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many things; more perhaps than most young ladies learn.’
    ‘Such as?’
    ‘Such as learning how to defend myself.’
    Recalling their first meeting, Falconbridge smiled. ‘So the sword and pistol weren’t just for show, then?’
    ‘Hardly.’
    ‘Have you ever been called upon to use them?’
    ‘Yes. Father’s work took us to some remote places and once we were attacked by robbers. Fortunately Ramon and Luis were with us and we were able to drive our attackers off, but it’s not an experience I would choose to have again.’
    ‘I can well believe it,’ he replied. His curiosity mounted. ‘Did you never settle in one place?’
    ‘No, though there were some fairly lengthy spells in different locations.’
    ‘Did it not bother you to be always on the move?’
    ‘Home was wherever we happened to be. So long as Father and I were together I didn’t mind.’
    ‘His capture must have come as a severe blow.’
    ‘Yes, it did.’
    ‘I take it you were not there on that occasion.’
    She shook her head. ‘My horse was lame and Father was only going to be away for two or three days. That was four months ago. I have not seen him since.’
    ‘I’m so sorry.’
    Sabrina was struck again by the apparent sincerity in his tone. It was much at variance with the man she had met before.
    ‘I should have been with him,’ she said. ‘Perhaps then I could have done something to help.’
    ‘If you had been with him, my dear, you would have been killed or captured yourself.’
    ‘Perhaps.’
    ‘Soldiers are not known for their chivalrous behaviour.’
    She smiled innocently. ‘So I’ve noticed, sir.’
    ‘Touché!’
    Her riposte had been justified, he admitted. All the same he hadn’t missed the mischievous glance that had accompanied it. There had been no malice in the look. On the contrary, it had been quite unwittingly seductive. The fact that it had been unintended made it all the more effective. He smiled in self-mockery. Any overture to Miss Huntley would likely result in him getting shot, or run through with a sword. She was more than capable of holding her own. It didn’t displease him. Whatever else, it meant that the journey wasn’t going to be dull.
    Their stroll had brought them to the arroyo, but the stream in its stony bed was reduced to a mere trickle now. A few stunted trees clung to the margins. Heat struck upwards from the baked earth and carried with it the scent of wild thyme and dry grass.
    ‘Despite the shortcomings of some members of themilitary,’ he continued, ‘you are fortunate to have a friend in Colonel Albermarle.’
    ‘He has been kindness itself. He and my father go back many years.’
    ‘When this mission is over you will see your father again.’
    ‘I pray that I may. I cannot bear to think of him in a foreign prison.’
    Her expression grew wistful and he was unexpectedly touched. Her affection for her parent was clearly genuine, as was her desire for his freedom. Her youth made her seem more vulnerable. Once again he felt the weight of his responsibility.
    ‘How old are you, Sabrina?’
    ‘I’m nineteen.’ Her eyes met and held his. ‘How old are you?’
    His lips twitched. ‘Eight and twenty.’
    ‘Now you know about me will you not tell me something of yourself?’
    ‘You will find it dull. Unlike you I had a most conventional upbringing: Eton, Cambridge and the army. As the younger son I was expected to carve out a career for myself. My father bought me a commission and then let me get on with it.’
    ‘Do you have any sisters?’
    ‘One. Her name is Harriet. She is four years younger than I and married now with children of her own.’
    ‘And your brother?’
    There was an infinitesimal pause. ‘Hugh, who is two years older.’
    ‘Are you close?’
    ‘Not especially.’ It was, he thought, a massive understatement. The antipathy he had come to feel for hisbrother had, at one point, come perilously close to hatred.
    ‘Is he married?’
    The grey eyes glinted.