Off to the side, a wide doorway led into what looked like a bathing chamber. At the entrance, a cheval mirror stood next to an elegant dressing table. I looked away, fearing the reflection it would show me. I couldn’t even bring myself to shift the sheet off my body, knowing I was nude, scarred, and emaciated.

A sitting area surrounded a stone fireplace that spanned the length of one wall. Windows lined another wall, opening to a balcony that overlooked a landscape I couldn’t fathom.

“Where are we?” I tried to sit again, shaking with the effort.

He hooked an arm around my back, adjusted some pillows, and maneuvered me into a quasi-sitting position. My ribs ached with the movement, but it was manageable.

“You’ve been doing this a lot,” I muttered. “Taking care of me.”

Gladly, he said without voice and laid his lips against mine.

Dear lord, again with that mouth. More than a kiss, it was a promise. A flutter of hope.

Leaning back, he stretched toward the table at the bedside. My compass was there, along with the tiny scroll and jade stone. He reached over those and grabbed a piece of parchment. A letter.

He held it out for me to read, and I instantly recognized Priest’s bold, slanted handwriting.

This is Ashley’s private manor on the southwest coast of England.

Yesterday marked five weeks since we found you near the island of birds.

The commodore is in London, settling matters with his crew and ship.

He shall join us here when he’s finished.

When you’re well enough, I will convey you to the windows.

There, you will see Jade anchored in the private harbor below, sheltered by cliffs.

Your crew is enjoying the township, stirring up trouble at the tavern and debauching the local maidens.

The servants and tenants on the property are discreet and loyal.

We are safe here.

Your men are safe and merry.

The only priority is your return to health.

I read it twice, nodding my approval. It didn’t answer every question, but the immediate ones had been addressed.

So this was Ashley’s manor. I looked around the bedchamber with new eyes, assuming it was the estate on the cliff that he’d said he favored. Strange that he’d allowed us to stay here—his lover and her husband—in his absence.

I didn’t know how I felt about that. “When did we arrive?”

Yesterday. His voice stopped at my ears.

Priest and Ashley had spent a week together when I was on Blitz. And another five weeks while I convalesced. They should know each other quite well by now. But they’d been already well acquainted, hadn’t they?

“How do you and Ashley know each other?” I pitched him my stormiest glare.