Married By Midnight (16 page)

Garrett understood that fear very well. He had seen it in the eyes of others.

The duke stirred and moaned. “Where am I?”

“
You’re safe in your bed, Father,” Garrett replied. “How are you feeling?”

“
Tired.”

“
Would you like some tea?”

The duke turned his stricken eyes to Garrett. “Who are you?”

The question was like a knife in his heart. They had come so far, or at least he’d thought they had. “I’m Garrett. Your son.” The words tasted bitter on his tongue.

Those empty eyes filled with moisture, and the duke’s brow furrowed with misery. “Oh, my dear son.” He clasped Garrett’s hand. “I am so glad you have come home to us at last.”

Feeling quite sure that his father did not remember that he was not his true son—but grateful nonetheless that there was love in his eyes—Garrett dropped his gaze and contemplated the situation.

For many years he had convinced himself he was indifferent to his father’s emotional neglect, and his cruelty, yet in this moment he could not deny a crippling need to hear a loving word from this man.

“
So am I,” he replied, his heart fracturing just a little inside, while at the same time, that old animosity simmered beneath it all. All his father had to do was utter a single word of kindness, and all was forgiven?

But Garrett needed kindness now. He needed to know he had some worth. And to hear it from this man, of all people.

His father reached out with a trembling hand and cupped Garrett’s cheek. “You’re a good boy. I think I was too hard on you.” His eyes filled with fear while he struggled to remember. “Was I?”

Garrett swallowed over the emotion rising up within him. “Sometimes...yes.”

A look of regret flashed across his father’s face. Then he lowered his hand and blinked up at the canopy. Garrett leaned back.

“
Brother Salvador said there is a reason you are still with us,” the duke said. “A reason you were not lost.”

Garrett looked up. “I beg your pardon?”

“
You’re not meant to leave yet.” The duke rolled over onto to his side and closed his eyes.

Garrett frowned in bewilderment. Did the duke know that he meant to return to Greece immediately after the wedding? Or was he referring to something else? Something about the accident? Could he know? If so, how?

Garrett pulled the covers up over his father’s shoulders and tucked him in as he drifted off to sleep.

A short while later, Dr. Thomas walked in. “How is the patient?” he quietly asked.

“
He seems better,” Garrett replied.

The doctor laid the back of his hand on the duke’s forehead. “His temperature seems normal. I believe he is going to be fine.”

“
Thank you for everything,” Garrett replied. “Especially for taking him out of my arms in the hall. I couldn’t have carried him much further.”

Dr. Thomas listened to the duke’s heart with a scope on his back while consulting his timepiece. “Well. He might have died if you hadn’t found him when you did. He’s a lucky man to have such a devoted son.”

Garrett leaned back in his chair and studied the doctor for a long moment. “Thank you, but I do not feel I can accept the compliment, for I’ve been absent for the past seven years. I’ve been sailing around the Mediterranean while my brothers have remained here for the most part, steadfast in their duties.”

The doctor glanced up. “I’m sure you had your reasons. You’re young. Sometimes it’s necessary to fly the coop and expand your horizons. Learn about the world. It all becomes a part of your life experience and later those experiences shape your future.” He put his scope back into his medical bag.

Garrett watched him with growing interest. “How long have you been a medical man, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“
Quite a long time. Since before
you
were born.”

“
Did you always know you wanted to be a man of science?”

The doctor sat down in the chair on the opposite side of the bed. “Most of my life, yes, though my father wanted me to join the army or navy. He felt it was beneath me to enter the medical profession.”

“
Who is your father?” Garrett asked, realizing he knew very little about Dr. Thomas.

“
Viscount Bradley. He’s dead now. My elder brother inherited the title, so at least now I am permitted back home to visit.”

Garrett’s eyebrows lifted. “Your father cut you off?”

“
Yes, when I didn’t do what he wanted. He cut me out of his will entirely and we never spoke again.” Those familiar eyes met Garrett’s. “Which is why you have done the right thing by coming home. I will always wonder if perhaps my own estrangement with my father could have been resolved if I had made the effort. I would sleep better now if it had been.”

Garrett considered all this. “If you could go back, would you do things differently and join the army instead? Do you regret your choices?”

Dr. Thomas lowered his gaze. “Certain choices, yes, but not that one. I was never cut out for war. I have no desire to be anywhere near flying bullets—sent or received.”

Garrett chuckled. “I cannot blame you. And I envy your ability to restore health to someone who is sick or dying.”

They sat in silence for a while.

“
What will you do with yourself, Lord Garrett, when you have your inheritance? I understand you will receive a settlement on your wedding day. The duchess tells me you plan to return to Greece.”

Garrett sighed. “That was my intention when I returned home, but now I find I am not as eager to leave as I thought I would be.”

“
I am sure your mother would be pleased to hear that. She’s missed you.”

Garrett met the doctor’s steady gaze and found himself growing more curious about this man by the minute. “How long have you known my mother?”

“
A long time.”

Garrett paused. “Are you married? Do you have children?”

He cleared his throat. “Sadly I was never fortunate enough to become a husband, which has been my own loss in this life, to be sure. Lady Anne is lovely,” he added. “You are a very lucky man.”

Garrett thanked the doctor for his assistance, then excused himself from his company—for after talking to Dr. Thomas and again, sensing something disconcertingly familiar in him, Garrett had a question of the utmost importance to ask his mother.

* * *

“I agree he is an excellent physician,” Adelaide said as she poured Garrett a cup of tea. “Much better than the one who came before him. That useless man refused to recognize that anything was wrong. He said only what your father wanted him to say.”

“
I’m not surprised,” Garrett replied. “Father was always a very intimidating man.” He leaned forward and set the cup and saucer down on the table. “There is another reason I am here, however. I have a question about Dr. Thomas.”

Without meeting his gaze, Adelaide stirred her own tea and set the tiny spoon down in the saucer with a delicate
clink
.

“
How long have you known him?” Garrett asked.

She rose from her chair and walked to the window where she briefly looked out, then turned to face Garrett. “A long time.”

Somehow he could sense she knew what he had come here to ask, and that a secret was about to unfold itself.

“
What do you want to know, exactly?” she asked.

“
Everything. I want to know why Charlotte and I are...” He paused and took a breath. “I want to know what happened all those years ago. Most of all, I want to know if my suspicions are correct.”

Adelaide cleared her throat. “Tell me Garrett. What are your suspicions?”

He went to join her at the window. “When I saw Dr. Thomas walk toward me in the courtyard, it reminded me of Charlotte who ran out to meet me as I arrived home. Some expressions... His eyes are so like hers. And mine.

“
Mother.” Garrett paused and looked directly into her eyes. “Is the man who is caring for your husband at this very moment my
real
father? Or am I the second person in this house to go mad this Christmas?”

Chapter Twelve

Anne turned to look at her reflection in the cheval glass and glanced uneasily at Charlotte. “It’s beautiful, but are you sure you do not mind?”

Charlotte smiled, but there was moisture in her eyes as she fastened the pearl buttons at the back of the gown, a gown designed for her own wedding day. Charlotte had confessed to Anne the night before that her fiancé—the great love of her life—had died tragically before they were married.

“
I am sure,” she replied. “Look, it fits you perfectly, and someone needs to wear it so it doesn’t simply collect dust for the next dozen years.”

“
Perhaps you might wish to wear it yourself one day?” Anne suggested.

Charlotte shook her head somberly. “No. If I ever marry, I will want a different dress.”

While Charlotte worked on the buttons, Anne continued to study her reflection and felt strangely as if she were watching herself move through a dream. One month ago she would never have believed she would be fitted for a wedding gown today.

It was all a charade, of course, and very soon she would begin a new life that did not involve Garrett at all.

“
You look stunning,” Charlotte said as she fastened the last button. “Now you need jewelry... Pearls, I think. Yes, that’s what this needs.” She crossed to her dressing table and withdrew a blue velvet box from the bottom drawer. “These will do perfectly.” She returned to close the clasp around Anne’s neck.

Anne couldn’t find words to describe her emotions. Everything was so perfect.
Now
. “You are too kind, Charlotte. Honestly...”

Charlotte grinned conspiratorially. “Mark my words, he will fall over backwards when he sees you in the chapel. He won’t want to leave. He’ll be yours forever.”

Anne gathered the heavy silk skirt in her hands and turned away from the cheval glass to face Charlotte. “That is very romantic, but you mustn’t say such things. You know the situation.” She picked up the train and walked to the chair to sit down.

“
I do, but I also know a perfect match when I see one, and I truly believe you and my brother are destined to be together. Why else would all this be happening?”

Anne looked down and ran a finger over the fine silk bodice—an excuse not to look Charlotte in the eye. “I would prefer not to entertain such hopes. I have signed an agreement and I mean to fulfill my obligations.”

Charlotte sat down, too. “Entertain such hopes? So you
are
hopeful. You
do
care for him? Please tell me. I consider you my friend. I want to know what you are feeling.”

Oh, God
... Anne kicked herself sternly. She should have chosen her words more carefully. Yet at the same time she feared she might burst if she didn’t soon confess her feelings to someone.

“
Yes, I do care for him,” she said, “but like you, I’ve had my heart broken. Garrett has been clear on the matter. He does not wish to be a married man. He wants his freedom and does not want a partner in life.”

“
But if he
did
want that, would you accept him?”

“
He doesn’t.”

“
But if he
did
,” she pressed. “If he declared himself madly in love with you and told you he couldn’t live another day without you, and got down on both knees to beg you to stay and be his true wife, would you not be the happiest woman alive?”

A tiny ember of hope sparked within her at the prospect, and she felt her lips curl into a smile. “I think I would die of happiness,” she confessed.

Charlotte’s whole face lit up like a sky full of exploding fireworks. “I knew it,” she said with a grin.