Nathaniel was silent. There was nothing he could say to make this news better; in fact, there were things still to tell her that she would not like at all.

Robbie sat to the far side of the fire, cleaning his traps and getting ready to deal with the beaver he had brought in, but his attention was primarily on Elizabeth. He caught Nathaniel's eye now and shrugged sympathetically.

"What could motivate Kitty Witherspoon to do such a thing?" she muttered.

"Marriage," said Nathaniel.

"Marriage?" Elizabeth cocked one brow, her mouth pursed. "Richard has offered to marry her?"

Nathaniel nodded. "And none too soon."

She blinked, tugging at her plait and then flinging it back over her shoulder. "Kitty is with child?"

"Curiosity says she is."

With hands that were less than steady, Elizabeth turned to the kettle and began to scoop out bowls of porridge. One of these she thrust into Nathaniel's hands. The other she passed, absentmindedly, to Robbie.

"By whom?"

"Your brother, no doubt," he said. ""Course, that ain't common knowledge. Although Curiosity suspects, it seemed to me."

She sat down heavily next to him, and stared into her bowl.

"I know that Kitty would be very glad to get Richard, but why would he want her, under those circumstances?"

Nathaniel waited, knowing that she did not really want an answer from him; she had a habit of thinking out loud when she was trying to work through something difficult, and he was learning to let her get on with it and not interrupt.

"I expect it was the price she set on her testimony," Elizabeth muttered. "The man is really beyond all reason and propriety." She shook her head, and began to eat. After two spoonfuls, she let her bowl rest in her lap, and turned to Nathaniel.

"What a terrible muddle this is," she said. "What can I do, except deny them? I never told any of them that I was engaged to Richard, but they are three and I am only one. If I thought there was any chance of speaking sense to them—" She broke off

"Come, lass, ye mun eat," said Robbie. "Naethin' ever looks sac bad wi' a belly fu' o' parr itch.”

"I hope you're right," Elizabeth said softly. Robbie had carved her a spoon of her own and she worried the end between her teeth, looking at Nathaniel in a distracted way.

"Must I go back and face these charges, and Kitty Witherspoon? Or Kitty Todd, perhaps by then."

Nathaniel tipped his bowl to his mouth while he considered the best way to reply. "Eventually," he said. "But you won't go alone, Elizabeth."

She noted his rare use of her name. He was looking at her with a calm affection; there was nothing of humor or teasing or lust in him at this moment, just the wish to reassure her. This was a comfort, because since the encounter of the previous evening, Elizabeth often found herself lost in thought and suddenly blushing furiously for no clear reason. He might have teased her, but he seemed to understand how much his lessons in satisfaction had rocked her sense and understanding of herself. It would require a great deal of thought, the whole business of being together with him. This evening they would talk it through. If she could find the words, if they could keep the talking separate for a while, from the rest of it. In the meantime there was news of home.

Nathaniel tugged on her plait to get her attention. "We have to give my father some time to see what he can manage."

"Hawkeye?" she asked, confused. "Manage what?"

"Hawkeye is a skilfu' negotiator," Robbie offered. "Gi'e him time tae talk sense tae nonsensical folk, and see if aught comes o' it."

"He won't persuade Kitty Witherspoon if Richard Todd is willing to marry her on the strength of her testimony," Elizabeth pointed out. "She'd testify against God and King—or President, in this case—for that particular reward."

"You sound as though you're regretting the loss of the man." Nathaniel grinned at her.

"Not in this world, or the next," she laughed, reluctantly. But she recognized that this idea of Richard marrying Kitty irked her, although she couldn't say why, and didn't want to think about it overmuch. Not with the way Nathaniel was looking at her.

"What power would Hawkeye have with Martha Southern or Liam Kirby?" she asked. "Or better said, Moses Southern and Billy Kirby, for I doubt Martha and Liam volunteered their testimony without considerable encouragement."

Robbie was waving a great beaver tail as if it were an outlandish new fashion in fans. Elizabeth could hear that he had a story to tell by the way he cleared his throat.

"Hawkeye once persuaded a rantin' Huron war party that it wasna a guid notion to cook his Cora for their dinner, and that' wi'oot a weapon on him," said Robbie. "And they walked awa', the twa o' them, wit heir scalps. He's a sicht tae see and hear when he's in a persuasive frame o' mind, is Hawkeye. I dinna believe that Moses can stan' fast. And young Billy—" He laughed softly. "He hasna a chance."

Nathaniel was watching Elizabeth closely, wondering how much information he could give her at one time. She had her chin in the air, her eyes flashing with anger and frustration. In spite of the bad news that would keep them on the run, in spite of the trouble that might still take Hidden Wolf from them, Nathaniel could not look at her without a very real satisfaction and joy.

"What are you thinking?" she demanded.