Chapter Twenty-Nine

T he picture in Jacob's head couldn't have prepared him for what he found in the Asian garden.

Anna stood with her back to him at the edge of the pond. Silhouetted by the moonlight, she stared out at their pagoda like a fairy queen waiting for the magic of the mist to carry her over the bridge.

"I thought you would be here," Jacob said softly. Anna's cloak trembled. Her shoulders squared at the sound of his voice, an attempt to ready herself for this moment. "I was waiting for you inside."

Finally, she turned to him. Her face was luminescent and peaceful, as still as the water that surrounded their tiny temple. "I thought you would be here."

"No more hiding," Jacob said.

Anna hinted at a smile. "No more hiding." She reached inside her reticule and pulled out a piece of paper. Jacob was reminded of an earlier time when she'd done that very thing. How he'd fallen in love with her then and there, only he'd been too myopic to see it. "I saw what you wrote about Phillip. How did you find out?"

Jacob slapped his hands together casually as he made his way toward her. "Oh, it's a funny story, actually. Last week, a stranger came to my door—a Miss Indira Phule. She had heard that her husband, Mr. Phillip Williams, had been staying here. When I told her that he was gone, I asked her to rest inside, and we soon shared a pleasant, lengthy, and rather informative conversation."

Anna's green eyes bored into him. "Did he really leave her behind?"

Jacob was close enough to sweep her into his arms, but he resisted the temptation. She needed to know everything. There would be no more secrets between them. "Well, it seems that Indira's father refused to allow his daughter to be an Englishman's mistress. He demanded Phillip marry her and gave her a rich dowry, which Philip quickly and predictably squandered on bad business ventures. After that, it seemed he had no further use for her—in England, anyway."

"And David didn't know?"

Jacob shrugged. "David thought what everyone else thought, that she was his mistress. I'm sure Phillip will try to convince everyone of that fact as well, but I have to give her credit. Indira is a smart woman. Before she left India, she ripped out the pages in the church register and brought them with her."

Anna laughed, making Jacob's heart jump. "She is a smart woman."

Jacob nodded. "And naturally, being the chivalrous viscount that I am, I escorted Indira to her new home to reunite her with her dear, long-lost husband. If you could have seen his face…"

Anna's smile faltered. "He could still tell everyone about me. You could still be brought into this scandal—"

Jacob shook his head, losing enough of his restraint to take Anna's hands in his. Even with her gloves, they were dismally cold. Pulling her forward, he tucked them into the pockets of his overcoat—where they belonged. "I don't think Phillip will have time to cause trouble," he replied. "As I said, my conversation with Indira was incredibly informative. It seems that Phillip's bad decisions in India included attempting to steal trading partners away from the EIC and their shipping captains. He made many enemies of many powerful people. If he hadn't left India when he did, he was sure to be run out of the country in disgrace. I informed him that that news could stay in India if he preferred, although, being a newspaper man, I could choose to share it with my readers if I saw fit."

"You're blackmailing him?"

Jacob cocked his head. "Blackmail is a bit of a harsh word. We came to a mutually advantageous agreement."

"Ha! And that involved writing an article about the wife he conveniently abandoned?"

Jacob's arms found their way around Anna's waist. His grin was sheepish. "Definitely not. But I had to have some fun; the bastard couldn't get away with everything he put you through." He ducked his head. "Did you like it? I thought it hit the right notes. Who knows? I might see a future for myself in the scandal sheets."

Anna giggled, her fingers twitching in Jacob's pockets. He could feel her press against the fabric, searching for more of him, needing to touch him as he touched her. With a long, breathy sigh, she laid her head on his chest, finding a sense of calm. Jacob cradled the back of her head.

"I think I prefer you writing about more important things, like cricket," she said.

Jacob grinned, resting his head on the top of Anna's. "Well then, I'll stick to cricket and more serious things."

"Wait!" she said. Her head popped up, hitting Jacob's chin in the process. She grimaced apologetically. "Sorry. But I don't understand. You said Indira came to Newton Place last week. You sent the invitation to the ball days before that."

"Yes?"

Anna frowned, clearly trying to put everything together in her head. Always thinking too bloody much. She'd once said that Jacob dug too deep into things, which was like the pot calling the kettle black. "So that means that you agreed to our parents' marriage before the situation with Phillip was settled?"

"I never gave a damn about Phillip," Jacob replied. "You did."

"But you let me go."

"I never let you go. I let you have time to think, to find your way back to me."

Anna's neck wilted. "I didn't want to drag you down."

Jacob tucked his finger under her chin, drawing her gaze back to his. "You've only ever pulled me up."

"I want you to have a future."

"I see no future without you."

"But what if…" Anne bit her bottom lip. The fact that those were now Jacob's lips made him feel like the luckiest man in the world. His to kiss. His to pay countless attention to. His to worship. "What if I can't have children?" she asked.

Jacob held her pale face in his palms and brushed his thumbs along her skin. "Then we will have to make do with each other," he said. "Would that be so difficult… spending your life with me and only me?" He stared over her shoulder, considering. "And probably the aunts."

A single tear trailed down her face. Anna placed a sweet kiss on the inside of his palm. When her eyes met his again, they shone with spirit and love. Jacob locked his knees, determined to stay on his feet.

"I want you more than anything," she replied. "I love you, Jacob, more than I've ever loved anyone in my life. I wasted so much time waiting for someone to forgive me. I was wrong. I only needed the courage to forgive myself. I want to experience life again, and I only want to do it with you."

Jacob swayed, holding himself up by the skin of his teeth. He was unmoored, unworthy, and desperately grateful to have found this different kind of woman.

Attempting to stabilize himself, he leapt for the one thing that always cleared his mind. He seized his woman's mouth like it was a life raft, the only thing that could keep him afloat in this unpredictable world. Anna reacted with equal fervor, meeting him halfway, capturing his lips and tongue as surely as she'd captured his heart.

Jacob hadn't thought it possible, but this kiss was so very different from others they'd shared. It was not a kiss of passion or lust or even inevitability. This was a kiss suffused with expectation. It held the calm reassurance that it would not be the last—not by a long shot. A fever spread between them, but it was tempered by languid pulls and lingering strokes. This was not the kiss of night or dreams; it was a kiss of the morning ahead. A morning with endless possibilities.

"Let's not worry about what may or may not happen," he said, trailing his finger along the line in the center of her lip. "Let's just focus on now. I love you. And you love me. That's all we can control. That's all we need."

Anna tried to wrap her arms around him, but she also refused to withdraw her hands from his pockets. "That's all we need," she repeated, bussing him with another honeyed peck.

"It's a different idea, to be sure," Jacob said, directing her toward their cottage. There would be more balls for Viscount Newton. He would make an appearance at the next one.

"Well, my love, we are different kinds of people," Anna said, her feet picking up speed.

My love. It sounded so much better than my lord .

Jacob shoved the vines and branches out of the way and put his hand on the knob.

Before he opened the door, he gave her a look of warning. "I want you to think long and hard about this, my dear," he said. "If you walk over this threshold, you are agreeing to a lifetime of a husband cherishing you. He will kiss you many, many times a day, not just on your lips but all over your body. He will always cheer when you play cricket and take you to the circus whenever it's in town. He will even suffer through picnics just to see you smile. But, most importantly, he will love you with every fiber of his being, because life with you is as close to Nirvana as he is ever going to get. Can you handle that, Anna? Can you let me love you? I need to know."

Anna placed her hand over his. She twisted the knob and opened the door, at once stepping inside. Looking over her shoulder, she stunned Jacob with a soft smile. "I'm strong enough to handle you, Jacob. Now come in here and let me show you."