Chapter 26

She had said she didn’t want him to talk of marriage again this evening—would not even contemplate staying here with him until he made such a promise. So could it possibly be marriage itself that she feared? And if it was, what could possibly have happened to Helena to make her look so fearful at the prospect of marriage? Had her husband hurt her in some way? Perhaps been unfaithful? Was that the reason for the short duration of the marriage?

Bryan felt a wave of anger deep inside him as he contemplated anyone—most of all Helena's ex-husband, a man pledged to love and protect her—having hurt her in any way.

But it was an anger he would control until he could return to England and possibly seek out the man Helena had been married to so briefly; he certainly did not intend to shake their fragile relationship by questioning Helena about it, either now or in the future.

His thumbs moved caressingly across the paleness of her cheeks as he smiled gently down at her. ‘I promise I will not me