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handled the rifle with the ease of an expert. Not just an Amazon warrior, but the Amazon queen in person. He drew a slow, deep breath before saying, “I gather you’re English also?”
    “Athena Markham of no particular place, but yes, English.” Her low voice had a well-educated accent. “Sorry I was so threatening, but it’s been a difficult year, and the screaming sounded like an attack.”
    “I thought the same thing.” He glanced to the door that led into the Olivieras’ apartment. The noise had abated some. “I’m grateful you held your fire.”
    “Learning how to shoot is easier than learning when not to.” She studied his uniform. “A major in the Fifty-second Foot. As part of the Light Battalion, you’ve probably seen just about every major battle in the Peninsular Wars.”
    “Yes, and more skirmishes than I can remember,” he agreed. “With Napoleon defeated, I’m heading for home, and San Gabriel is on my route. You live here?”
    “For the last five years.” Her eyes glinted. “And you’re the largest man I’ve seen in all those years.”
    Will laughed. “The Gabrileños I’ve met tend to be wiry and compact. I feel like Gulliver in Lilliput.”
    “I’ve felt like that since I arrived. I’m sure I’m the tallest woman in San Gabriel.”
    “Are you a palace guard?” he asked half seriously.
    “No, Lady Athena is my companion,” a light female voice said in English with only a faint trace of accent. “Or my governess. Or the acting regent of San Gabriel.”
    A petite, strikingly pretty young girl with dark hair and eyes stepped from the stairwell behind Athena Markham, a pistol gripped in both hands. Unlike her companion, she didn’t look skilled with firearms, but she did look determined. Luckily, the weapon was pointing downward.
    “I told you to stay away and be prepared to run,” Miss Markham said, sounding unsurprised that she hadn’t been obeyed.
    The girl raised her chin. “And leave you to face danger alone? I must be brave!”
    Making a guess, Will asked, “Are you Her Royal Highness Princess Maria Sofia?”
    “I am,” the girl said grandly. “I did not hear what all the noise is about. It appears that no one is murdering the Olivieras.”
    “They are celebrating the return of their oldest son, Sergeant Gilberto Oliviera,” Will explained. “His arrival was unexpected.”
    “Gilberto is home? It is right that we celebrate!” The princess set her pistol on the refectory table so quickly that it skidded across the top as she darted inside the Olivieras’ apartment. Mercifully, the weapon didn’t fire.
    Will watched her disappear into the happy turmoil. “I feel very old and very boringly British.”
    “I know exactly how you feel, Major Masterson.” Miss Markham—Lady Athena?—smiled as she lit one of the extra candlesticks on the sideboard. After collecting the princess’s pistol, she said, “You need a bed for the night, I assume, and I would love to hear the latest news. Come upstairs to the family floor and I’ll find you a room. If you’re not too tired, I’ll also ply you with wine and cheese as long as you’ll tell me what’s happening in the outside world.”
    “I’ll happily accept both bed and board,” he said as he lifted his saddlebags and carbine. In England, her suggestion would have been considered improper. Here it was recognition that they were both adults, a long way from home, who just happened to be male and female.
    So Will told himself as he followed Miss Markham up two flights of stairs to the family quarters. He also told himself that a gentleman wouldn’t be so blatantly admiring of the way her strong, supple body moved under her heavy robe, or the way the wavering candlelight caressed hidden curves.
    Luckily, she couldn’t see how ungentlemanly he was being.
    When she reached the correct floor, she led him down a passage to the left. She passed several doors to open the one at the end. As she stepped inside, she said,