He wanted nothing more than to be with Clare. She needed him, now more than ever. Who else could give her the courage to face what was before her? And all because of Andrew’s ridiculous precautions, he was being kept away. Giles had been so sure these past two years that his love for Clare had changed. Recently, he had seriously been considering marrying Lucy Kirkman. She was attractive, an enjoyable companion, and would have made him an undemanding wife. She wanted him, and he knew their marriage would also have been physically satisfying. And he needed an heir. Now the very idea seemed ridiculous. He had been lying to himself all along. Well, perhaps not lying. Perhaps he could have married Lucy and been happy, had Clare truly been in the marriage he supposed her to have. But to find out that Rainsborough had been abusing her. That she had had to bear it all alone. All the old feeling came rushing back. Clare was his love, the one and only one he had ever wanted to enfold in his arms and keep safe.
