’am. Best I be off. Don’t worry, lass, I can get back over the hills easy as pissing.”

He waved at them and launched himself into the heather, his face bright with smiles.

“Regrets, Lady Jacobs?” Will said in Josette’s ear as he followed Bhreac unerringly up the track into the boulder-strewn slopes.

“For my wardrobe?” Josette touched her cheek to his. “All I need is a simple garment, Sir William, and I’m happy.”

“A wisp of red to float over your bosom, perhaps?” His voice held warmth, comfort.

Josette flushed, remembering his lazy smile the day he’d walked into Alec’s studio. A happy time, an innocent time, when the world was full of possibilities.

“’Twould need to be a bit larger now,” she said. “I’ve grown stout.”

Will laughed, the rumble pleasant. “Ye are the most beautiful woman I know, my Josie. That hasn’t changed.”

“Flatterer,” Josette said but let herself enjoy his words.

Josette closed her hand around the horse’s thick mane, leaned into Will, and used his warmth to cut the chill of the summer rain as they rode into the Highlands.

Josette assumed Will would take them back to Strathy Castle where the ladies and Glenna waited, but he turned them south instead. This worried her more than a bit, but he declined to tell them where they were going. Bhreac didn’t seem to mind, and even Captain Ellis let Will lead them without argument.

The horses were compact and strong, bred on the Highlands to navigate these hills. They rode straight up mountainsides and down into glens, avoiding any roads, Will finding paths Josette would never have known were there. Captain Ellis and Henri followed closely, as though fearing to stray a step Will didn’t take. Bhreac, on the other hand, rode easily, holding the reins negligently while he hummed lively tunes.

Josette didn’t fancy camping out with no blankets in her now rain-splotched finery, but Will had provided for that as well. The point between day and night was confusing in the summer light, but as Josette’s body drooped in exhaustion, Will led them into a hollow that contained a black stone house with smoke trickling from a hole in its roof.

The man who emerged to challenge them with a wicked-looking sword took one look at Will, lowered the weapon, and walked back into the house without a word.

Unconcerned, Will slid from his horse, helped Josette down—her legs buckled until he steadied her—and strode into the house. A woman’s voice rose, speaking in Erse, the syllables gliding pleasantly through Josette’s tiredness.

Worn hands closed around Josette, and an elderly woman led her into a place of warmth. The cottage was very small, but the rain stayed outdoors, and the wind almost did.

The man spoke little, the woman volubly, but only in her own language. Josette didn’t mind her chattering as the woman took her behind a blanket that divided a bed from the rest of the house and helped Josette out of her clothes. She slid a nightdress made of scratchy homespun fabric over Josette’s head and wrapped her in a length of faded wool plaid.

Josette wanted to ask questions, but sleep took her too quickly. She never remembered lying down, but the next thing she knew she woke to light trickling through stones. She lay on a hard mattress with no pillow, but she was warm wrapped in the plaid.

As soon as she stirred the woman popped around the blanket. She had a drab brown gown over her arm that she fitted onto Josette with the skill of a lady’s maid. She spoke only Erse but managed to make her point clear—Josette was to keep this dress, the leather breeches that went under it, and the soft leather boots she tied on Josette’s feet.

The woman was tiny and wizened, and far too small for the clothes she gave Josette, but Josette didn’t argue or question. She thanked the woman in both French and English and hoped she understood.

Will waited with their three companions and host out under the sky, all eating a makeshift breakfast with their fingers. Bannocks, Josette realized as the woman thrust a cloth at her containing the oat cakes. Josette had learned to make bannocks herself and sometimes served them at her boarding house dripping with butter and dollops of cream. These were plain and dry, and a bit gritty, but Josette ate them gratefully.

Josette noted that the woman and her husband were accepting of Henri and only slightly wary of Captain Ellis—they seemed to not be overly worried that a British army officer stood among them. They were wariest of all, interestingly, of Bhreac.

“Because I’m from the Borderlands,” Bhreac explained to Josette. “The devil in breeches. Will vouched for the captain and Henri, so they’ll trust them—or at least they trust Will. He won’t vouch for me.”

“Why not?” Josette asked in surprise. “I thought you were friends.”

Bhreac winked at her. “Don’t mean he trusts me. We go a long way back, me and Will. He knows better. I don’t trust him either.”

“You two lead very complicated lives,” Josette said, licking crumbs from her fingers.

“Not really. Will knows everyone in the Highlands. I know everyone in the Lowlands and the Border country. Sometimes we pool our knowledge; sometimes we’re at odds. We know which is which.”

Josette let it go and finished her bannocks.

They mounted up soon after breakfast and rode off, Will slipping the woman coins on his way.

“Friends of yours?” Josette asked lightly as they headed southward, she doubling with Will once more. Bhreac had brought an extra horse, which they used to carry their meager belongings, including the casket of gold. Will kept hold of the packhorse’s lead rein.

“Aye. They have a daughter, who married a man in Edinburgh. I helped get her there safely during the Uprising. They’re grateful.”

“I’m certain.” Josette’s gown and boots must have belonged to their daughter. Will had given up their finery in exchange—the man and wife would sell the clothes to a secondhand shop the next time they ventured to a city.

The breeches under the skirt ensured Josette could sit astride the horse, giving her more stability, though she didn’t mind Will encircling her with his arms.

Their journey progressed much the same in the following days, Will taking them across difficult hills and down into steep-walled glens, around lochs and over rivers, arriving at a tucked-away farmhouse as night fell, to be welcomed as friends.

They met no one on the tracks—saw no other person outside the stone houses where they spent the nights. The occasional clump of shaggy Highland cows turned their heads to watch them pass, as though wondering why humans had wandered this far into the wilderness. As Will and party journeyed south, the cows gave way to sheep, who gave them the same stare through similarly long forelocks.

If Sir Harmon or Macdonald pursued them, there was no sign of it.

Will moved easily, leading them up the steepest hills and fording chilly rivers without concern. He wore shirt, breeches, woolen coat, and a length of plaid that had once been dark green, obtained from the same couple who’d given Josette her gown. The clothes fit him suspiciously well—the man had been as tiny as his wife. Josette guessed the clothes were Will’s, left there in case he needed them.

He’d left things for himself at all the houses in their path, Josette learned as they went. Will was always greeted as a friend, the surly expressions on the crofters’ faces lightening as soon as they recognized him.

Will shrugged when Josette asked him about it while they lay together one night.

“You do good for people, they don’t forget,” Will said. “Whether Highlander or Lowlander. Not much difference between us but old prejudices. Well, that and wars. Battles. Bad blood. But even so, we’re all struggling to get through life the same, aren’t we?”

Because they were in a bed together, Will and his plaid wrapped around her, Josette had no impetus to argue.

After five days of hard travel, Josette discovered Will’s destiny. The city of Edinburgh lay before them, gray and beautiful in the sun-dappled mist.

“Will,” Josette said in trepidation as they gazed down the last hill toward the city walls. “We can’t go to Edinburgh. That is, you can’t. Especially not you.”

“Mmm?” Will brushed his lips to her cheek. “Why not? You’ll sleep in a softer bed tonight.”

Josette glanced to make certain Captain Ellis, Bhreac, and Henri, who was riding better now, were out of earshot. “Because Colonel Chadwick is in Edinburgh,” she said softly to Will. “This is where he told me to bring you to him.”