Momentarily, shock hit her, then, lifting her chin, she said valiantly, ‘I am protected, so there’s no need for concern.’
For a few seconds he studied her transparent face, then he shook his head. ‘You’re lying.’
Knowing it was useless to go on protesting, she admitted, ‘All right, so I’m not protected. But if I do happen to be pregnant, which is most unlikely, I’ll cope.’
‘You mean get rid of it?’
‘I don’t mean any such thing! I wouldn’t dream of getting rid of it!’
‘Then you’ll need a husband.’
‘I don’t want you to marry me just because I might be pregnant—’
‘It’s not just because—’
Ignoring the interruption, she swept on, ‘If I am having a baby, I’ll keep it, and take care of it, and love it. On my own.’
‘Don’t be a fool,’ he said roughly. Then, in a softer tone, ‘Look, if you do happen to be pregnant, you’ll need my help. It takes more than love to bring up a baby. It takes money… And a father is no bad thing…’
‘I don’t want your help. I don’t want your money. And I certainly don’t want you to marry me just to make amends or salve your conscience!’
He jumped to his feet, and, seizing her upper arms, hauled her out of the chair and shook her slightly. ‘It’s nothing to do with making amends or salving my conscience. I’m asking you to marry me because I want to marry you—’
‘I don’t believe you,’ she whispered hoarsely.
He sighed. ‘It’s my own fault. I was a fool. I shouldn’t have asked you in the way I did, and I shouldn’t have attempted to pressure you. If I’d let some time pass, tried to make friends with you first… But fools rush in where angels fear to tread, and I was terrified of losing you.’
Because it hurt so much, she cried, ‘I don’t want to listen to your lies!’
Sitting down in the chair, he pulled her on to his lap. She tried to struggle free, but he refused to let her go. ‘They’re not lies, and you’re going to listen.’
She sat stiffly, face averted, hands clenched into fists, holding herself away from him.
‘Even at the start, when I thought so badly of you, it was instant enchantment. Though I tried not to admit it, I wanted you for myself, and I was furiously jealous when I thought of you sleeping with David…’
Taking the hand that was wearing the ring he’d given her, Gideon unfolded Anna’s fingers one at a time and kissed each of them in turn. ‘I swear that’s the truth. Now I want to get things off my chest, so will you listen to the rest?’
Seeing her nearly imperceptible nod, he went on, ‘When I knew my plan to keep you at the Manor was going to work, I rang Jackie and asked her to come over the following day. But almost at once I discovered you weren’t at all the kind of woman I’d been expecting, and instead of blaming you I began to make excuses for you, to try and justify what I thought you’d done. I told myself that even decent people will go to great lengths to make their dreams come true. More than ready to forgive you, I tried to get you to admit the truth, to bring things into the open so we could get on to a different footing, and I was angry when you’d have none of it.
‘You see, by this time I knew that, no matter what, I wanted to marry you. I also knew I didn’t want to involve Jackie. But when I rang to stop her coming, I found she was already on her way, and David had opted to come with her to collect the cheque I’d promised him… I made one last attempt to pressure you into admitting the truth before they got here, but when you continued to play the innocent, I decided I had no option but to ask Jackie to identify you, and take it from there. When I found I’d been completely wrong about you, at first all I could feel was relief and gladness that you were as innocent as you seemed. Then I was racked by shame and guilt for the way I’d treated you. Finally fear took over. I was afraid that you might be unable to forgive me, afraid you’d leave me.
‘I tried to tell myself that you wouldn’t go. That you had to feel something for me, otherwise you wouldn’t have gone to bed with me last night, and you certainly wouldn’t have agreed to go on with the relationship this morning. But when you asked Jackie to drop you off in town, and appeared so determined to leave, I wondered if I’d made yet another bad mistake. I might have stood by and allowed you to walk away, if Jackie hadn’t suddenly remarked that I’d be a fool to let you go.
‘She said, “As soon as I got here, you told me that no matter what Anna had done, you wanted to marry her. I presume that now she’s been proved innocent you haven’t changed your mind?” I told her, of course I hadn’t. She said, “In that case try telling her how you feel.”’
He used a single finger to turn Anna’s face to his. ‘You’re the only woman I’ve ever felt this way about.’
Her heart beating in slow, heavy thuds, she asked, ‘What about Eva? What happened to her?’
‘In the end she went back to her husband. No, I wasn’t broken-hearted. In fact by then, though I was fond of her, I was almost relieved. You see, she loved her husband a great deal more than she would ever have loved me, and somehow a second-best relationship wouldn’t do. I want to love and be loved, deeply, passionately. That’s why I was hoping that this enchantment I feel, for want of a better description, is mutual.’
‘What better description could there be?’
‘I understand the French call it a “coup de foudre”. And even if it does sound a little hackneyed, we call it love at first sight. Though in spite of Christopher Marlowe some people may not even believe in it…’
‘I do,’ she said softly.
‘Ah, but have you ever experienced it?’
‘Just once. I thought I had once before, but I’d confused it with infatuation. This time there’s no mistake.’
‘Certain?’
‘Quite certain.’
Gideon touched his lips enticingly to the corner of her mouth. ‘I’d like to hear you tell me in so many words.’
‘I love you.’
‘Deeply?’
‘Deeply.’
‘Passionately?’
‘Passionately. From the moment I set eyes on you.’
She was rewarded with a kiss that made her toes curl and her whole being glow with happiness.
‘I feel the same way about you,’ he told her.
For a while they kissed, lost in each other, then he raised his head to ask, ‘So are you going to marry me and let me replace that fake solitaire on your finger with a real one?’
Looking at him from beneath long dark lashes, she said, ‘I might.’
‘What will it take to persuade you?’
‘Well, I’d like the post you offered me as your secretary-cum-librarian…’
‘It’s yours.’
‘And now I know how you feel about me, I’d like you to—’ when she paused, blushing a little, he raised an interrogative brow ‘—make love to me again,’ she finished in a rush.
‘What, here and now?’ he asked, straight-faced.
A little flustered, she said, ‘If that’s all right?’
Then, realising he was teasing her, blushing even harder, she pointed out, ‘Well, I was a virgin for an awfully long time, so I feel I’ve some catching up to do.’
His grin wicked, he assured her, ‘Don’t worry, my love, I’m sure I can rise to the occasion.’
ISBN: 978-1-4268-8653-9
A VENGEFUL DECEPTION
First North American Publication 2002.
Copyright © 2001 by Lee Wilkinson.
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