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Rather it afforded a glimmer of hope.
    ‘I will not go back, my lord.’
    ‘I wasn’t suggesting that you should, but nor is it fitting that you should attempt such a journey.’
    ‘If you do not help us, then we shall go on alone and face what comes.’
    ‘It’s too dangerous. Quite apart from the vagaries of the weather and the numerous natural obstacles you are likely to encounter, the mountains are full of brigands.’
    ‘It would be less dangerous with four,’ she replied. ‘Concha and I both shoot well.’
    Harry felt winded, as though he had fallen from a great height and then landed between a rock and a hard place. Desperately he tried to marshal his thoughts. Elena wouldn’t go back and he didn’t blame her for it, but neither could he let her go on alone. Every masculine instinct forbade it. Yet the implications of their going on together were fraught with difficulty too. No matter what she said to the contrary, he would be responsible for the two women. It was a burden of care he could do without. Besides, his track record in that area was abysmal. Had he not already failed the woman who had trusted him most? Had he not also failed the man who had been his best friend? Their trust in him had been misplaced and both were dead. His jaw tightened. If he abandoned Elena and Concha now he would be adding two more to that score because they would likely perish before they ever saw Seville, never mind England. Conscience dictated that he couldn’t let that happen.
    ‘All right. You travel with us, but it will be on the condition that you take orders from me.’
    ‘Of course.’
    ‘I mean it, Elena. All our lives may depend on it.’
    She nodded. ‘Very well.’
    ‘You will take your turn to keep watch, gather wood for the fire and cook when necessary. You will also look after your own mounts. Is that understood?’
    Her expression was the epitome of meekness. ‘Clearly, my lord.’
    ‘Good.’
    ‘I’ll help Concha unsaddle our horses, then.’ She turned away and then paused, glancing back over her shoulder. ‘Thank you. You won’t regret this, I swear it.’
    Harry wished he could believe that.
    As the two women led the horses away, Jack came to stand beside his master, regarding the scene quizzically.
    ‘They’re not leaving right way, then, my lord?’
    ‘They’re not leaving at all.’
    Jack stared at him. ‘Does that mean what I think it does?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Er, right.’
    Harry’s eyes glinted. ‘You have some difficulty with that, perhaps?’
    ‘Oh, no, my lord, none at all.’

Chapter Five
    E lena lay on her back looking up at the stars. For the first time in weeks she felt a real sense of optimism and contentment. She and Concha would get to England and they would have a future. Life was looking better than it had for a long time. They were going to have to tread warily around Lord Henry Montague for a while though. As she had hoped, he had done the gentlemanly thing. In that respect she had not mistaken her man. All the same it was clear that he wasn’t overjoyed about having two women along. No doubt he feared they would be a burden. He would learn the error of such thoughts in due course. She smiled to herself in the darkness.
    Now that his face had imposed itself on her mind she was in no hurry to dismiss it. He was unlike any man she had ever met and he aroused her curiosity. Although he had told her a little about his home and his family there was so much more she would have liked to know. Was he married? Was there a wife waiting for him in England? It seemed likely. Such a man could have his pick of all the noble ladies in the land, but he did not seem to be a womaniser. His heart would not be easily won, but the woman who succeeded in doing that would have it for ever. She sighed. Once she had dreamed of something similar but the dream was ashes now. Her former betrothed might have had one of the oldest and most respected names in Spain but he had turned out to have