I’m tangled in Nicolas’s arms and legs, tight against him, which is a lovely place to be caught, and it is only when that odd sensation prickles again that I force myself to lift my head.

I peer around the room. It is empty, of course. I locked the door when I entered, and while I did teach Edmund how to open locked doors—a lesson I may regret—he would never do it to sneak into Nicolas’s room, however curious he might be about our “pirate” guest.

The door is closed, and the house is silent. I decide I am imagining things, and I lay my head down on Nicolas’s chest, only to have that sensation slide over me again, urging me up. With a sigh, I extricate myself from his embrace and move to the edge of the bed. I peer around. All is silent and still.

I am about to crawl back into bed beside him when motion flickers near the door. I tense and glance over. Nothing is there.

“Hello?” I say. “If there is a spirit in the room, I would ask that they make themselves known, please.”

Another flicker, as if a spirit is trying to do as I asked but is unable to materialize. Before I can speak again, the shape comes clear enough for me to make out a human figure. The figure of a man. I catch the barest glimpse of features and blink in surprise.

“Lord Thomas?”

The figure disappears. I get to my feet, pulling my discarded gown around me, and walk to the spot. It is empty, and the ghost does not reappear, but I am certain it was Lord Thomas.

“Miranda?” Nicolas croaks from the bed.

I tell him what I felt and what I saw. Then I say, “I think it is Lord Thomas, attempting to find us but unable to pass over. He must know his son’s men tracked us to Thorne Manor.”

Nicolas sits up. “While I would like to say it can wait until morning, I suppose we should not ignore the poor man. He was quite distressed last evening.”

“Mmm. I agree that I would also like to ignore it, but I would also prefer he not materialize in our bedroom while we are naked in bed.”

“Agreed.” Nicolas reaches for his shirt. “Shall we see how easy it is to pop back to my world? If it is as simple as it seems, we can assure him we are well and promise to return on the morrow.”

That sounds like a reasonable plan, and so we find the rest of our clothing and make ourselves decent for Lord Thomas.

I write out a note for Rosalind, explaining that we have crossed over and that we should be back when they wake, and if not, to convey my apologies to Edmund. We will return as soon as we are able. I write the note while Nicolas is dressing, and then I find another gown in the travel bag I’d hidden here, a plain traveling dress that will better suit the eighteenth century.