Page 33 of The Baron's Return
“Tell me everything,” Mary exclaimed, leaning forward with a gleam in her eyes that told Abigail she wouldn’t be distracted a second time. “Amelia wouldn’t tell me what happened. When we got the letter that the two of you had wed…” She shook her head. “I still can’t believe it. I half expected that Amelia was bringing me here just to laugh at me and tell me she was trying to see just how gullible I was.”
Abigail met Amelia’s gaze. “You didn’t tell her?”
Amelia shook her head. “It’s not my tale to tell.”
“You see?” Mary said, throwing her hands up in the air. “She’s positively infuriating. I’d hoped that the two of you could rekindle your past romance, but I never expected it to happen so quickly.”
Abigail sighed. “I hate to disappoint you, but that still hasn’t happened.” She blushed as she thought about their heated lovemaking sessions.
Mary frowned. “Then why did you get married?”
Abigail took a deep breath before answering. “You know I have a daughter?” At Mary’s nod, she continued. “Cranston is her father.”
Mary sucked in her breath, her eyes widening with shock. “How…” She shook her head. “Never mind, I know how. I don’t want to assume the worst about either of you, so I’ll reserve judgment until you tell me everything.”
Abigail couldn’t blame the woman. At least Mary was giving her the chance to explain. “We were only together once. It was just before my father forced me to accept another’s suit. And when I told Cranston I was marrying someone else…” Her voice hitched.
“He purchased a commission and left London,” Amelia finished for her.
Mary shook her head. “So he never knew, and neither did you before you were married?”
Abigail shook her head. “Father insisted on a special license. I think he was afraid that I’d elope with Cranston. But that wasn’t going to happen because Father had convinced me that he had the power to ruin Cranston’s family.”
Mary wrapped an arm around her. “That’s horrible.”
“The look on his face when I told him…” She shook her head, trying to push back the memory. She wouldn’t cry.
“That man doesn’t hate you,” Mary said. “Does he know what happened?”
“Yes,” she said with a sigh. “But it doesn’t matter. He says he’s changed and that he can’t love me again.”
Amelia reached across Mary to put a reassuring hand on her knee.
“I’ve come to terms with it,” Abigail said. “It’s enough that he’s here for Gemma. You’ll see for yourself. He’s so good with her, and Gemma adores him.”
Mary met Amelia’s gaze, and something unspoken passed between them.
“I can almost hear the wheels turning in that brain of yours,” Amelia said.
Mary grinned. “You know me too well. I do have an idea.”
Abigail shook her head. “It’s enough that we’re married. We can’t make him fall in love with me.”
Mary’s head tilted to one side. “And what if he’s still in love with you? Heaven knows that man has been with a number of women in the short time I’ve known him, but never with the same one twice. And he chose to marry you.”
“Because he wanted to be close to Gemma.”
Mary’s eyes narrowed. “He has connections. He could have forced the issue. Made arrangements to take custody of her for himself.”
Abigail had feared just that outcome, but she’d refused to believe the man she’d known all those years ago could be that cruel. That he could have changed that much.
“He would never do that.”
“Perhaps not, but he could have contented himself with staying detached. Many men have bastards, after all. And most don’t feel the need to wed the mother of their children.”
Abigail agreed, which was why she’d been shocked when he proposed. “I never expected him to want to marry me just so he could be closer to Gemma.”
“And you,” Mary said. “He might have used Gemma as the excuse, but he also gained you. The only woman he’s ever wanted to wed.”
