Lucas suspected that Kendra was nervous at meeting Simon and Suzanne, but she concealed it well. The only sign of her anxiety was the lift of her chin as she entered the drawing room beside him. It was the same damn-your-eyes bravado she’d showed when she strode into the middle of the ballroom the night before.

He’d admired her courage then. This time he felt a jolt of reaction so intense and unexpected that at first he didn’t recognize it as desire. He and desire had been strangers for a very long time. As a prisoner of war, then a de facto celibate friar, he’d lacked opportunities. Not to mention that he refused to behave dishonorably again.

He hadn’t stopped noticing what women looked like; when he’d met Suzanne, he’d immediately been struck by her beauty. But that recognition had been distant and impersonal and would have been so even if she weren’t Simon’s wife.

Kendra, with her courage and pain, touched something long frozen inside of him, a fact that was interesting and rather disturbing. Those thoughts raced through his mind but didn’t interfere with introductions. “Simon and Suzanne, this is Lady Denshire, but she prefers her maiden name of Kendra Douglas.”

Simon rose and gave her a friendly smile. “Welcome, Kendra Douglas. I’m Simon Duval and it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Thank you, Colonel Duval. The pleasure is mine,” she said sincerely.

Suzanne also rose with a warm, welcoming smile. It was the same welcome she’d given Lucas when he showed up on her doorstep in Brussels, having left the Franciscan life behind him but having no idea what came next. Now that he thought of it, this was very like the warm welcome his aunt Duval gave Lucas when her orphaned nephew had arrived in this house. No wonder Simon had fallen in love with Suzanne.

“You’re probably thinking they don’t look much alike for first cousins, and you’re right,” Suzanne said in a soft voice with a hint of a French accent. “But they both listen exceptionally well for men.”

Kendra smiled back, her expression easing at the acceptance she was offered. “A rare and wonderful trait, isn’t it?”

Suzanne was about to say more when her gaze fixed on Lucas. “There’s blood on your shirt!”

Simon became dangerously alert. “What happened?”

Lucas glanced down and saw the dark splatters on his white linen shirt. The stains were already turning brown. He made a dismissive motion. “Not my blood. We were attacked by some street robbers, but they were easily sent on their way.”

“What he means,” Kendra said, “is that using his Royal Navy dirk and some rather amazing fighting ability, your cousin drove them off before I had enough sense to scream or run.”

Simon nodded approvingly. “Nice to know that you haven’t lost your old skills, almost-brother.”