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Anne got up to walk away from Robert, but he gently took her hand. She paused but did not turn around to face him.
“Anne, please, I’m begging you. I would be happy to explain everything to you if you’d only stay. My real name is Robert Graham, and I am the youngest son of Lord Graham. However, I am the product of his second marriage, and so George and I are only half-brothers. I have to leave the estate for a short while, while my sister is here, but when she is gone, I shall return and ... and marry you.”
Anne turned and looked at Robert with shock in her eyes. She kept her hand over her mouth for a moment, and Robert did not know what had possessed him to say that. He feared that would only make her want to run more, but it was his last hope at making her stay. He waited with bated breath while she froze, hoping she would have some sort of a positive reaction.
But when Anne finally removed her hand, she wore a vacant expression on her face. Robert’s hopes were dashed. She removed her hand from his and said, “I must tend to the children.”
She began walking out of her bedroom, and Robert thought all hope was lost. He couldn’t believe that he had gambled in such a risky, outward manner and that it had failed so miserably.
But then, Anne hesitated just at the threshold of the room. She put her hand on one side of the door frame and gently whispered, “I would have stayed if I knew the children weren’t expecting me. I ... I shall write to you.”
That was all Robert needed to hear. “Thank you, Anne, thank you from the bottom of my …”
But Anne had already disappeared down the hallway before Robert could say anything more. He decided that it was a good idea to hide out in Anne’s room for a few minutes, hoping that some of the staff waiting outside to question him might dissipate. For the next little while, Robert lay with his back upon Anne’s bed and his feet upon the floor, staring up at the ceiling in disbelief.
What a morning. First, Anne thinks that the woman I’m running from is a past lover. Then, after I explain the truth to Alfred, she overhears me, George, and Louisa having our row in the front hall. And then I try and patch things up with her enough so that she does not think that I am abandoning her, and I essentially propose to her in the process. And she didn’t entirely run away! What a miracle!
Robert counted his lucky stars, and then when he thought it had been long enough, he finally walked back upstairs and out to his waiting carriage. If he thought it was difficult to leave the estate before all of this happened, it was even harder now!
