The Duke's Love (29 page)

“You asked her to marry you?” Jake asked.

“Yes, I did. She refused outright and I got angry. Anyway, I carried her back to the house. She was bleeding everywhere. The doctor was with her for hours. He told me
that she would
probably
never have children because
of the accident. It broke something inside her
,
the doctor said.” Greg
ory
said with a grimace
,
remembering the awful conversation. 

Jake broke in with another question. “Is that why you stopped pursuing her?”

Greg
ory
looked at the man across from him and he could not lie. “Yes, in a way. I need
ed
an heir. I have no one suitable enough to step up if I don’t have one. I also blamed myself for doing this
to
her. After she
recovered, she
went home. I stayed away for a while
, watching in the distance
when the two
of
you
started courting
.”  Greg
ory decided he
might as well tell him all of it. “After you proposed to her,
and
she accepted
, she
came to see me and we talked
.
She
needed closure
,
I guess. She asked me whether she should trust you with her secret or not. I was the one that talked her out of marrying you. You need an heir
,
just as much as I do, if not more. I guess that I
had
put myself in your shoes and told her it would be better to walk away. The next thing I knew
,
she cried off
your engagement
. I, of course, felt awful and I stayed by her side through the rumors and gossip
. We
have
become
really close
over
the last two years.”
Gregory finished.

Jake stood up
,
knocking his chair over with force. “You son of a bitch
.
”
Before Gregory
had a chance to respond, Jake swung and his fist connected with the side of
Gregory’s
face. A fight
had broken
out in Ana’s home. They were beating the hell out of one another. Neither of them heard Ana
as she
limped downstairs to see what was causing all the noise.

“Jesus, could you at
least take it outside?” She asked
weakly. They both stopped. Jake’s lip was cracked and he had a black eye, but Greg
ory
looked worse. His nose was broken and half of his face was covered with blood.
Jake took one look at Ana and left the room, leaving
Greg
ory to explain what just happened.

Ana heard the front door slam shut. She faced Greg
ory
and she demanded answers.

“You need to get back upstairs
,
sweetheart
,
”
h
e said. He didn't pay much attention to himself
,
other than to clean up a little. He helped her back to her room and got her settled before he began to explain the events that led to the fight. Ana let him finish before she cried with anguish.

Jake
needed time to sort out what he was going to do. He loved her and
he
was not going to let her go. Could he go through life without having any children of his own? His mother had been in to see how he was
doing
and he was getting tired of his brother’s lectures about how he was acting. Of course, he was worried about Ana. He had Eliza informing him
about
her condition daily. He just couldn’t face her right now. After several days, he brought himself to check on her. He remained quiet and showed no outward emotions when he saw her.

He was dying on the inside at the thought of what he was losing. He paid the doctor another visit and he reaffirmed his earlier decision about the diagnosis. It seemed like every corner he turned, he hit a dead end. He was letting his work slide. He stopped responding to his correspondents. He knew he needed to make a decision and fast. Ana wasn't going to wait for long.

“Your
Grace
, Lady
Elizabeth,
and Lady Bainbridge are here to see you
,
”
Adams
said from the doorway of
Jake’s
study. He thought
of
saying he was not in to receive calls
,
but he needed to come to grips with the situation. He met the two women, offered drinks and snacks
,
before sitting down.

“How are you
,
Your
Grace
?” The
Countess
asked politely. Before he had a chance to answer, Eliza interrupted.

“You should be ashamed of yourself!” She scolded. He was ashamed. He just wasn’t going to admit it aloud.

"She is suffering and you don't even care. How dare you treat her like that?” She screamed.

Jake stiffened. “I don’t…” h
e started to say.

“Don’t. I do not want to hear it
,
”
s
he said. Eliza was worked up
and angry
.

“Dear, give him a chance to defend himself
,
”
h
er mother broke in.

Jake did not want to defend himself
.
She
was right. He was self-involved and gave no thought to what Ana was going through.

Abruptly, he stood up and said,
"Excuse me ladies while I go remedy the situation."

Through the week, Ana
had
finally
been
able to get out of the house, even if it was to go to the garden in the back. She was still in pain, but she was healing. Sarah was
awaiting trial
in
Newgate
Prison,
and Ana hoped she
got
what she deserve
d
. Jake was concerning her
.
He
was being aloof and
had
kept at a distance. This past week, there were no sweet kisses, no overnight stays and their conversations were always impersonal.

She felt the only reason Jake was even here, was because he pitied her. She was sitting down when a shadow
fell
on her. She looked up to see Jake looking down at her. He shrugged off his jacket and sat down beside her. It was the
closest
he had been to her since the soirée.

“We need to talk
,
Ana.” He sounded so formal and she knew whatever he said next did not bode well for her. “When were you going to tell me?” He asked quietly
,
without looking at her.

“Tell you what?” She asked innocently.

Jake swore under his breath. “Don’t play dumb with me
,
love, I won’t have it
.”

“It would help to know what you are talking about
,
” Ana said uncertainly.

“I’m talking about you not being able to have
children
,
”
he said.

Ana
’s
mouth tightened in frustration. “But you knew. I told you
when you
demanded I had to marry you
. I told you then that I could
not because of
my inability to have children
. I did tell you
,
”
s
he said in frustration.

Jake was silent for so long, she thought maybe he hadn’t heard her. Jake got up and was looking everywhere except
at
her. “
Y
es
, you did. I remember now
,
and I am
so
sorry
,
”
h
e conceded. He didn’t say anything after that, just continued to stand there staring out at nothing.

“Is that why you have been acting
so strangely
?” She asked gently.

He grabbed her hand, kissed the top of it and said, “I want
children,
Ana.”

Ana felt her heart constrict. “Obviously, I can’t give them to you.” Ana could see Jake was at a loss of words.

“I thought you were playing games with me when you told me,” Jake confessed.

“What do you want to do now?” She asked the unspoken question.

“I don’t know
,
”
h
e said.

“You have to decide
,
Jake. If you do not want to marry me, tell me, I am a big girl. I can handle it
,
”
s
he said quietly, fighting back the tears she didn’t want him to see.

“I need time
,
Ana, can you give me that?” He asked.

Ana nodded, mostly because she couldn’t speak. She watched as Jake leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead
,
and then silently left, leaving her alone
,
once again.

Jake had every right not to marry her, but it hurt
nonetheless
. She already knew Jake’s decision. He needed an heir, wanted an heir. She wasn’t going to stand in his way. She needed to leave or else he would never give her up. She needed to leave before she lost her courage to do so.

She was going to the
Viscount
's home in the country
,
until she could get suitable passage to the continent. She would make a new life for herself. She was determined in this. There was no way she could stay and see Jake marry someone
else
, let alone him
having the
children that should be hers.

Katherine was worried about her son. He wasn’t eating, sleeping, or even socializing.
Jordan
gave up trying to coax him out of his depression. Katherine went to see how Ana was faring, only to discover
s
he had left, with no one knowing where she went. In the time she
had
gotten to know Ana, she knew it wasn’t like Ana to hide from her problems or run away. She didn’t really want to call off the wedding yet
, but they
were leaving her
with
no choice. She was just waiting for him to arrive
home
.

“What’s wrong mother?” Jake said as
he
entered some time later.

Katherine was surprised to see her son completely sober. “Ana’s gone
and
no one has seen her in the last few days
,
”
s
he cried.

“Damn it! “ Jake instantly jumped into action. He was shouting out orders to the servants and within fifteen minutes, he was out the door.

Jake had a lot of time to think about his future in the last several days. Seeing Ana all battered and bruised in the garden sent him over the edge. He was pissed off at the world, but mostly for her, not at her. How must she feel about this? What had she gone through? Of course, he still wanted her. He just needed time to clear his head and decide the best course. Did she give him time? No, she left him again. He wasn't going to let her go
so
easily this time.

He stopped at Ana’s home
. He questioned the servants
and
her neighbors
, but
they hadn’t spoken to her either.
Jordan
rode up on
horseback
and stopped beside Jake’s coach.

“Did you find her yet?”
Jordan
asked.

“How did I let this happen?” He said mostly to himself.

Jordan
shrugged and climbed down from the horse.

“I’m staying here until she shows up
,
”
h
e said.

Jake knew Ana had to come home at some point. All her things were still there and her cat was perched up against the window.

Jake sat there for a full day
,
before his temper got the best of him. He went to seek out Eliza.