“Drake!” She shrieked his name, nearly falling out of her chair in her rush to turn and stand all at once.

He’d been standing, apparently, in the doorway to Maman’s room, which Lukas had just helped her turn into an office. And he was smiling at her. Looking at her in that way he did. Loving her in that way he did, that never demanded anything.

The way that deserved so much. The too-still took hold of her, held for five seconds, ten. But then she forced it away. Forced motion into her limbs, because he was here. He was here, and she owed him an epiphany. She flew across the space between them until she could wrap him in her arms. “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be in Spain.”

“Charles the Bold sent me home with a few sensitive items he didn’t trust to regular transport. And perhaps because he knew I’d been missing you.” His hand found its place on her cheek. “And Dot had a key to your flat. Mr. Parsons kept an eye on me, though, since I arrived.”

She laughed and held him close. All the closer because she knew she’d have to let him go again soon. At least for a while. Until the war was over. “How long are you here?”

“Just two days.” He grinned and pressed a quick, teasing kiss to her lips. “So if you mean to answer me before I go . . .”

“I can answer you now.” And how perfect, that he had shown up again after she’d wrestled her faith back into line on this question too. “Yes. I’ll marry you. Whenever you want me to.”

His smile hitched. “Whenever? But you have your dreams.”

“I do.” She strained up on her toes to steal another kiss. “But as a wise man once said, what’s so ridiculous about having someone to support and encourage you through the ups and downs of life? I don’t want any dreams that don’t include you. And I trust—I trust that God will give us His best.”

“Mi alma.” His eyes slid shut, and he rested his forehead against hers.

She let hers slide shut, too, and held him tight. “Eighteen.”

A Note from the Author

Ever since I began doing research on England during the Great War, I knew I wanted to tell the story of the amazing men and women who made up Room 40, the intelligence hub of the Admiralty. This secretive department revolutionized the intelligence game and laid the groundwork for the better-known agencies of World War II and beyond—Bletchley Park, MI6, and so on. And yet, in many ways, the organization of Room 40 would have been completely unfathomable to people in intelligence today. Built more on complete trust and instinct than compartmentalization, Room 40 was in many ways a family, which is what intrigued me every bit as much as the work they did.