“I know that,” he said softly. A minute, maybe two, passed without a single word passing between them. Finally, Drake took a ragged breath and spoke again. “Juliet, Abigail didn’t have any sort of complication except the one she inflicted upon herself. She didn’t want another child. Truthfully, I’m not sure she wanted any of them—” He broke off abruptly, and the glimmer of unshed tears in his eyes nearly broke Juliet’s heart.
“How could—” She closed her mouth with a snap. Though she longed to know his reasoning, she couldn’t find a polite way to ask, and right now, he was too vulnerable for her bluntness.
“How can I know she didn’t want the girls?” he answered for her. He swallowed. “I don’t. It’s only a guess. But a good one, I’d wager.” He twisted his lips. “In a way, Juliet, she was just like Olivia. They were both unbelievably spoiled by their families. Unlike Marcus, I was too foolish to see it. Abigail’s false charm and sly manipulations worked on me, and foolish, besotted lad I was, I indulged her, thinking that was the best way to show my love for her. But all that did was make it easier for her to keep her demeanor hidden.”
He raked a hand through his hair. “Juliet, the hard truth is, she was not a good person, but unlike Olivia, she went about hiding it better. Except with Caroline. She detested Caroline for something so silly it’s not worth repeating, but that didn’t stop her from openly treating her poorly.” He exhaled and cleared his throat. “What I’m trying to say is, Abigail was very good at manipulation, but underneath the petite body dressed in clothes that were the height of fashion, was an unloving shrew. I’ll never really know if she loved Celia and Helena; but I know for certain she didn’t want Kate, and the circumstances surrounding her conception do not shed a favorable light on me.” His hands tightened their hold of hers and he looked her straight in the eye. Though his gaze was unwavering, his tone was hoarse as he said his next words. “I didn’t force her, but you’d have thought I had the way Abigail grew to detest me those final months. Finally, she saw her chance to hurt me and took it. She didn’t have any sort of medical complication, she quit, gave up, stopped fighting. Whatever you want to call it, she turned her back on us. On me.”
“You don’t know that,” Juliet said, squeezing his hands back as tightly as she could.
He sneered. “Yes, I do, Juliet. I was there. I was in that room. She had every opportunity to deliver a healthy baby, but she chose not to. She was so angry with me, she chose to lie there and let her life slip away until it was too late. All because she wanted to hurt me for a glib remark I made about her lack of willingness to share my bed in a bout of anger.”
Juliet blinked. Drake had always been so cautious with her about sharing intimacies and often waited for her to initiate their lovemaking. Sure, he’d do things to offer her pleasure without expecting anything in return, like that night in London. But sometimes it took some persuading to get him to let her enjoy his body as well. Not to mention the other night when he’d acted strangely after returning from London. It all made sense now. He wasn’t trying to shame her, or inflate his pride; he was genuinely worried he’d done something to make her grow to resent him. The hard wall she’d erected around her heart this past week crumbled. “I’m not like that, Drake.”
“I know,” he whispered. He released her hands and cupped her face. “I know. You’re everything she wasn’t, Juliet. You’re strong, and confident. You’re a fighter. And more than any of those differences, I believe the biggest difference is you love me just as much as I love you.”
“H-how did you know?” Juliet asked with a gasp. Not that it was a secret, but the fact he knew when she hadn’t told anyone stunned her.
He grinned, but didn’t answer. He removed his right hand from her face and reached down into his pocket. Without letting his eyes leave hers, he handed her a folded up piece of paper. “This.”
She took the parchment from his fingers, and glanced at the writing. “My note?”
He nodded. “You didn’t give up on me. You did indeed intend to come back and fight for what you wanted.” He flashed her a quick smile. “This all might be presumptuous of me, but I am Lord Presumptuous, so think of it as me just living up to my title. I think this says far more than any spoken declaration of love, Juliet. You weren’t giving up. You’d planned to come after what you wanted, and I’d be devastated if you said it wasn’t me.”