Chapter 25
Peter thumbed through a stack of correspondence, wishing desperately that it would disappear.
The large majority of it contained reports about Wellington’s further invasions into France.
He’d won significant battles at the Nive and Orthez in recent months, gaining a very real foothold against the French.
Peter’s regiment had been stationed in Spain for so long that he was not surprised that he hadn’t been called to journey to France, but he was surprised that he had yet to be recalled at all.
Part of him feared that he was being punished for speaking out so boldly against his superiors—that they would resist calling on him as a result.
But surely they needed loyal captains who would not sell their commissions after only months of service, as so many officers of the Ton were deigned to do.
They were in the middle of a war, after all.
The sickening fear lay shrouded in his mind, but at moments such as these, it was difficult to ignore that possibility.
Peter now had a family to support, a future to plan.
He was not running away to the army to ignore life in England as he once had.
“Hola,” Ana murmured as she entered the room, relieving him from his less-than-savory reading. He smiled, glad to banish his fears to that corner of his mind again.
“Hello, dear. Allow me to make you more comfortable,” Peter said, rising from his chair to reposition the room’s furniture.
Ah, he would never grow tired of the sight of his expectant wife.
Ana’s new form was somehow even more beautiful than her previous one.
Her gowns flowed over her round abdomen most becomingly, and her cheeks were rounded and rosy.
She was prone to increased emotion—including daily bouts of tears, as she admitted herself—but she was also prone to prolonged embraces and long, lovely kisses.
Although Peter knew very well that Ana’s condition weighed upon her more than she would admit, he continuously admired her hopeful optimism.
Already, he found himself anticipating seeing her in this lovely condition again. That is, until he remembered what achieving such a condition would require of them both. And then he found he needed to stop staring at his wife’s becoming figure and cool off out of doors.
Ana navigated Abbeygate in a new way, squeezing through doorways and bumping into furniture, unfamiliar with her newfound size.
Peter found himself moving the obtrusive objects multiple times a day until the house was in a more satisfactory layout.
And today was no exception. They were currently situated with the task of making the library more maneuverable so they could go over an overly large stack of unpleasant papers.
Peter shoved the desk up against the wall and positioned the chairs next to it, leaving ample space around them.
“Is that all right, querida?”
“Sí, gracias,” Ana murmured as she rose on her toes. Peter angled down his chin, prepared and anxious for the kiss that surely awaited him.
And it was just as delicious as every other kiss.
Peter reached out, grasping Ana’s hand, and lowered her into the chair.
“Now that we are comfortable, shall we endeavor to attack the enemy at hand?”
“The enemy being todos los papeles?” Ana said, laughing and nodding her head at the stack.
“Precisely.”
“Bueno, I suppose. You will have to help me so much with the entendimiento. You know the English is muy complicado in these things.”
“Of course, I will help make matters clear as much as I possibly can.”
Peter grabbed the papers and thumbed through them.
It had been quite some time since he had looked over any sort of legal instructions.
But the years he spent at university and the Inns of Court started seeping back, and the jargon began to make a bit more sense.
He needed to explain the process of determining and preparing a will to Ana before the proper witness arrived for the arranging and signing of the papers.
Mother had been invaluable in helping them prepare for Ana’s eventual lying-in.
But this step of the preparations was somewhat less-than-savory.
They needed to make sure their accounts were all settled before that time arrived in case .
. . Well, in case something terrible happened to Ana or the child.
But Peter could not allow his mind to spend even a moment reflecting on such a possibility.
Because he did not want to endure a life without Ana.
“Right, well, shall we get started then?”
While it was a rather dampening activity to help Ana put her affairs in order to be prepared for the unlikely circumstance that her lying-in didn’t proceed as they hoped, Ana was strangely calm and orderly about it all.
She was very clear that she wanted everything to be arranged to give their child the greatest opportunities possible, despite the flaws of the country’s laws where daughters were concerned.
It was rather quick business, especially since Ana had very little to her name, all except a small family cottage in Valencia, given that it had not been claimed by some other family member, which likely already occurred.
Every time Ana mentioned her potential passing, Peter felt his chest seize and his breathing begin to quicken.
The only reason he stayed somewhat calm through this process at all was because of the quick and orderly way that Ana was proceeding through it.
He hoped she was acting in such a way because she felt confident that she would indeed survive.
Peter knew there was always a possibility of death when bringing a child into this world.
And he was certainly acquainted with death after years in the army.
It had never been a casual thing for him to see.
Peter had mourned the deaths of each of his men and comrades, perhaps more than he should have.
But death now had a certain terrifying finality when it was threatening someone whose life was inseparably connected to his.
“Peter, there is one thing muy importante,” Ana said, squeezing his hand hard, her voice trembling. His eyes rose to her face in an instant, surprised to see tears brimming in her eyes. After an entire conversation of pure, reserved rationality, this emotion was concerning.
“What is it, dear?”
“The matter of inheritance.” Her words were stilted, whether from emotion or difficulty of pronunciation, Peter could not tell. Ana clutched her abdomen as tears leaked down her cheeks now. “This child is not yours, Peter. Not de verdad.”
Peter froze as his heart dropped at an alarmingly quick pace. But the child was his. He wanted it to be so. Whatever could she mean?
“And I no want that this be complicado for you in the process of inheritance. Mrs. Thompson tells me that when some familias receive a daughter, it is not so happy a thing for the matter of inheritance. That quizás some familias prefer a son.”
Why would Mrs. Thompson say such things to Ana, even if this was an unfortunate reality in some circumstances? Peter rubbed a hand across his forehead.
“And quizás you want another child, one that is yours, truly yours—that child can be the one for the inheritance . . . I do not know how to say.”
He stood, splaying his fingers out in front of him as he shook his head.
“Ana, we are making arrangements for your accounts, not mine.”
“But we are esposos. We will have a child. Our accounts, they are together, no?”
Peter sighed. They were indeed married and shared nearly every aspect of their lives.
But from a legal perspective, it was not so simple.
But Ana needed to know that if the worst circumstances occurred, their child would be taken care of.
Some part of him even hoped that the child would be a boy so he could show her, in a very literal sense, that this child would be his heir.
But how else could he show her his loyalty to them both?
He knelt in front of her chair, wrapping her hands in his.
“Ana, I promise that our child will never lack, not in a temporal sense. The child will be well provided for and have all the resources I can possibly provide.” He pressed a gentle hand to the firm roundness of her belly.
“I will claim the babe as my own, even if there is not some legal way to do so. This child will be mine just as much as he or she will be yours. This child, our child will be loved, Ana. By you and by me. Whether the child is a daughter or son. And I truly look forward to this addition with great anticipation, but even more than that, I look forward to creating a new family at your side, with your great passion and wisdom and love.”
Ana hiccupped as a smile spread across her face.
“I will not lose you, Ana. I promise.”