“I can never remarry,” Anna said with an emphatic shake of her head.
“Yes, but you must allow him to. You will if you love him.”
There was something strange in both the words and her mother’s tone. The thought of Colin marrying another woman and being happy with her pierced her heart like a dagger, but then she had felt the strength of his love and knew he could only love her. Perhaps she had left him too soon. She should have asked him what he truly wanted, and not decided for them both. Signing the annulment now would be deciding for them.
Her head began to throb, and she raised her hand to her temple. “I cannot sign anything yet.”
“What do you mean?” Her mother sounded annoyed and impatient, while her father’s brows drew over his eyes in the manner they did when he got angry with her.
“You will sign it!” he commanded.
Anna stiffened. She was right. He had not changed. “I will not!”
Hunter walked into the room at that instant, and Anna’s heart fell. Her realization was completed, and she understood the reason they wanted her marriage annulled. They still had designs on Hunter.
“Anna, you will sign it, or I will take action against Ashden,” Hunter threatened, stepping toward her.
She held her shoulders straight, refusing to believe his threats. He could not hurt Colin. She had to believe that. “I would rather die a thousand times than marry you!” Her strength had waned over the days, but she was gathering everything that was left of it to fight the monsters around her.
Hunter’s dark eyes flared with anger, and he looked at her father, who spoke again. “Anna, listen to me, because I will not say this again. If you value your Duke’s safety and longevity, you will cooperate and sign this.”
At that moment, Catherine walked into the room, and she only had to look at Anna’s face to know that something was not right.
“What is happening here?” she asked.
“Catherine, you will keep out of this matter,” Elliot warned her. “It does not concern you.”
She started coming toward Anna, but Hunter drew her back, while her father laid a sheet on the small table in front of her and her mother pressed a quill into her hand.
“Sign, you ingrate!” Her mother forced her hand onto the paper, but Anna fought her, kicking her shin, and keeping her hand above the sheet. Catherine struggled against Hunter but he held her firmly, similar to the way he held Anna so her father could strike her all those months ago. When Anna still resisted, her father raised his arm to strike her.
Instinctively, she braced her body for the blow, shutting her eyes, but it did not come. When she looked up, she saw Colin pulling her father away from her and throwing him across the room. Anna used that opportunity to get off her seat, but Jemina caught her arm.
“Where do you think you are going?” She tried to push Anna back onto her seat but Anna felt a rush of energy at that moment and pushed her mother onto the sofa instead. Free at last, she moved to the first sanctuary her eyes found, which was a corner near her bed. She sat down and hugged her knees to her chest, her mind reeling amidst the chaos.
Her father gained his feet and went after Colin, who took hold of his coat lapels and forced him back onto the ground. The force and his age did not permit him to get up again, but Hunter released Catherine and made to deal Colin a blow.
Jemina recovered and her cold eyes focused on Anna. She started coming to the corner, but Catherine intercepted her, and they began to struggle. The chaos was almost too much for Anna to bear.
Her heart cried when Hunter got Colin’s jaw, but then Colin pushed him against a wall, trapping him and dealing him a blow that made his eyes roll back into his head. Elliot, the maliciously tenacious man that he was, gained his feet again and headed back toward Colin.
“Colin!” Anna called to warn him, but thankfully, Nathaniel blocked his path and with Frobisher’s help, they restrained him.
A man in a constable’s uniform went to Colin’s side and took hold of Hunter. Anna could only concentrate on her husband at this point.
With her parents out of the way, Colin rushed to her and drew her into his arms, holding her as though she would disappear if she let her go. Anna thought he might disappear, too, and so she clung to him, her hands feeling around his back to make certain he was real, there with her at that moment, and unhurt. Then she started to cry from all the relief she was feeling.
“I am here now, my love. You are safe.” He kissed both of her cheeks and smoothed her hair. “I am taking you out of here now.”
He picked her up and walked out of the room with her, and he did not stop until they reached the carriage, and he handed her into Mrs. Willis’ arms. She caught his coat sleeve when he tried to leave.
“I will return, my love. I have to do something I should have done the first day I met you.” He kissed her lips. “I promise I will return soon.” Reluctantly, Anna allowed him to leave, and her sister joined her shortly.
Colin marched back into the room, and he found Frobisher reading Lord and Lady Hampton their crimes, while Darpley was seated to wait for his turn. His crimes were embezzlement, and Colin would leave Nathaniel to handle him. He was more concerned about Anna’s parents and ensuring they would never harm her again.
“Tansy flowers could have killed the Duchess,” Frobisher said, “and for that, you will be charged with the attempted murder of a duchess of the Crown.”
“How can we kill our own daughter!” Lady Hampton cried.
