Chapters (67)

He smiled. “If a foolish man is lucky, he remains the fool for only so long, Anna, before he sees how to redeem himself and does so—if it isn’t too late. I thought it might be too late, which is why I’m so grateful to Sir William.”

“Grateful? For making me acceptable in your social circles?”

“No, for making it possible for me to find you again. I have tried, you know. I still have men out searching for your caravan.”

“Why?” she asked breathlessly.

He came closer, stopped in front of her, lifted her chin. “For the same reason I have no intention of divorcing you. I want you in my life, Anna, any way I can have you. I know that now. It just took me a few days to realize that marriage, with its permanence, is indeed preferable. The scandal is so very insignificant in comparison.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck. What she felt was in her eyes, which drew his lips to hers. There was no passion in his kiss, just a wealth of love and tenderness that sealed their fate more thoroughly than any words could.

Chapter 25

CHRISTOPHER TOOK ANASTASIA STRAIGHTAWAY TO his London town house, but they didn’t stay there long. Within the week he ordered his servants to pack up all of his personal belongings to be moved to Haverston. Much as he might prefer city life, he quickly realized that his wife didn’t, and he was much more concerned with making up for what a complete ass he’d been, about the matter of their marriage, than he was with his preferences at the moment.

He would have taken her to Ryding instead. At least it was a much more cheerful house. But she had expressed a desire to be near her grandmother, and so to Haverston they went. He had, of course, remarked on the dourness of the place, to which she’d laughed and told him that could be easily corrected.

“I will hire an army of laborers,” he promised her. “It won’t take much time a’tall to make that mausoleum habitable, I suppose.”

“You’ll do no such thing,” she told him. “We will effect the improvements ourselves, so that when it’s finished, it will be our home.”

Wield a paintbrush himself? Hold a hammer? Christopher was beginning to realize already just how much his Gypsy was going to change his life. And he was looking forward to every bit of it.

Chapter 26

IT WAS THEIR FIRST CHRISTMAS AT HAVERSTON. Christopher had always spent the holidays in London—after all, it was a prime social season. He had no desire to this year. Actually, he had no desire to return to London for any reason. Everything he wanted, everything he loved, was at Haverston.