Except...they were not safe yet.
“I can’t protect you and our son if I’m not here. What if Blackwell resorts to physical harm when his lawsuit doesn’t stand? I should have killed him when he assaulted you! A lot can happen in a year. I couldn’t live in peace knowing you two are here alone and vulnerable.”
“I have an army of footmen and other employees to protect me if need be. I’m hardly ever alone. Sometimes finding a moment of privacy proves a challenge. I would say I don’t need physical protection. The best protection you could offer us is protection against scandal and ruin.”
Was she right? Was he motivated by his selfish desire rather than by what was best for them? Regardless of who was right, herecognized the implacable set of her chin. She was committed to this course of action. A tactical retreat was in order.
“At least let me hire some guards?” he asked, conceding this battle.
“Fine. As long as they are not underfoot. Although I really think it will be unnecessary.”
He kissed her. With all his frustrated needs. With angry passion. She owned him. Body and soul. He lived for her, and for their son. He needed them, and she thought she didn’t need him.
She stiffened at first, and then her hands clenched in his hair, and she pulled him closer. He tasted her desire. Her need. She could deny it all she wanted, but they belonged together, and he would never give her up. She bit his lip. Hard. And still he refused to let her go. He deepened the kiss.
She tore her mouth away. Breathing hard.
“Go away, please,” she panted. “If we are discovered together, it would ruin everything.”
“I will go, for now. But don’t think I’ll stay away. Not a chance in hell. Get used to the idea of having me around. With or without marriage.”
With that, he turned and left. He couldn’t endure another moment of her indecision. Another reminder of how unworthy he was of love.
CHAPTER 44
HE MADE IT ALL THEway to the train station before his instinct prevented him from going any further. He couldn’t leave them. It was as impossible as forcing his heart to stop beating, or his lungs to cease drawing air. They were still in danger. Hannah thought the nephew’s threats were only about scandal and lawsuits. But he knew better. Gabriel had met his share of monsters in his life, so he knew how to identify one when he saw it. Neil Blackwell was a ruthless man. Rotten to the core. If scandal and law were not enough to get him the dukedom, he wouldn’t stop there.
Gabriel was already turning away from the platform, striding out of the train station before he had even formed a plan. All he knew was that he had to stay close to them. Watch over them. The woman he loved and his son were in danger. He knew it with a deep certainty that was as strong as it was unexplainable.
But where to stay? Hannah wouldn’t countenance his staying in the house. She was afraid of the scandal. Yet he needed to be close to them in order to protect them. He wouldn’t be of any use staying in the village inn.
The folly! Of course. It was close enough that he had a good view of the house, but retired enough that he wouldn’t be immediately discovered. The place of their encounters would now be his refuge and post to look over them. He doubted Hannah would visit it soon.
His course set, he started making plans. First, he needed to gather some supplies and send a message to Thakur. A telescopeor field glasses were essential in order to better watch the house. And some food, enough for a few days, so he wouldn’t have to be coming to the village often. Food was easy. But he didn’t know if he would be able to find a telescope in the village.
As it happened, luck was on his side. He saw one displayed in the bookshop window. The owner had been all too glad to sell it, as it had been a special order that the client had refused to buy. The telescope wasn’t of the highest quality, but it would do for his purposes.
Two hours later, telescope and provisions in hand, he was approaching the folly on the duke’s estate. The door was locked. Of course it was. But one of the unsavory skills he had picked up in his youth was how to pick locks. This one wasn’t even difficult to pick.
As soon as he stepped inside, a wave of nostalgia hit him like a blow to the chest. He had never been here without his duchess. And despite her essence permeating everything in the space, until even the air smelled of her perfume, her absence felt like an insatiable void.
He shook his head, attempting to dislodge the melancholy. He was being maudlin and absurd. She wasn’t dead. He hadn’t even lost her for good. She was right there across the park. Yet, she might have been on the moon, so impassable was the distance. Regardless, he set the telescope on the tripod by the window and pointed it towards the house. He could see little through the Abbey’s windows during daylight, but at night, he would be able to see better into the lit rooms. He knew the nursery faced this side of the house.
When night came, he was indeed rewarded with the sight of Hannah and Samuel. She was pacing the nursery with their son in her arms. The baby appeared to be crying. He couldn’t hear the sound over the distance, but his contorted little face left no doubt about it. Worry swamped him. Why was his son crying?Oh, what he wouldn’t give to be there with them. Hold the wee one in his arms. Whisper soothing words.
Nonsense, of course. Everyone knew babies cried from time to time. It was nothing to worry about. As he watched, she turned away from the window and sat with her son in her arms, holding him to her breast. Little Samuel’s face became placid as he settled to nurse.
Gabriel smiled tenderly. And yet the urge to hold him in his arms didn’t leave him. He had to get to his son. He was still not close enough to protect them effectively. But how? The secret passages! Of course. Once, they had allowed him to be present for the birth of his child. Now, he would use them to protect his son.
THAT NIGHT, HE APPROACHEDthe outside entrance to the tunnels. The door was in the overgrown cloister gardens of the abbey. An ancient yew tree stood sentinel over a forgotten corner. A fake stone panel covered with vines and other wild vegetation slid aside to reveal a narrow staircase descending into darkness—the secret gateway to the abbey’s hidden tunnels.
Taking care to shield the lamp he carried, he plunged into the bowels of the house. He had studied the plans obtained from the duke, and his sense of direction was flawless, honed by his years in the military, where he sometimes had to lead troops through unknown and often hostile territory. In no time at all, he had reached the main part of the house and the corridor that marched behind the main bedchambers.
The temptation to go to Hannah was powerful. She probably would not object to him visiting her this way. She had all but suggested that they meet in secret. Was he being a fool to reject such an offer? For allowing his pride to stand in the way of what they both clearly wanted? No.
As much as he wanted her—and he did, with every fiber of his being—he was tired of being a secret. Of receiving only stolen moments that could never see the light of day. The next time he made love to her would be as her husband. He deserved that. They both did. She was just too afraid to recognize it.
Climbing another flight of stairs, he came to the nursery floor, and from there, to his son’s room. He peered through the hidden peephole and listened for sounds but heard none. Knowing that the nurse slept in the next room, he silently slipped from his hiding place and went to the crib. Little Samuel slept peacefully, the image of a happy and well-cared-for baby.
