She shook her head. “I was an only child.”

“Good,” he muttered as he lurched through the door, but she heard an undertone of amusement in his voice.

He stepped outside, and his brother William cried, “Godfrey, you’re walking!!”

When the door closed behind the Rogers brothers’ happy reunion, Lucas asked hesitantly, “Simon, do you think he’s right? That if I’m confident about what happened in France and don’t look guilty, the stain of dishonor will fade?”

Simon’s brow furrowed as he considered. “There will always be a few high sticklers who prefer condemnation to understanding, but I think that Major Rogers is right. If you look like you’re at peace with yourself, most people will accept that. Scandals fade in time.”

“Then today is the day I bury the doubts I’ve had about what I did,” Lucas said quietly.

“It’s time,” Simon said simply. “I assume that now you just want to collapse into Kendra’s arms?”

Lucas managed a crooked smile. “That, please!”

Simon smiled at Kendra, patted Lucas on the shoulder, then returned to the main studio. Kendra crossed the room to where Lucas was supporting himself against the table and wrapped her arms around him. “Miracles don’t come cheaply, do they?”

He laughed a little. “I’ll recover. I’m just glad I could help that poor devil.”

“I wish he’d chosen a target other than you to lash out at!” she said.

Still leaning on the table, he draped himself over her, his arms encircling and his cheek resting against her temple. “You knew, didn’t you?”

“Knew what?”

“That I’d never fully made peace with breaking my parole.”

“I wouldn’t use the same words as Major Rogers, but whenever the subject of your parole came up, you withdrew like a turtle into its shell,” she said compassionately. “But it wasn’t a true parole when your beastly Colonel Roux meant to hold you captive until you were dead, so you behaved with good sense when you escaped.”

“It still felt as if I’d committed an act of dishonor,” he said slowly. “I never really overcame that feeling. Until tonight. As you said, a wound must be cleansed if it is to heal.”

“It seemed like the right time to speak up.” She leaned into him, glad she could do something in return for all he’d done for her.

He ran a warm, powerful hand down her back and over her hip with slow appreciation. “Holding you helps me regain my strength.” He laughed a little. “Though I’m not yet as strong as I would need to be for what I’d like to do, which is to enjoy another one of those nights that didn’t really happen.”

She laughed as well. “Angelo’s Academy is far too public for any such thing!”