He rolled off her just then and let out an exhausted sigh. “Sometimes I wonder if you are some sort of angel sent from heaven to rescue me.”
He turned his head on the pillow to look at her. She was surprised to find him frowning.
“Before I arrived here,” he said, “all I wanted to do was leave again as soon as possible, but you have pulled me in.”
“Are you sure it’s me?” she replied. “I think you have been pulled in by your entire family. Even your father.”
“Which one?” he asked with a bitter note of disdain that she understood was not directed at her, but rather, at the circumstances.
“The one who raised you,” she replied. “And it’s perfectly understandable for you to be angry. I am glad you came here to tell me about it. I think it’s going to take a while for it to sink in. It’s a lot to absorb in one day.”
She rolled to face him and toyed flirtatiously with his neck cloth. “I am pleased I could at least provide you with some distraction just now, because it was quite enjoyable for me, as well.”
His eyes smiled at her. “See what I mean? You are an angel, Anne. I feel like I could tell you anything and you would find the hope or humor in it. You don’t judge me or anyone else. I’ve never met a woman quite like you.”
She rested her cheek on the palm of her hand. “Not even your fiancée?”
He blinked a few times then gazed up at the ceiling again. “Oh, Anne. There are still things I haven’t told you, and I wouldn’t blame you if you decided to run as far away from me as you possibly can.”
“What things?”
He laughed bitterly and did not answer the question.
“Please tell me,” she pressed.
Garrett inhaled deeply, then spoke at last. “The woman I was pledged to marry was pregnant with my child. Otherwise...” He paused.
“Yes?”
He shook his head. “It kills me to say these words when she is gone because of me, but that is the only reason we were going to marry. I don’t think she loved me any more than I loved her, which was not very much. But she read my letters from Pembroke and discovered the fact that my brothers wanted me to marry by Christmas in order to save our fortune, and that there would be a large settlement bestowed upon me if I took a wife. Above all, my family connections and the lure of wealth meant more to her than I did.”
“How did you become entangled with her?”
He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “It was a brief affair. She was newly divorced and leapt into bed with me for revenge on her husband. When I told her I had no intention to take a wife just to receive a settlement, she conveniently became pregnant. I couldn’t leave her to raise the child alone. She wasn’t as strong and independent as you. She was...emotional.”
Anne laid her hand on Garrett’s shoulder and wondered what giant confession he would make next. Good God, he really did need an angel to guide him through all this.
“Just as I thought,” she gently said. “You are an honorable gentleman after all, fully prepared to sacrifice your freedom to rescue a damsel in distress.”
“Is that what you think?” he asked. “Here is the worst part. There were moments when I wished something terrible would happen to release me from my obligation. Once, I imagined her falling from a horse and losing the child. How honorable is that?”
She swallowed uneasily. “You felt trapped.”
He nodded, and suddenly she understood why he had been so mistrustful of her when he first arrived. He had been burned recently by a scheming woman who only wanted him for his inheritance.
Anne was not so very different. That’s all she wanted, too.
“You mustn’t blame yourself,” she said. “The accident was not your fault, and you mustn’t forget that you were prepared to do the honorable thing, despite your reservations.”
He gazed up at the canopy. “You are certainly no damsel in distress, Anne. To the contrary, you are as sure and steady as a rock, and I am glad my brothers chose you.”
A rock. If only he knew the truth—that she was trembling inside. Trembling with love and a dreadful, all-consuming fear that he would leave her after their wedding night, and she would never see him again. That fear had nothing to do with the money of course. She would give it all up if she could have his heart.
“I am glad too,” she replied as she laid a kiss on his cheek. “I have not been this happy in a long time.”
Not ever, if she were being completely honest, but something held her back from an overly excessive declaration of love. He’d said it all. He enjoyed her company because she did not place any romantic demands on him. She was solid as a rock. Emotionally self-sufficient and independent.