What would it take? he wondered. How angry would she be?
Chapter Seventeen
The storm raged on through most of the night, but Christmas morning dawned with the blessings of a clear blue sky and a bright yellow sun casting its warmth upon the snow-covered grounds at Pembroke Palace.
Anne had waited up all night in the drawing room with Charlotte and the duchess, but fell asleep on the chaise longue when she could no longer keep her eyes from falling closed. She woke to find herself curled up on her side, still wearing her wedding gown and pearls. At some point, a kind soul had covered her with a woolen shawl.
She sat up quickly as it occurred to her that they had missed the deadline to save the Pembroke Palace fortune.
And Garrett had still not come home.
Dear Lord...
She prayed that he had found shelter from the storm and that was the cause of the delay, rather than some other dreadful reason she did not dare confront.
But what if he did not return at all today? What would she do? How long would she wait?
Hearing the sound of a shovel scraping across the stone steps outside, she stood up and looked around the drawing room only to discover she was completely alone. The fire had died down hours ago. Charlotte and the duchess must have gone off to bed after she’d fallen asleep.
She walked slowly to the window and squinted in the bright sunlight that reflected off the snow. She glanced down at two servants shoveling snow off the steps below.
The forest in the distance was cloaked in white. It was the most beautiful Christmas morning she had ever beheld, yet her heart ached with painful thoughts of what might have kept Garrett from her. Was he all right? What if something terrible had happened?
She would give anything to know that he was unharmed. Anything. She would surrender her own happiness, return to her uncle’s house in Yorkshire if she must, if only she could see Garrett walk through this door one more time. Safe.
Then suddenly a horse-drawn sleigh appeared in the distance, making its way slowly up the lane. Anne’s heart leapt to her throat, and she pressed both hands to the glass.
Garrett. Please let it be you.
She didn’t care if the contract was broken, or if there was no money, or even if their engagement charade was at an end forever. All that mattered was that he was alive and well.
She would find her own way to survive.
For a few more heart-pounding moments she watched the sleigh draw closer to the house. She was breathing quite heavily when it reached the steps.
There were two men in the sleigh, but they wore fur hats and the frost on the lower part of the glass window obscured her view.
Clutching the shawl about her shoulders, she dashed from the room and ran to the main staircase, flew down the red carpeted stairs like some sort of winged creature dressed in white, and hurried across the marble floor of the Great Hall.
Suddenly she realized the rest of the family had appeared and followed her down the stairs as well—the duchess, then Devon, Blake, and Charlotte.
The butler had already opened the double front doors. Anne darted out into the cold. She stopped under the wide portico as the two men stepped out of the sleigh, then breathed a sigh of relief when she recognized that incredibly handsome face.
Garrett looked up at her and laid a hand over his heart.
Her own heart melted, and she was so happy to see him! But what did it mean?
* * *
Anne truly was an angel sent from heaven, Garrett thought as he watched her dash down the stairs in a flowing white wedding gown and sky-blue shawl. The sight of her, after all he’d been through, was like a hot sunburst that exploded in his chest.
He did not wait for her to reach him at the sleigh. He took the steps two at a time to meet her half way. To his utter delight, she threw herself into his arms and hugged him so tight around the neck, he could barely breathe.
“Thank God you’re safe,” she said.
He drew back to look her in the eye, shocked and bewildered by her forgiveness, and then found himself admiring the gorgeous, tantalizing length of her body in that white dress.
“My God, you look beautiful.” He forced his gaze back up to her face. “But you’re not angry with me? I thought you might be, but there was no way to send word.”
“Angry!” she replied, then seemed to realize what he was referring to. “Oh, yes. Yes, I am very angry about that. What woman wouldn’t be?” She sighed. “Oh, Garrett. None of that matters. You’re here now.” She hugged him again. “Oh my word...I am so sorry.”
“You’re sorry? Sorry for what?”
“We missed the deadline,” she replied. “Your family’s fortune... The money you wanted...”
He pulled her into his arms again. “I don’t care about that, Anne. All that matters is that you are here, and you are not angry with me.”