Innocence Lost

Chapter Fifteen

She rose early the next morning, but by the time she'd gone downstairs, Mary had already finished cooking breakfast.

"Did you sleep well, dear," Mary asked when she saw Anne in the doorway.

"The baby kicked quite a bit," Anne said, unwilling to tell her the real reason for her sleeplessness.

"Well, you can take a nap later if you get sleepy," her aunt said. "Your time is drawing near and you'll need all the rest you can get before the baby is born."

As the women were eating breakfast a few minutes later, they heard a couple of horses approaching at the back of the house. A moment later, Gabriel and his father, Benjamin, came in through the back door.

"Gabriel!" She got up as quickly as she could in her condition. Her pregnancy was obvious to all as she staggered over to embrace her husband.

"Oh, my God." Anne was the last person Gabriel expected to see. Feeling distinctly uncomfortable, he disengaged himself from her embrace. "I've got to go tend to the horses," he muttered, then slammed out the back door.

Anne was stunned, looking around in embarrassment.

Benjamin Martin cleared his throat. "I'm sorry about that," he said. "I think I'll go out there and help him. We'll be back shortly."

"Come on dear," Mary said as Anne stared, dumbfounded, at the back door.

After a moment, she burst into tears.

"Let it out," her aunt urged as she held Anne in her arms.

"H-he knows!" Anne said a shorte lae later as she was able to collect herself to some degree.

"Knows what?"

"That the baby is Tavington's"

"Why on Earth did you tell him that for," her aunt said. "You'd have been better off letting him think that the child was his."

"I didn't tell him," she said. "Tavington did, when he let me see Gabriel at the fort. He made sure to let Gabriel and all his men know that he'd gotten me with child"

"What a despicable man!" Mary said. "It would seem that all I've heard about him is true, then."

"It's a bit more complicated than that, Auntie," Anne said. "But you're right, he usually was not very much of a gentleman."

“Gabriel will come around,” Mary said. “He has to realize that you had no choice about what happened. Once he sees that darling little baby, his heart will melt.”

“I hope you’re right,” Anne said doubtfully.