The Soldier's Rebel Lover

He had meant her to smile. Instead, she frowned deeply. ‘No one will believe it. If only I had been Xavier’s brother, and not his sister, things would have been so very different.’

‘Aye, well, I’m not denying that would have made things a mite easier,’ Finlay said, unable to suppress his smile, ‘but a lot less interesting. I wouldn’t have missed meeting you again for the world.’

‘I have been a great deal of trouble to you. You told me not to go to Estebe, and...’

‘Isabella, you did only what I’d have done myself, in your shoes.’

‘You’re not angry with me?’

‘If I’m angry at anyone it’s with myself for faffing about, for not getting you out of there sooner.’

‘I made it very difficult for you. I was so stubborn, and I didn’t listen, and I thought I knew best, and—Finlay, what will he do? Xavier, I mean. When they come for him, how will he save himself if they do not believe him?’

He had stupidly hoped she would not ask him this question. No doubt about it, the shock had worn off, and her mind was as sharp as ever. He could lie to her, but she’d work it out for herself soon enough, and besides, he would not lie to her. ‘Sit down,’ Finlay said, steering her onto the bench and taking a seat beside her.

She did as he bid her, but without the docile obedience of the past few days. ‘What is it? What do you know?’

‘I don’t know anything for sure.’

‘You think they will discount my confession, don’t you?’

‘I do, I’m afraid.’

‘So they will arrest Xavier? Finlay, I can’t allow that.’

‘Haud your wheesht a minute. The authorities have been meticulous and thorough in their pursuit of El Fantasma, Isabella, we know that. They might struggle to believe that a wee lassie could be El Fantasma, but they couldn’t dismiss it out of hand. They’d be obliged to check it out—to eliminate the possibility. They are not the type to leave any stone unturned.’

‘So they will be looking for me.’ Isabella paled. ‘And Xavier will— Do you think he will— What do you think he will do?’

‘You know your brother better than I do, Isabella. What do you think?’

‘I don’t know!’

‘Think about it,’ Finlay said with a heavy heart. ‘What is most important to him?’

‘His son, his wife.’

‘No, there is something even more important than that.’

Now she was nodding to herself, clearly beginning to follow his meaning. ‘My brother has been raised to believe that he is the custodian of Hermoso Romero. It is his—I don’t know what to call it—duty? His heritage? His destiny? If he was shamed, if they took him, accused him of being El Fantasma, he would lose everything.’ Another little nod. ‘So what you think is—what you think is that he would do anything to avoid that?’

Though she had paled, she looked him straight in the eye. ‘Aye,’ Finlay said. ‘I do.’

‘Sí. And the only way to avoid it, is to— You do not think he will try to stop them coming after me, do you?’

‘I’m right sorry, but I don’t see how he can. Even he has not that power, and frankly, it is not in his best interests.’

‘I see.’ Isabella clasped her hands together tightly. ‘So that is why you have been so eager to put so many miles between us and Hermoso Romero. That is why you have been standing guard every night while I slept.’

‘Aye,’ he said, heart sore at watching it dawn on her just how alone she was.

‘If they capture me, Xavier will be safe.’

‘I’ve no intentions of letting anyone capture you, or me for that matter.’

Another faint smile greeted this remark. ‘But if they do not, then suspicion will fall on my brother.’

Romero would be in the clear. The plan Jack had hatched would leave neither the British nor the Spanish in any doubt that El Fantasma had been silenced, but Finlay couldn’t bring himself to explain this to Isabella just yet. She was only just recovering from one huge shock, only just starting to reassess her future. Time enough to explain just exactly what that future would entail another day. ‘Your brother is a powerful man and not without influence. I wouldn’t bet against him finding a way of convincing the authorities of his innocence.’

Her lips tightened. ‘If that is true, then had there been a way to save me, he could have found it. The fact that you did not even consider giving him the opportunity to do so...’

Finlay managed a wry smile. ‘Actually, I did, but I concluded the result would be your spending the rest of your life locked away in a nunnery.’

She stared at him in astonishment. ‘You are probably right. I think you know my brother better than I. It would have been the perfect solution for you, too, I think. I could not betray the Duke of Wellington from a nunnery. You would not have been burdened with me. You could have gone back to England, having done your duty. Why did you not...?’

‘Would you have liked to spend the rest of your life in a nunnery?’

‘No, but—I do not like being a burden to you.’

‘You’re not.’ He took her hand again, stroking the back of it with his thumb. ‘You’re not a burden.’