Gaston waited until the door closed, and then he kissed her feverishly. She responded, whimpering weakly as their lips met and their tongues intertwined. After the hellish night Gaston had spent, he needed to feel her more than he needed to breathe.
“Are you all right, angel?” he finally managed to speak. “Have you been treated well?”
She nodded eagerly. “Verily. All have been kind to me. My God, Gaston, what is happening?”
He sat in the nearest chair and drew her onto his lap, holding her a moment as he collected his thoughts. He had not slepta wink last night. His eyes roved over her beautiful face as he spoke.
“Guy has given me his terms, Remi. All terms were agreed to and de Tormo drew up the contract. Guy signed it about an hour ago, and now we need your signature on a similar contract.”
Her face lit up, her smile as bright as the sun. “He agreed? Oh, Gaston.” She threw her arms around his neck and squeezed him tightly. But then, as if the horrors of the imagined terms occurred to her, her grip slacked and she pulled back to look him in the eye. “What were the terms?”
He touched her cheek gently. “His freedom, which Henry granted. And the return of Mt. Holyoak.”
Her heart sank; she knew how much Gaston had grown to love the keep. “I am so sorry, my love.”
He shook his head. “I am not. I have something far more valuable that an old building. I have you.”
She smiled. “So you do. Is that all he asked for? I cannot believe his terms were so simple. He told me that the annulment would cost me dearly, and….”
“That was not all, angel,” Gaston interrupted her. “At first, he wanted to marry one of your sisters to replace you, but Nicolas and I insisted both Jasmine and Skye were already married and with children. Mind that you do not refute our facts.”
Her eyes widened. “How clever of you. My God, did he really want to marry Jasmine or Skye in my stead? How awful.”
He nodded faintly, dreading what was coming next. His grip on her tightened. “And Dane…he demands that Dane be left in his care.”
She blinked, gazing at him as if she had not understood a word he’d said. He felt her stiffen, slowly, like water rising. It started at her feet and rippled up to the top of her head.
“He shall not keep my son.”
“I had to agree to it, for now,” he said evenly. “But what happens after we gain our annulment is another matter.”
She stared at him. “You agreed? You agreed? What gives you the right to agree to a term like that? He’s my son, for God’s sake. I shall not let that man have him!”
“Most likely, he will never get the chance,” Gaston said. “Henry intends to keep Guy imprisoned until all proceedings are complete. By the time that takes place, I will have Dane spirited off. But for now, I must leave him there.”
She pulled herself off his lap, her face gone taut. “And my sisters?”
“Going to join their husbands at Clearwell.”
“Charles?”
“He shall stay, unless he wishes to accompany my army,” Gaston replied.
“He shall want to go,” she said shortly. “Which will leave Dane, alone, at Mt. Holyoak. I shall not agree to this, Gaston. I will not leave my son at the mercy of his father.”
He sighed heavily. “I realize how you feel about this, Remi. I feel the same way, but I saw no other alternative.”
She had moved to the other side of the room. When she faced him, her expression was hard. “I will not agree to that term.”
“Then there will be no annulment.”
Her jaw ticked and tears stung her eyes, fixed on Gaston’s smoky gray orbs. “Then I will seek sanctuary for my son and myself within the church. I will do that before I agree to that term, Gaston. I mean it.”
“Do not be so stubborn. I told you that Dane will never even see his father, not if all works as it should.”
“Nothing has worked as it should!” She exploded. “Nothing! You promised me I would never have to see Guy, yet I have. You told me that Henry would fight for you, but I have yet to seethe evidence. Nothing is working as you have said, Gaston, and I cannot believe you anymore.”
He looked at her as if he had been struck. All of the calm was gone from his expression, all of the patience. He was deeply hurt. “I have never deliberately lied to you. I have always tried to prepare you for what might come.”
