The Duke's Love (28 page)

All the blood rushed out of Ana’s face. “I don’t understand
,
” Ana said.

“Shut up! I don’t want to hear it. You have been in my way since day one and you have ruined everything for me
!
” Sarah cried in a murderous voice.

“Sarah
,
I can help you. I can get you a husband. I’ll give you anything you want
,
” Jake pleaded.

“You were supposed to be my husband, now look at me! I’m a laughingstock
!
” She screeched.

Jake stepped closer and Ana saw Sarah had turned nervous and jittery. She started waving the gun
and s
c
reaming
at them not to move. Ana watched as Sarah paced back and forth, presumably to weigh her options
,
and then Ana saw a movement out of the corner of her eye. She sent up a silent thank you
,
she
recognized Greg
ory
sneaking by the windows. Unfortunately, Sarah saw the same
movement
she did. Sarah jerked around to her.

“If I have to pay, then I might as well make the effort worth it
,
”
s
he stated and without hesitating, she shot the gun directly at her.

She watched in slow motion as Jake tried to launch himself forward,
but
it wasn’t
quick
enough. An
a felt blinding pain in her stomach
and she went down with a thud. She heard scuffling and other loud noises. She couldn’t make anything out
,
before she went numb
,
and everything turned into a haze.

All hell broke
loose
after Jake saw Ana sink to the floor. He briefly saw Greg
ory
throw himself on Sarah at the same time he did. They wrestled with the gun and it went off again, only this time it backfired on Sarah. He rolled off her as she stilled. She was groaning in pain, but Jake could care less. She would live and Jake would deal with her later. Right now, there
was someone
more important.

Jake scrambled to get to Ana. She was bleeding profusely and he was trying desperately to stop it. Other men came charging in at the sound of the gunshot and they took in the scene. Sarah was taken away
in restraint
. He could hear Sarah screaming
that
she was the victim. He would deal with her later, after he made sure Ana would be all right. Her face was losing pallor. He picked her up and took her to the nearest flat surface he could find and called for the close
st doctor that could be located
. He knew he would need all the help he could get. The doctor came about ten minutes later and ordered everyone out.

Three hours later, Jake was out of his mind with worry. Ana was in surgery and so far, the doctor could not tell him anything. The
Viscount
went to the constable to take care of the mess with Sarah. His mother was pacing and
Jordan
was in conversation with Eliza. Jake was left alone. Jake kept recalling the horrible moment when Sarah
had
recognized she was trapped. She
had
pulled the trigger
anyway
. He was furious with the runners he
had sent to follow
Sarah. They
had
let her sneak past them until it was almost too late. He was furious with himself for failing to keep her safe. Three times! Luckily, the host got everyone to leave early
,
and they managed to keep things semi
-
quiet.

Jake jumped up as the doctor came in the room.

“The bullet went straight through the left side of her stomach. If we keep it clean and
there is
no infection
,
then she will be fine. She has some stitches and needs some rest, but that’s all
,
”
t
he doctor said tiredly. Jake flew into the next room
,
not realizing the doctor was on his heels.

“Your
Grace
, if I may.” The doctor put a firm hand on his arm before
he could
mak
e
it into see Ana. Jake was growing impatient. “There is something I need to talk to you about. In private please
,
”
he
said forcibl
y
.

Jake hesitated. He really wanted to assure himself Ana was fine. He also knew the doctor would not say this without good reasoning. "Can
’t
it wait?"

"I am afraid not, your
Grace
,
"
he said somberly.

“Fine, we will speak in the study.” They made the way across the hall and Jake closed the door and looked at him expectantly.

“I presume you and Lady Ana have had relations
,
”
h
e stated bluntly.

“Is there a medical reason
for which
you are asking?” Jake said in turn.

The doctor fidgeted with his
shirt cuff
before he said, “She lost the baby
,
your
Grace
. I seriously doubt she even knew that she was pregnant
,
”
h
e said.

Jake was speechless. “Baby…she lost…she was….how do I tell her
,
” Jake was at a loss for words. Ana had been pregnant and she
had
lost their child. His heart shattered at what he would have to tell her when she awoke.

“I don’t think you need to tell her. I believe it would only upset her more, considering we thought she couldn’t have children in the first place. I just thought you would want to know,
for future reference,
”
t
he doctor said.

Jake was confused, he went to pour the doctor and himself a drink. “What do you mean she knew she couldn’t have children?” He asked. Jake took a swallow of sherry.

“I assumed she told you when
the two of you became
engaged. She fell
from
a horse about four years back. I was her attending doctor. She tore muscles and
had
bleeding from the womb. I told her it was highly unlikely she would be able to conceive with the damage that had been done
,
”
h
e spoke quietly.

“What about now, she conceived once, could she conceive again?” Jake asked silently taking this information in.

The doctor hesitated
too
long and Jake already knew the answer before the doctor confirmed it. “I would say it was a chance she could before, but not now, there has been previous damage and now more has been done, so her chances are nonexistent. I’m sorry
,
” The doctor said in a
sympathetic tone
.

Jake wasn’t
even
aware
when
the doctor left, he was too preoccupied with his thoughts. She couldn’t have children and she knew about it and did not tell him? Jake willed himself to calm down
,
but it wasn’t working. He could not call off the wedding
,
and he loved her too much to let her go, but not to have an heir. He didn’t know what to do.

He wanted children and he wanted them with Ana. He sat in silence and darkness pondering his options. He needed to get to Ana, regardless of his raging feelings. He needed to assure himself
that
she was safe and okay. The rest will come later.

Katherine covered her mouth with her hand in a despairing gesture. She didn’t mean to eavesdrop on Jake
’s
conversation with the doctor. She just wanted to know what was going on. Jake walked right past her on his way to see Ana. Katherine doubted Jake even saw her standing there
,
and debated about following, but wisely decided to wait until J
ake decided what course to take
. Katherine went to find Eliza to see what she knew about this.

“Eliza, does Ana keep any secrets from you?” She asked.

“No, why do you ask?” Eliza’s brows lifted in concern.

“Tell me about her incident four years ago.” Katherine watched Eliza’s eyes widened. She was frowning silently.

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you are talking about
,
”
she
said.

Katherine started to speak
,
when Jake entered the room. Questions broke out and Jake raised his hand to silence them.

“She’s fast asleep and dosed with medicine to help her stay that way
,
”
h
e stated. Katherine stared at her son. His face was drawn and haggard. She realized
that
ever since Ana had been back into his life, it was
as if
he was miserable one moment, happy the next
,
and then back to being miserable. Was some emotion better than none? She questioned herself,
but
before she could answer
,
Eliza broke in.

“What were you talking about, an incident involving Ana?” 
Eliza asked.

Everyone focused on her and she shifted uncomfortably. Katherine looked directly at Jake and confessed what she had heard when he was in the study.

“Can’t I
have
any damn privacy?” Jake
spit
out as he stalked out the door, only to return a second later to demand what Eliza knew.

"I only know she had a riding accident
.
She
was racing against Greg
ory
and she was thrown when the horse jumped. I know it was really bad
.
Her
parents didn’t let her out of the house for weeks
,
”
s
he told them. Katherine saw Jake
visibly
flinch
when the
Viscount
’s name was mentioned.

Jake threw himself down on the nearest chair and blurted out, “She won’t be able to have children
.
” Eliza gasped and the
n
Jake felt the need to repeat himself
,
“She can’t conceive.” No one knew what to say to this announcement.

“Why does that matter, you love her
,
don’t you. What’s it going to change?” Eliza asked softly.

Jake shook his head. “I want children. It is the one thing I cannot buy
or
force someone to give me. I want children of my own, is that so much to ask?” Jake demanded.

“What about nieces or nephews. I would be willing to marry to have some, if that would make you happy
,
”
Jordan
offered.

“It
wouldn’t
be the same
,
” Jake got up and murmured something about keeping Ana
company
until she woke up.

Katherine watched her son leave and wondered what she had done to him with her scheming
,
and whether she would regret it later.

The
Viscount
had stopped by several times already
to see Ana,
before Jake
had
decided to ask him exactly
what had
happened
. When
he stopped by this time
, Gregory
knew it was coming. He was told the news. Of course, he already knew. He had been waiting for this and the time has come.  

“Greg
ory
, can you tell me about her accident?” He asked. Greg
ory
took in Jake’s face and knew the right thing was to tell him, even though Ana would probably hate him for it later.

“It happened about four years ago. I will be honest with
you
;
I had more in mind than friendship at one time.” He stopped in case Jake had any comments about this news. When he did not Greg
ory
continued
,
“
She and her
parents
had
spent the week at my home in
France
. We were having fun, racing each other down by the lake. She love
d
riding horses. I
proposed marriage
and she was stunned.
When she refused, we argued
.
Then she
raced off without watching where she was going. The horse stepped in a hole and
threw her
. She landed on
a pile of
tree limbs and rocks.” He stopped again, this time allowing himself time to
recover from
the painful memories. That
had been
the worst day in his life, He
had
lost so much, but she
had
lost more.