Married By Midnight (22 page)

“
It’s Marcus.”

“
Good. Do you know what day it is?”

“
It’s Christmas Eve. My pa is going to grind me up for dinner. Where’s my brother?”

Dr. Thomas stroked the boy’s hair away from his face. “By the hearth, and on the contrary, I think your father will be very happy to see you in the morning.”

“
Does he know I’m here?” Marcus asked.

“
Not yet. The storm hasn’t let up. We couldn’t get you home, but we’ll send Jameson out at first light.”

At the sound of their voices, Joshua woke and wandered sleepily to the bedside. “Is he going to be all right?”

“
He’s going to be just fine,” Dr. Thomas replied.

Garrett backed out of the way so Joshua could see his brother.

Thank you, God. Thank you for letting him live.

Later, after they transferred Marcus and his brother to a more comfortable bed in the next room, Garrett and Dr. Thomas sat before the fire sipping hot tea.

“
What will happen with you?” Dr. Thomas asked. “You’ve missed your wedding and your father’s deadline. Is there no way to plead for an extension? It was a matter of life and death. Surely the courts will consider that.”

“
Possibly,” Garrett replied, “but at the present time I am more concerned with how Anne must be feeling, wondering why I wasn’t there to marry her. I hope she will forgive me. And father must be beside himself; he was so frightened of the curse.”

“
If he is frightened, he will wake in the morning to discover the palace is still standing, strong and sure as ever.”

They were quiet for a moment. “When will the fortune be transferred to the Horticultural Society?” Dr. Thomas asked.

“
I’m not certain. My brothers will surely do their best to fight it in court, which could hold everything up.” Garrett sipped his tea. “If only the money was going to a better cause—to feed the poor or build a new orphanage. Anything... But the
Horticultural Society
? As if England needs more flowers for the rich to enjoy.”

Dr. Thomas considered that. “Perhaps you could convince them to put it to better use. Your mother has a few worthwhile charities that are near and dear to her heart. I’m sure the Society would consider contributing to some of those, out of respect for your family.”

Garrett nodded. “That is an excellent idea.” He stood up to check on Marcus in the next room. He was sleeping soundly, and his brother Joshua was curled up beside him.

“
May I ask you something?” Garrett whispered to Dr. Thomas as he returned to his chair. “Did you know what you were doing when you pushed on Marcus’s heart? Had you seen that done before?”

“
No, and I had no idea if it would work, but I’ve been studying the human body all my life. It was instinct mostly—and desperation.”

“
You didn’t give up. That’s the important thing.” Garrett leaned back in his chair again.

They sat in silence for another moment.

“
Now may I ask
you
a question, Garrett?” the doctor asked.

“
Of course.”

“
When your boat went down, did you work as hard to save those passengers as you worked to save Marcus today?”

Garrett experienced a flash memory of the giant waves, the ropes and canvas tangled together in the stormy sea, and how he had been pulled down into the cold dark depths.

Why had he been pulled down? Because he refused to let go of Johnny’s hand. He’d sucked a few mouthfuls of water into his lungs and began to convulse before he finally let go and kicked his way to the surface.

“
I risked my life,” he replied. “But in the end I only saved myself.”

“
And you feel guilty about that?” Dr. Thomas said.

Garrett nodded.

“
I understand, but it wasn’t up to you to save everyone under those circumstances, son. I don’t mean to sound disrespectful, but it’s rather arrogant of you to think so. As I have said before, nature is both a beauty and a beast. You did your best, but it was simply their time that day, and not yours.”

Garrett looked down at his tea that was now cold in the cup. “I suppose you’ve seen a lot of death in your profession...”

“
I have, and it is never easy, but it is a part of life. Sometimes, even when we do everything humanly possible to try and save someone, in the end, it makes no difference what we’ve done.”

“
It made a difference today.”

“
Yes, it did.” Dr. Thomas closed his eyes, inhaled deeply, and slowly let it out.

Garrett watched him with interest. “I once told you that I envied your ability to cure people. I wonder if you might teach me some things?”

Dr. Thomas opened his eyes. “I’d be happy to.” Then he smiled. “Or you could simply enrol in medical school. I could put in a good word for you.”

Garrett stood up and walked to the window to look out at the storm. “It might not be such a bad idea to learn a profession,” he said, “now that my family is broke.”

Dr. Thomas sighed. “Money isn’t everything, Garrett.”

“
I wholeheartedly agree,” he replied, turning to face him. “It’s one of the reasons why I left Pembroke Palace in the first place seven years ago. Despite the opulence and the endless flow of money, I wasn’t happy.”

Dr. Thomas squinted at him in the firelight. “A strange thing to hear from a man who agreed to marry a woman he never set eyes on before—for no other reason but to collect a monetary award the day after the wedding.”

Garrett regarded him shrewdly. “Touché.”

He returned to his chair and sat down.

“
What are you going to do,” Dr. Thomas asked, “now that there will be no funds awarded to you today?”

“
I think the more important question,” Garrett replied, “is what will Anne do?”

“
It all depends on how you approach the situation.”

“
What do you recommend?”

The doctor considered the question for a moment, then offered his best fatherly advice. “I recommend extreme, heroic, and above all, desperate measures that may or may not involve groveling. To your betrothed, as well as your family members.”

Garrett looked into the hot fire and suspected there could be no other cure for this. He thought of Anne, his beautiful Anne, and knew he would do anything to win her forgiveness.

What would it take? he wondered. How angry would she be?

Chapter Seventeen

The storm raged on through most of the night, but Christmas morning dawned with the blessings of a clear blue sky and a bright yellow sun casting its warmth upon the snow-covered grounds at Pembroke Palace.

Anne had waited up all night in the drawing room with Charlotte and the duchess, but fell asleep on the chaise longue when she could no longer keep her eyes from falling closed. She woke to find herself curled up on her side, still wearing her wedding gown and pearls. At some point, a kind soul had covered her with a woolen shawl.

She sat up quickly as it occurred to her that they had missed the deadline to save the Pembroke Palace fortune.

And Garrett had still not come home.

Dear Lord
...

She prayed that he had found shelter from the storm and that was the cause of the delay, rather than some other dreadful reason she did not dare confront.

But what if he did not return at all today? What would she do? How long would she wait?

Hearing the sound of a shovel scraping across the stone steps outside, she stood up and looked around the drawing room only to discover she was completely alone. The fire had died down hours ago. Charlotte and the duchess must have gone off to bed after she’d fallen asleep.

She walked slowly to the window and squinted in the bright sunlight that reflected off the snow. She glanced down at two servants shoveling snow off the steps below.

The forest in the distance was cloaked in white. It was the most beautiful Christmas morning she had ever beheld, yet her heart ached with painful thoughts of what might have kept Garrett from her. Was he all right? What if something terrible had happened?

She would give anything to know that he was unharmed.
Anything
. She would surrender her own happiness, return to her uncle’s house in Yorkshire if she must, if only she could see Garrett walk through this door one more time.
Safe
.

Then suddenly a horse-drawn sleigh appeared in the distance, making its way slowly up the lane. Anne’s heart leapt to her throat, and she pressed both hands to the glass.

Garrett. Please let it be you.

She didn’t care if the contract was broken, or if there was no money, or even if their engagement charade was at an end forever. All that mattered was that he was alive and well.

She would find her own way to survive.

For a few more heart-pounding moments she watched the sleigh draw closer to the house. She was breathing quite heavily when it reached the steps.

There were two men in the sleigh, but they wore fur hats and the frost on the lower part of the glass window obscured her view.

Clutching the shawl about her shoulders, she dashed from the room and ran to the main staircase, flew down the red carpeted stairs like some sort of winged creature dressed in white, and hurried across the marble floor of the Great Hall.

Suddenly she realized the rest of the family had appeared and followed her down the stairs as well—the duchess, then Devon, Blake, and Charlotte.

The butler had already opened the double front doors. Anne darted out into the cold. She stopped under the wide portico as the two men stepped out of the sleigh, then breathed a sigh of relief when she recognized that incredibly handsome face.

Garrett looked up at her and laid a hand over his heart.

Her own heart melted, and she was so happy to see him! But what did it mean?

* * *

Anne truly was an angel sent from heaven, Garrett thought as he watched her dash down the stairs in a flowing white wedding gown and sky-blue shawl. The sight of her, after all he’d been through, was like a hot sunburst that exploded in his chest.

He did not wait for her to reach him at the sleigh. He took the steps two at a time to meet her half way. To his utter delight, she threw herself into his arms and hugged him so tight around the neck, he could barely breathe.

“
Thank God you’re safe,” she said.

He drew back to look her in the eye, shocked and bewildered by her forgiveness, and then found himself admiring the gorgeous, tantalizing length of her body in that white dress.

“
My God, you look beautiful.” He forced his gaze back up to her face. “But you’re not angry with me? I thought you might be, but there was no way to send word.”

“
Angry!” she replied, then seemed to realize what he was referring to. “Oh, yes. Yes, I am very angry about that. What woman wouldn’t be?” She sighed. “Oh, Garrett. None of that matters. You’re here now.” She hugged him again. “Oh my word...I am so sorry.”

“
You’re
sorry? Sorry for what?”

“
We missed the deadline,” she replied. “Your family’s fortune... The money you wanted...”

He pulled her into his arms again. “I don’t care about that, Anne. All that matters is that you are here, and you are not angry with me.”

He held her tight, buried his face into her neck, breathed in the sweet scent of her skin. He couldn’t seem to let go.

“
Why did you believe I would be angry?” she softly asked.

He fought to gain control of his emotions. “Because it was money you wanted, too. For your freedom, Anne.”