“Stop showing off. We have work to do. I’d rather you be a walking peasant than a falling count when you leave here.” She was unimpressed by the title he claimed he had, but she was intrigued by him. She walked him back and forth across the room several times and then let him sit down. “I’ll give you a shot of morphine before you go. It will help.”

“You are an angel, aren’t you?” She let him lie down again then. It was nearly dawn, although they couldn’t see it from underground.

“Close your eyes and rest. Don’t talk. Save your strength. You’re going to need it.” His survival was going to depend on it. She leaned her back against the damp well as she sat with him. One of his men came to check on him and saw that they were both asleep. He was satisfied that their leader was doing better. He had heard Gonzague talking to the nurse for hours, and one of the others had seen him on his feet and walking with her help.

They came to warn Louise that he’d be leaving in an hour. She nodded, got up, and checked Gonzague’s dressings and his leg wound again while he slept. Half an hour later, when she woke him, she gave him a shot of morphine and a shot of a local anesthetic for the leg.

“You’ll be able to walk better with that. You won’t look so suspicious. They’ll be looking for someone who is having trouble walking. Try to look strong and confident. You can lean on one of your men,” she said.

“I wish I could take you with me,” he said, and looked as though he meant it. She would have liked that too. He was the most interesting man she had ever met, and he had eyes that mesmerized her. They were piercing and bright blue. “You think that you won’t see me again, Louise. But I promise you that you will. I’ll find you. If I’m alive at the end of this nightmare, I’ll find you wherever you are. And whether I live or die, I owe you a debt. I won’t forget it, if they don’t kill me.”