At the top of the steps, he turned and, with a sad grin and a gesture of his hand, said good-bye to his brother.

Reeve’s eyes glistened as he raised his own hand in response.

Someone was shaking Bliss hard. Mumbling, half in a dream and half out, she raised herself on one elbow and peered into the darkness.

“It’s me, Maggie,” whispered her sister-in-law, her outline just visible in the gloom.

Bliss yawned. “What—what is it?”

“There are soldiers here,” Maggie said, “looking for Jamie.”

Bliss was wide-awake. She reached toward his side of the bed and found him gone, and her heart twisted painfully within her. “Dear God, Maggie,” she mourned. “If they catch him—”

“They won’t,” Maggie assured her readily.

Bliss wasn’t comforted. Everybody knew that Yanks sometimes tended to be overly optimistic. “I want you to tell me that he’s gone back to New Zealand—but you’re not going to do that, are you?”

Maggie shook her head. “He told Reeve that he’s got business here in Australia.”

Bliss shuddered, knowing all too well what that business was. The guilt she felt was almost beyond bearing; if it hadn’t been for her, things wouldn’t have come to this. Jamie had to run and hide and live like a bushranger because of her.

She was a liability to him. A hindrance.

“The soldiers want to question you,” Maggie went on, keeping her voice low. “Reeve will be with you, and so will I, so don’t be afraid.”

Bliss wasn’t afraid for herself, but she was terrified for Jamie. He was rushing headlong into a situation that could so easily destroy him. “What am I supposed to say?” she asked, wriggling out of her bed and hurrying to the armoire for a dress.

Maggie was right on her heels. “Reeve wants you to tell the soldiers that you and Jamie had a dreadful row and you’re sure he’s not coming back. If you can shed a few tears, that will probably help.”

Bliss sighed as she scrambled into a cambric dress. Crying would be no trick at all, not with Jamie out there in the darkness somewhere. “Maggie, this is all my fault!” she fretted.

“Nonsense!” Maggie responded with typical spirit. “Jamie’s own thievery is the cause of this, far behind him though it is, and don’t forget that, Bliss McKenna.”

Downstairs in the parlor, Reeve was chatting amicably with half a dozen men in uniforms. At Bliss’s appearance, he gave her a smile sympathetic to the point of pity and held out one hand. “Here she is now, gentlemen,” he said smoothly. “My poor sister-in-law.”

Bliss felt color surge into her face. She was not used to having people feel sorry for her; it nettled her pride. Only Maggie’s subtle nudge from behind kept her from protesting. Biting her lip, she lowered her head to hide her expression.

Maggie slid an arm around her shoulders and smiled at a tall man with an officer’s insignia on his coat. “Our Bliss,” she said with a fond sigh, “has had a most devastating week, Captain. And of course, it is the middle of the night—”