"Are you all right?" Gideon asked roughly.

"Yes. Yes, I am fine." She glanced helplessly past him. "What happened to Mr. Crane?"

"Crane took his chances with the sea. If he did not drown, Dobbs will have him. I do know that by now there is no chance for us to get out of these caverns tonight. It appears we shall be obliged to spend what is left of this night in these damn caves, Miss Pomeroy."

"I was afraid of that. Thank heaven you have a lamp."

"I have this one and there are the ones the thieves left behind in the cavern where they stored their goods. Come, let us get out of this bloody tunnel. It fits me more tightly than a coat cut by Weston."

Harriet did not argue. She turned and led the way to the thieves' cavern. Gideon followed, swearing softly in relief as he stepped into the large chamber.

"Not exactly the most pleasant of inn rooms, is it?" He hung the lamp on a metal peg that one of the thieves had driven into the cavern wall. "Service is poor and I imagine this stone floor is going to become extremely uncomfortable by morning. Remind me not to leave a tip with the management."

Harriet bit her lip as guilt washed through her. "I know this is all my fault, my lord. I am very sorry for the inconvenience."

"Inconvenience?" Gideon arched one brow. "You do not yet know the meaning of the word, Harriet. Tomorrow you will learn how truly inconvenient this all is."

She frowned. "I do not understand, sir. What are you trying to say?"

"Never mind. There will be plenty of time to discuss it at a later date." Gideon sat down on a chunk of rock and began to pry off his wet boots. "It is fortunate you have that cloak and I have a dry coat. There is a definite chill in this room."

"Yes, there is." Harriet huddled more deeply into her cloak and glanced around uneasily. It was beginning to sink in that she was going to be spending the night here with Gideon. She had never in her entire life spent a night in the same room with a man. "How did you find me? Did you hear my call? Or Mr. Crane's shot?"

"Both." One boot dropped to the stone floor. Gideon went to work on the other. "I was watching for the third man you had reported seeing. I assumed that he probably kept the watch. But I did not expect him to come down the cliff path with you." The second boot hit the floor.

"I see." Harriet stared at Gideon's boots and licked her suddenly dry lips.

"I would like an explanation, if you don't mind, Miss Pomeroy." Gideon stood up and went to work on the fastenings of his trousers.

Harriet's eyes widened in shock as she saw that he was going to remove the remainder of his wet garments. It was the only thing he could do under the circumstances, she told herself. He could not possibly sleep in his damp clothing. He would take a dreadful chill. Nevertheless, she had never seen an undressed man in her life. She turned her back and started speaking quickly to cover up her nervousness.

"I could not sleep," Harriet said. "When I went to the window I saw that there were men on the beach and I realized the thieves had returned. I knew that Mr. Dobbs would signal you and the plan would be put into action. At first I was very excited. I wanted to see what was happening. Then I grew alarmed."

"Worried about your bloody damn fossils?"

"I was worried about you," she whispered, acutely aware of the sound of Gideon stripping off his soaked trousers.

"Me?" There was a short silence from Gideon. "Why in blazes were you worried about me?"

"Well, it is just that you have not had much experience catching thieves, my lord." Harriet twisted her hands together under her cloak. "I mean, it is not as if it was your normal occupation. I knew the thieves would most likely be armed and probably quite dangerous and, well…" Her voice trailed off helplessly. She could hardly confess that her concern was of a far more personal nature. She was only just realizing that herself.

"I see." Gideon's voice was cold.

"I meant no offense, my lord. I was simply concerned for your safety."

"What about your own safety, Miss Pomeroy?"

She braced herself against the sarcasm. "I did not think I would be in any danger there at the top of the cliffs."

"I can barely hear you, Miss Pomeroy."

Harriet cleared her throat. "I said I did not think I would be in any danger there at the top of the cliffs."

"Well, you were wrong, were you not? And now you are in more danger than you could possibly have imagined."

Harriet spun around at that soft threat. She saw with relief that Gideon had put on his greatcoat. It fell to his bare calves. He was busying himself with one of the sacks on the floor. "What are you doing, sir?"

"Preparing us a bed for the night. Unless you wish to sleep standing upright?" Gideon opened the large sack, turned it upside down, and carelessly dumped a fortune in gems and silverplate onto the floor of the cave.

"I doubt that I shall sleep at all tonight," Harriet muttered. She watched as Gideon emptied another of the canvas sacks. "My lord, I realize that you are annoyed with me and I am sorry for it, but you must see that what has happened is entirely an accident."

"Fate, Miss Pomeroy. I think we can probably label it fate. What has occurred this evening has all the ominous, portentous, suitably awesome weight of an act of sheer, bloody fate. Are you the philosophical type?"

"I had not thought much about philosophy. I have read some of the classics, of course, but I have always been far more interested in fossils."

Gideon slanted her a strange glance. "Prepare yourself, Miss Pomeroy. A whole new field is about to open itself before your very eyes."

Harriet scowled. "You are in a rather strange mood tonight, are you not, my lord?"

"You may attribute my mood to the fact that, unlike yourself, I have a healthy respect for the power of fate." Gideon emptied the last of the sacks. He opened each one up and arranged the final pile into a mattress of sorts.

Behind him the lamplight gleamed on the heap of valuables that lay on the stone floor. Gold candlesticks, ruby rings, and embossed snuffboxes glittered and sparkled in a brilliant, gleaming fire that provided no hint of warmth.

Harriet eyed the canvas sacks. "You intend to sleep there, my lord?"

"I intend for both of us to sleep here." Gideon straightened the sacks to his satisfaction. "The canvas will protect us from some of the chill in the stone and we shall have your cloak and my coat for blankets. We will survive the night."

"Yes, of course." He intended her to sleep next to him. A disconcerting thrill followed by an equally unsettling shaft of fear went down Harriet's spine. She glanced around the chamber, searching for some alternative. "A very sensible arrangement, I suppose."

Gideon looked at her damp boots. "You had best take those off."

She followed his gaze. "Yes. Yes, of course."

Harriet sat down near the jumble of rocks that contained the outline of the fossil tooth she had discovered on her previous visit to the cavern. She eyed the fossil wistfully and then bent down to slowly unlace her boots.

A moment later she slipped the boots off and was mortified by her bare feet. She had not taken time to put on a pair of stockings before leaving the house. She felt herself turning pink and hoped Gideon would not notice.

"Calm yourself, Harriet. What is done, is done. There is nothing either of us can do now except try to get some rest. We will deal with the rest of it on the morrow." Gideon's brooding eyes seemed to soften slightly as he took in her bedraggled appearance and uncertain air. "Come here, my dear. We shall both be much warmer and far less likely to catch a chill if we share these sacks."

Harriet stood up, toes wriggling on the cold stone. She straightened her shoulders. Gideon was quite right. This was the only sensible course of action.