"The Trimbles have no legal rights, not anymore. Ye can do what ye like."

"True, but they are Annie's parents. If you're correct, and she's capable of developing emotional attachments, then an estrangement..." Alex let his voice trail away. After a moment, he said, "I don't want her heart broken for no good reason."

"No, we don't want that. I've a feelin' that the poor wee thing has suffered heartache enough in her short life."

As briefly as possible, Alex related everything else that had been said during his conversation with the Trimbles, including Edie's peculiar warnings, that Annie should never be left alone with a cat or anyone's infant.

"That's preposterous," Maddy said with a huff. "The la.s.s is harmless."

"She wasn't harmless last night when she attacked Mistress Perkins," Alex reminded her. "She wasn't exactly anybody's angel when I brought her here in the carriage, either."

"But she was provoked!"

Alex couldn't deny that. He gazed into the amber depths of his brandy. When he glanced back up, he had made the decision to tell Maddy everything, even about Edie's uncle and the Trimbles' fear that their daughter might be mad. He didn't let himself think about breaking James Trimble's confidence. What he said in this room would never go past Maddy, and Annie's future was at stake.

As he spoke, Maddy turned frighteningly pale. "Dear Lord in heaven," she whispered when he had finished. "The la.s.s isn't mad, Master Alex. I'd stake me life on it."

That was Alex's feeling as well. "Nevertheless, I think that both the Trimbles are afraid she may be, which explains their reluctance to have her examined."

Maddy shook her head sadly. "Because a doctor might discover she's not simply tetched, but crazy?"

"That could destroy James Trimble's political career, and if it did, I think his wife believes he would divorce her over it."

"In other words, they can't see the forest for the trees."

Alex sighed. "I don't know. Maybe it's you and I who aren't looking at things clearly. Only time will tell, I guess." He met Maddy's gaze with a slight smile touching his lips. "Luckily, we have that time. It's not as if we'll be fiddling while Rome is burning. She's only four months along. That gives us five more months to watch her and make a decision. If, after a few weeks, we both feel sure that she might be helped, I'll take her to Portland, the devil take her parents."

Maddy raised her snifter. "I'll drink to that."

Alex couldn't help but grin. "It won't be pleasant. If I decide to go against their wishes, they're going to fight me with everything they've got."

"They'll find their match in the pair of us." The housekeeper's eyes teared slightly as she swallowed the rest of her brandy. Waving a hand before her face, she blinked and sucked air through her teeth. "Lands, but that stuff burns a path clear to me toes!"

Alex chuckled. "Well, have we reached a decision then?"

"More a decision in lieu of a decision, but, yes, we've reached one. We'll be takin' the la.s.s to Portland for tests."

"If we see signs that she may be trainable," Alex amended.

"We'll see signs."

"Don't get your hopes up, Maddy," he cautioned her gently.

"I don't want to see them dashed."

"They won't be," she a.s.sured him with a challenging glint in her eyes. "The la.s.s may never do arithmetic and the like, but she's trainable. I'll bet me garters on it."

"I hope you're right." Feeling more relaxed than he had in hours, he rested a shoulder against the wall. "There's another problem we haven't addressed, that of a nurse. I know you're busy, and I can't expect you to a.s.sume the added responsibility of caring for Annie as well. We're going to have to hire someone. Which reminds me. Where is she right now?''

"In her room. I asked one of the maids to sit with her while I came down to talk to ye. The door is repaired, by the way.

Henry got the facing and lock replaced. Good as new."

"He got to it quickly."

"Yes, well, I did a bit of naggin'. Ye know Henry. If it can be put off until tomorrow..." Her voice trailed away.

"I'm sorry about the extra work, Maddy."

She waved his apology away. "I don't mind lookin' after the girl. As far as I can see, there's no reason she can't tag along behind me while I attend me duties. She wasn't kept locked in her room at home, was she?"

"No."

"Well, then? If she gets away from me and runs off, it isn't as if ye won't know where to find her."

With a nod, Alex conceded the point. His main concern was that, given to wandering in the woods as she was, Annie might venture away from the house and sustain an injury. Until her pregnancy was over, special measures had to be taken to safeguard her well-being. "If you're sure you don't mind looking after her. For obvious reasons, I don't want her going outdoors without supervision."

"I don't mind." Maddy studied him for a moment. "As fer not letting her go outdoors alone, mayhap ye could make time to accompany her?"

"Me?" The suggestion caught Alex by surprise. After his physical reaction to Annie the other morning in the carriage, he didn't relish the thought of being alone with her. "It might be better if I a.s.signed one of the household staff to escort her."

Maddy pursed her lips. "Master Alex, after what happened with Mistress Perkins, how can ye even think of it? Annie should be treated as a member of yer family. She isn't a pet or some such that ye can have walked by whoever's handy."

Knowing the housekeeper was right, Alex sighed. "I'll look at my schedule and see if I can't get away to spend some time with the two of you each afternoon." He prayed she didn't ask why he required her presence. Pulling his watch from his pocket, he checked the time. This afternoon, he had appointments with two men who were interested in purchasing one of his mares. "Well, now that we have that settled, I guess I should-"

"There is one other small matter," Maddy interrupted.

Alex lifted an inquiring eyebrow.

"As I mentioned last night, somehow ye have to make Annie understand that her increasin' proportions are from carryin' an infant. She's still off her food."

Alex groaned. "Maddy, I don't think she understands a word I say to her."

"Then draw her a picture."

"A picture? I can't draw. Besides, given her nervousness around me, wouldn't it be better if a woman explained it to her?''

A twinkle came into Maddy's eyes. "Don't be lookin' at me.

I can't draw either. As fer me bein' the one to explain it to her, that's nonsense. Ye're the la.s.s's husband."

"I am her husband only by the loosest definition of the word."

She raised her empty gla.s.s to him. "Which is a state of affairs ye should rectify. I've said so from the beginnin'."

"The girl is-"

"Lovely."

"No man with a shred of decency-"

"And she's sweet as well."

"Maddy, for G.o.d's sake, be reasonable."

"It seems perfectly reasonable to me," she informed him cheerfully. "By law, she's already yer wife. She's carryin' a child who'll bear yer name. Ye've said yerself a dozen times that ye've no intention of marryin' anyone else. Why not make this a marriage in fact?"

Leaving that question to hang in the air behind her, Maddy set her snifter on the sideboard and exited the room. After her departure, Alex gazed blankly at the floor. A marriage in fact...

He closed his eyes on the thought, but shutting out the world around him did little to alleviate the ache of loneliness deep inside him.

Nine.

That evening after Annie's supper, most of which she had once again refused to eat, Alex, with sketchpad and pencil in hand, went up to the nursery. Not wishing to frighten Annie any more than was necessary, he had arranged for Maddy to remain in attendance during their exchange. Happy to oblige, the housekeeper was already seated on the edge of the bed when he arrived.

Annie sat at the small table near the window, her hands clasped on her lap, her feet crossed at the ankle and hooked over a chair rung. When she caught sight of Alex opening the door, the little remaining color in her cheeks drained away.

Despite her obvious fear of him, she made no attempt, as she had the previous night, to vacate the chair and seek obscurity in a dark corner. Since he doubted she had suddenly developed a courageous streak, he could only a.s.sume her daring stemmed from the fact that Maddy sat nearby. She obviously felt safe as long as the older woman was there to protect her.

Annie's erect posture afforded Alex a better look at her than he'd gotten last night, and he was dismayed by what he saw. In the last four days, she had dropped an alarming amount of weight. According to Maddy, she had eaten almost nothing since Mistress Perkins's dismissal, a few bites at each meal and nothing more. Judging by her thinness, he guessed she had eaten as lightly the first three days of her stay, which explained, but did not excuse, the nurse's bungled attempts to make her eat.

After this meeting, Alex hoped Annie would be a little more cooperative and stop starving herself. Otherwise, he'd have no choice but to improve upon Mistress Perkins's methods.

Though he didn't doubt his ability to overpower the girl and force her to eat, he hated for it to come to that. She had already suffered enough in this house without that being added to the list.

Lamplight shimmered in the unruly sable curls that framed her small face, accentuating the color of her eyes, which, at the moment, reminded him of blue pools of crystal-clear water.

Her frock, a faded pink garment better suited to a child, hung on her even more loosely than before, the well-worn cloth clinging softly to the subtle curves of her body. Perfection in miniature, that was Annie, lovely in a way that somehow outshone the more voluptuous beauties he'd been attracted to in the past.

Maddy's suggestion that he should make this a bona fide marriage chose that moment to reenter his mind. As much as he hated to admit it, even to himself, it was tempting to do just that. Incredibly tempting. The physical aspects of marriage to such a beautiful girl would be no great hardship for him, or for any other man, as far as that went. But more than that, making this a marriage in fact would be far less complicated than his original plan. Unfortunately, the guilt he felt for even thinking along those lines const.i.tuted a barrier he couldn't seem to work his way past. There were codes of decency to be observed if a man wanted to respect himself, and a girl with Annie's disabilities was not fair game.

After turning up the lamps, Alex joined her at the table, positioning his chair across from hers in the hope that she might feel more at ease if he kept his distance. Since it was his plan to communicate with her by drawing pictures, he took it as a good sign that she seemed fascinated by the sketchpad and pencil.

"h.e.l.lo, Annie," he said softly.

Pulling her gaze from the drawing pad, she stared fixedly at his mouth. Her expression said more clearly than words that she hadn't grasped what he said. It was not an encouraging start. Somehow he had to make her understand that her intake of food had nothing to do with her increasing waistline.

Neatly covered by a towel, Annie's supper plate sat at his elbow, the nearly untouched helpings of food forming telltale mounds beneath the linen. Shoving aside the pad and pencil, he grabbed the plate, uncovered the food, and forked up some green beans. Her expressive eyes reflecting a willfulness that surprised Alex nearly as much as it amused him, Annie immediately clamped her mouth closed. She obviously had no intention of surrendering without a fight.

Feeling far more nervous than the situation warranted, he flashed her what he hoped was a confident smile and touched her lower lip with the tapered end of a bean. At the contact, she jerked back, almost reflexively, and looked down her nose at the fork tines. With her movement, the light from a wall lamp fell directly across her face.

For an endlessly long moment, Alex stared at her mouth, then slowly lowered his hand. Forgetting all his good intentions to watch his language in the girl's presence, his voice raspy with rage, he said, "That heartless b.i.t.c.h!"

Startled by his tone and the sheer volume of his voice, Maddy shot to her feet. "Holy mother, what is it?"

Alex pushed up from his chair and circled the table. At his sudden advance, Annie scrabbled to get away. Before she could make any headway, he caught her by the shoulder.

Though her terrified expression caught at his heart, he anch.o.r.ed her where she sat and cupped her small chin in one hand. Eyes wide, her face as pale as milk, she went instantly still, as if she were afraid to so much as breathe.

Naturally she was afraid, he thought with scathing self-derision. What reason had she not to be? Douglas had committed the most heinous of crimes against her, and now she was being held prisoner by a man she must surely believe was a monster.

Trembling with emotions difficult to identify, let alone control, Alex rubbed his thumb lightly across her lower lip.

Puncture marks! Impotent anger roiled within him. "Oh, honey, I am so sorry."

Maddy hovered at his elbow. "Master Alex?"

Managing to keep his voice carefully even, Alex said, "The nurse jabbed her with a fork." My fault, a little voice whispered inside his head. All my fault. Never again, no matter what the time constraints, would he fail to verify an employee's references. He might not have felt so bad if he'd had to pay the price for his own neglect, but instead a helpless girl had suffered the consequences. For that, he would never forgive himself.

Her green eyes aching with sympathy, Maddy leaned forward to see the marks on Annie's lip for herself. "Oh, ye poor wee la.s.s. Was there nothing she did not think to do to ye?"

"Apparently not," Alex ground out.

"And us going about our business downstairs, never guessing." Maddy touched a hand lightly to Annie's hair. "I swear to ye, la.s.s, if I'd known, I'd have s.n.a.t.c.hed the old witch bald."

Annie couldn't imagine why they were both so upset over a couple of tiny sores that were nearly healed. Maddy had tears in her eyes, and Alex looked ominously angry. Initially she'd believed he was furious with her.

But no ... Gazing up at him, she saw dark shadows of regret in his eyes, and she couldn't believe, even for a minute, that emotion like that could be feigned. To add to that impression, the grip of his hand on her chin was incredibly gentle, the caress of his thumb across her mouth so light it made her skin tingle. He clearly felt bad about the way the nurse had treated her.

His reaction was the exact opposite of anything Annie might have expected from him. Relentless, that was how she had imagined him, the kind of man who took what he wanted, the devil take anyone who got in his way. Yet there he stood, the features of his face taut, his large body shaking with rage that was directed not at her, but at the woman who had hurt her.

For days, she had lived in constant fear of him. In the dead of night, when she knew the household was asleep, she'd lain awake until exhaustion claimed her, staring at the door, terrified that he might come, convinced that it was only a matter of time until he would. Now that impression of him was being shattered, not measure by measure so she might slowly grow accustomed to the change, but with one fell blow.

Like a band of rubber that had been stretched taut and then released, Annie went limp with an overwhelming sense of relief. Past experience warned her to be wary. A part of her couldn't so easily forget all the times she'd been tricked into trusting people, only to discover too late that they meant to harm her. But another part of her wanted desperately to believe in this man.

It was undoubtedly the height of foolishness, but mistake or no, she couldn't resist doing just that. Maybe it was the gentleness with which he touched her or the remorse she read in his eyes, or perhaps she was just tired of feeling afraid. At this point, she was too weak from hunger and too heartsore from being abandoned by her parents to a.n.a.lyze her reasons.

She only knew that the warmth of his strong fingers on her skin made her feel safe. Wonderfully safe.

Crazy, so crazy ... But it was how she felt.

When he finally released her to resume his seat, Annie was so preoccupied with studying him that she scarcely heeded Maddy, who ambled back to the bed. Tonight he wore a white shirt with a turned-down collar and wide cuffs, similar to the ones her father favored. But there all similarity ended. His sleeves were folded back over his muscular forearms, and instead of a tie, he wore his collar open, the front plackets hanging loose to reveal an expanse of well-padded chest. In the lamplight, his burnished skin gleamed, its darkness striking a startling contrast to his amber eyes and perfectly straight, white teeth.

Unlike her papa and all of his haughty acquaintances, Alex Montgomery dressed more for comfort than fashion, she decided, his manner one of careless disregard. Yet, despite that, he managed to project a commanding presence.

The flickering light from the wall lamps played over him, molten in the tousled waves of his sun-streaked hair. With his head slightly bent, his carved features were limned with amber, the planes of his face in shadow, which denned the sharp blade of his nose, the square angle of his jaw, and the deep slashes that bracketed his mouth. Mesmerized, she gazed at his lips, the upper sharply etched, the lower full and moist.

"Shall we try again?" he asked.

Though she knew it had to be her imagination, Annie thought she actually heard his voice, its timber low and deep.

It was something that happened to her a lot, imagining she heard things she knew she couldn't. Pretend sounds, she called them, but for all of that, they seemed absolutely real. Always before, it had happened with ordinary, familiar things-her mother's voice, the barking of a dog, the slamming of a door.