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Thomas looked at Elena and whispered in her ear that he needed to talk to Tony in private. She nodded, bobbed, and went inside. “Let us go and you can tell me how it is that you married my ward.”

“Ah, my brother has spilled the beans I see.”

They made their way around the corner, where they got in a hack and traveled to an address Thomas had never been to before. Inside, Lord Ashton settled into an armchair by the fire and motioned for Thomas to sit in the other.

“So, your wife is Spanish? Interesting.”

“Yes, she is, and if not for her I would be dead.”

“Then I am indebted to her. I have to say that for some reason I just could not believe you were dead. When did you marry?”

“We married in a Catholic church in Spain but will marry in St George’s the day after tomorrow to make it legal here. Then she will be my legal wife.”

“Smart move. How did you escape?”

“I have written it all in my report,” Thomas said. “I will give it to you when we return, but to make a long story short, she brought me back from death and then aided me in escaping. Then we traveled together to Cadiz. Elena is a doctor, though she will never say so. She had assisted her father, who was a doctor, for many years, and used that knowledge to heal me.”

“And your finger?”

Thomas held up his right hand.

“I’m sorry that you had to go through that. I had no knowledge you were even in Spain. Stafford would not tell me anything and I was ordered not to go after you.”

“I am beginning to think some rather unexpected things happened while I was away. The duke said Stafford was dead.”

“Stafford sent you to Spain to get you out of the way. He tipped off the French that you were there.”

Shock rocked through him. “Stafford betrayed me? Why?”

“So that he could get Lucinda out of hiding. When I became her guardian, he asked me to find out all I could about her father.”

“Viscount Foxton.”

“Yes. He used me to try and find out what it was that had got her father killed. Lucinda knew nothing.”

“Even I did not know. My father just begged me to keep her in hiding to protect her. I was going to bring her to my home so she could be with my mother and sister. I felt terrible leaving her in that school for so long but then Stafford asked me to go to Spain.” He wiped a hand down his face. “Your brother said the secret was in her ring or something and that she threw it in the Thames. What was in it?”

“I’ll let you read the report when you come to my office tomorrow.”

“Is Lucinda safe?”

“We have sent around enough misinformation to confuse any interested parties and that Stafford killed himself when he found out there was no secret. I have no intelligence that indicates that she is still in danger. Of course, I will always be vigilant.”

“So you love her? It is not a sense of duty?”

“Yes, I love her to distraction. She is my heart.” He covered his heart with his hand. “God, it’s good to see your face, my friend.” Tony lifted his glass. “Cheers to Doctor Elena Diaz who saved your sorry arse.”

“To Elena Markham. Who is my heart.”

Tony laughed. “How did this happen? I would have thought out of all of us, you and I would never marry.”

“When you have been near death, your perspective changes,” Thomas said.

“So, you will be leaving the Ring.”

“The rules are the rules. Except for you, it seems.”

“The rules only apply to operatives, thankfully. Will you stay in the army?”