Twenty-four hours later, he still wasn’t sure. He’d gotten to know her fairly well over the last three weeks, he’d thought. They’d gone to the other islands together, searching for Beth. He’d visited them on St. Mary’s each Thursday to see what new novelty had been delivered the day before. They’d come to Tresco each Tuesday noon, and he’d met their boat, walked them into town. She’d been at the races each Wednesday morning, cheering him on, offering the same teasing consolation as any islander would when his team lost. Handing out Mrs. Gillis’s tea and no doubt the one who tucked pound notes into her jar—no one ever saw her do it, but who else could it have been? And the fact that she did it, but on the sly, that she dressed like the rest of them, that she helped wherever needed, had resulted in his neighbors’ all coming to call her “our lady.”

It made him smile. She wouldn’t know it, but they used the same tone they did when talking about the Dorrien-Smiths—“our Lord Proprietor.” They had a way of looking at him—and now at her—as if he belonged to them and not the other way round. Which, really, was as it should be.

He couldn’t tell her that, though, when she was cocooned in that silence. Its wall was too thick. Even after church this morning, when such a non-fuss had been made over her that she ought to have been thrilled at feeling so included. Even after an afternoon spent running their plan past the constable, who looked dubious but had agreed to it and hadn’t even chided him—much—for not telling him straightaway that Beth was missing.

Even now, as they made their way to the cave. She ought to be nervous. Or excited. Or fearful. She ought to be something other than numb. And the fact that she wasn’t . . . It was concerning. Yes, if all went well, they’d end this night with the man who’d accosted her two weeks ago in custody. But if it didn’t go well . . .

His own chest had been tight all day, considering that if. If it didn’t go well, Lady Elizabeth’s life could be in danger. If it didn’t go well, Beth’s life could be in danger. If it didn’t go well, any one of them could be hurt or worse.