Bridget relaxed and nodded.

‘Good.’

After a while, wrapped in a blanket, Bridget joined Harry among the bales of hay in the loft.

‘I’ll be away for help as soon as daylight breaks,’ he promised her. ‘The farmhouse can’t be above a mile or two away, if that.’ Taking off his boots, he wiggled his toes and sighed. ‘That’s better. Damned things are wet to the insides.’ Taking a blanket, he wrapped it about his bulky form. ‘Snuggle up,’ he told Bridget, settling down beside her. ‘We’ll keep each other warm.’

Snuggling up to Harry gave her a strange, wonderful feeling. ‘Harry?’

‘Hmm?’

‘If, as you say, the farm can’t be above a mile or two away, why couldn’t you find it?’

‘In this weather, a mile or two might as well be a hundred miles. I yelled until my throat was sore, but the wind was so fierce, I couldn’t even hear my own voice. As for the farmer, he’s probably got his hands full rounding up his animals. A few hours out in this little lot and they’d all be frozen stiff.’

‘But wouldn’t the lights from the farmhouse be visible?’

‘Maybe the poor devil has run out of paraffin, or used all his candles, or he could be saving supplies, in case this weather sets in for a long period.’

‘Do you think it will?’ Once more, Tom crept into her thoughts. He had never set a hand against her, but she was wary of him.

Harry tried to reassure her. ‘Don’t worry, Bridget. I promise you, one way or another I’ll have you home sooner than they can send out the search parties.’

‘I know you will.’ A part of her wished this adventure would never end. Another, more responsible, part of her was afraid of the consequences. ‘And I’m not worried.’

‘Good.’ Gazing down on her upturned face, he said, ‘I’ll do everything I can to get you home safely. All I ask is that you trust me.’

Bridget smiled up at him. ‘I do.’

‘Are you warm enough?’

‘Mmm.’ Just a small, quiet sound, but she couldn’t trust herself to say any more. He was too near and her heart was thumping too loudly.

Not daring to light a candle with all the hay and straw about, Harry had opened the barn window just wide enough to let a trickle of moonlight creep in. The soft, silvery glow bathed her face, and he was taken aback by her quiet beauty. He had to look away. ‘Go to sleep now,’ he said. ‘It’ll be daylight before we know it.’

‘Goodnight, Harry.’

He didn’t answer, and he did not look at her. With her warm body so near, he could not trust himself.

For a long time he lay awake while Bridget slept, his mind on how he was going to keep his promise to her.

‘I will get you home, sweetheart,’ he murmured, his gaze on her sleeping face, ‘though I’d give my soul to keep you with me.’