Godwin’s eyes snapped with anger. “Beware what enemies you make, Miss Hamlin. Your reign as queen of Society is about to be over. A married woman needs all the friends she can find, else she’ll be forgotten.” He turned and walked away.
Anne linked her arm in Tess’s and watched him push his way through the lingering crowd. “What are you going to do, Tess?”
Tess swung her gaze to the tall, dark Welsh man who fancied himself the man to claim her. “Fight back.”
She went in search of a footman to take her home.
“You’re a bloody fool!” Sir Charles declared the moment he had Brenn alone. They sat inside the close confines of a hired coach on their way home. It was almost dawn and at this early hour of the morning the streets were practically deserted. The only sounds to disturb their conversation were those of the horses’
hooves and the wheels turning over the rough cobblestone streets.
“A bloody rich fool,” Brenn corrected with a yawn. He’d drunk his health over and over this night.
However, now, in the fresh air, the euphoria of good wine was wearing off. In its place loomed cold reality.
“You can marry money, lad, but you can’t live with it.”
“What does that mean?” Brenn asked. “I came to London to marry money.” He ran a hand over his face, feeling the rough growth of whiskers. He needed sleep. What time had he told Hamlin he would present himself? He’d forgotten.
“I saw the look on Tess Hamlin’s face. She doesn’t want this marriage,” Sir Charles reminded him.
“But her brother does. And frankly, she should be grateful I am saving her from scandal. By the way Lady Garland was behaving, Miss Hamlin will soon find herself snubbed by some of the best houses. She
’s better off in Wales.”
“It just doesn’t make sense,” Sir Charles said, half to himself. “Tess Hamlin has spurned a score of suitors and yet you walk into the room and she falls right in your arms. Not to say you aren’t a catch, Merton, but you aren’t—not to a diamond of the first water like Tess Hamlin. That silly wager story is all nonsense. Talk would have died down quick enough. And Hamlin’s decision to marry her off in a week!
Something is not right…not quite right at all.”
Brenn leaned his head back against the hard leather seat. “Does it matter? His plans fit mine. The sooner I return to Wales, the sooner I can begin rebuilding the estate. Fifty thousand pounds! There isn’t anything I can’t do with that much money.”
“This whole matter is too havey-cavey for my taste,” Sir Charles warned him.
“It was the scandal,” Brenn said dismissively, crossing his arms and closing his eyes. “Hamlin is a proud man. He wanted to save face. Plus, his sister is well past her prime. If she wasn’t so attractive, people would have already considered her on the shelf.” He smiled, picturing those spirited blue eyes, seeing her as she’d been this evening, passionately defending her views without the coquetry of other women. “As it is, she is just perfect for me. Just perfect,” he repeated drowsily. “Do you believe Hamlin will transfer his sister’s fortune to me upon signing the wedding contract?”
Sir Charles snorted. “Absolutely not. He’d be fool to turn over one shilling until the deed is right and properly done, after the wedding night. And you should insist on such terms too. You don’t want this marriage annulled after you’ve invested so much into it. I’ve heard Hamlin doesn’t have a good head for business. Or money. Spends it like he’s swimming in it.”
“Perhaps he is.”
“Hmmm…one never knows.”
Brenn opened one eye. “Why are you always so suspicious? Why can’t you believe in good fortune? I was the man who was in the right place at the right time.”
Sir Charles tapped his great hooked nose. “I get this itch on the left side of my nose whenever things aren
’t what they should be. It’s saved my hide too many times over the years to ignore it now.” He scratched his nose. On the left side. “The girl’s money alone would have been enough to tide her over even the most outrageous scandal. No, something else is at work. Hamlin is hiding something.”
Brenn shrugged. “And what if he is? I got what I came to London for, a rich wife. And one that isn’t bad on the eyes either.” He settled back in the seat with a grin.
“Yes, well, my nose has never let me down. It itches like a terrier right now. Before you think yourself too cocky, watch your back.”
Brenn yawned and ignored him. But later, when he’d finally found his bed for the night, Sir Charles’s words haunted his sleep.
Tess would not marry a stranger, no matter how mesmerizing he was.
She waited until well after noon and then hunted her brother down, finding him in his bedroom. He was still abed, nursing the very devil of a hangover.
Tess slammed the door shut.
Neil swore colorfully, grabbing his head with both hands.
“Did you celebrate too much last night, brother of mine? At my expense?”
“Please, Tess, I beg of you, walk more softly. I can hear your heels scrape the carpet!”
Before she could reply, the door banged open. Neil cried out in pain, even as his wife breezed into the room. A willowy blonde, Stella wore her favorite rose walking dress and a short Spencer jacket of cream kerseymere. The cherry ribbons on her straw bonnet bounced with her enthusiasm.
“Neil, Tess, I have heard the most infamous story about the Garlands’ rout last night! Why didn’t you tell me?”
Neil whimpered. “Please, my darling, speak softly. I beg you.”
She ignored his request. Pulling off her gloves, she said, “I’ve just come from a lunch with Lady Ottley.
She offered me congratulations on Tess’s engagement. I didn’t quite know what to say. I pretended I knew all about it when of course I didn’t have an inkling. I should have gone with you to the Garland ball instead of the Watkins’s card party. But how was I to know? So tell, tell me, is it true? Have you finally found a man willing to marry your headstrong sister?” She smiled at Tess as she added, “My heart goes out to him.”
Tess resisted the urge to stick out her tongue.
Neil groaned. “I knew there was something I’d forgotten. You were betrothed last night.”
“And it can stay forgotten,” Tess jumped in. “I have no intention of marrying Lord Merton. I don’t know the man.”
But Stella ignored her and squealed with delight, a reverberating sound that made her husband dive under the covers in agony. She pranced to the bed and threw her arms around him, hugging his head to her breasts. “I knew you would do it! I knew that once you heard about the baby you would not let me down. Oh, this is the happiest day of my life. Imagine, my sister-in-law will be out from under my roof. It will be my house. All mine. Neil, you are a wonderful man!” She kissed him noisily.
Neil was practically weeping in pain. “Stella, Stella, will you please not bounce so much,” he begged.
“And be good enough to hand me that cup of tea on the desk there.”
“Tea? Neil, you never drink tea.” She dutifully handed him the cup, perching herself on the edge of the bed and making irritating “goochy coo” noises. “Are you suffering from over-imbibing?”
He grunted his answer.
Stella “Ooooed” in sympathy—and Tess rolled her eyes, even as she felt a stab of jealousy. Watching the two of them sitting so close to each other, she realized again that her situation in the family was becoming increasingly tenuous.
And, deep down, she wished she was the one having a baby. Perhaps then her life wouldn’t feel so empty. What would it be like to have a baby to love and to teach things the way Minnie had taught her?
Shoving the disquieting feelings aside, Tess said, “Stella, Neil and I were having a private discussion.
Please go to your room.”
“Did you hear the way she spoke to me, Neil? She orders me around like she’s the queen of Sheba.”
“I want to talk to my brother, without your interference.”
“There are no secrets between Neil and me,” Stella shot back.
“Little do you know!” Tess retorted. Neil had a host of secrets, including a mistress in Chelsea, secrets Tess would guard out of loyalty to him. Although she couldn’t resist a jab at Stella.
Stella stood, hands on hips. “I can’t believe you talk to me that way—”
“Stella, Tess, please, my head aches—”
“He’s my husband. I’m the one welcome in this room. Furthermore you have nothing to discuss with him, especially if you are going to attempt to cry off from this engagement.”
“I must!” Tess said. “I did not agree to this marriage. No one asked me.”
“No one has to ask you,” Stella answered before Neil could open his mouth. “Neil is your guardian. He can arrange any marriage for you he wishes.”
“That’s barbaric!” Tess declared.
Stella smiled. “It is not barbaric. It’s the way things are done, especially for a woman with an inheritance such as yours.”
Tess turned to her brother. “I don’t want to marry this man. I don’t even know him.”
“You don’t have to know him,” Stella sing-songed. “It is up to your brother to decide what is best for you.”
“He doesn’t know him either, do you, Neil?”
Neil attempted speech. “I—”
His wife cut in. “Lady Ottley said your fiancé is a Welsh earl, a hero, very handsome in a rough sort of way and Sir Charles Merriam is sponsoring him. What more do you need to know?”
“What more?” Tess said incredulously. “Are you daft, Stella? There’s so much more to be known before a person decides to marry a man.”
Stella rolled her eyes dramatically. “Tess, you are impossible. And too picky. No wonder you aren’t married!”
“Be honest, Stella. You just want the house all to yourself so you can bully the servants without my interference—”
“I do not bully the servants!”
“Last week, you had the upstairs maid in tears!” Tess accused.
“She broke my bottle of bath salts,” Stella complained.
“You can replace bath salts—”
“Enough!” Neil’s shout cut through the air. “Stella, take this cup. Tess, we will talk, but lower your voice.”
He motioned for Stella to pour him another cup of tea. “No, Tess, I will not let you cry off. Perhaps I don’t know Merton well. I may have been a bit hasty. The announcement might have been rash. But the deed is done. I will not renege on my word whether it was given drunk or sober. You have six days in which to make his acquaintance…and after that a lifetime.”
“Neil!” Tess said in outrage.
He put his feet over the side of the bed. “Stella will plan the wedding. We’ll do it up right.”
“A wedding! Finally!” Stella clapped her hands together and then, seeing her husband’s wince, softly added, “I’m sorry.”
Tess no longer cared about Neil’s hangover. “I will not marry him,” she said forcibly. “I will cry off myself if you will not do it.”
“Oh, no, you won’t, miss,” Stella said, her fists doubling. “Not after that brazen little wager you placed with Leah Carrollton. Ha! You didn’t know I knew, did you? Well, it’s all over Town. Everyone can speak of nothing but your scandalous behavior. They blame you for everything and think it only right you marry Lord Merton.”
Tess could have shot fire from her eyes. “It doesn’t matter. I won’t marry him.”
Stella rounded on her husband. “Your sister is driving me to madness. Do something I beg you!”
“As my brother you should honor my wishes!”
Neil raked his fingers through his sleep mussed hair and walked the length of the room.
Neither Tess or Stella spoke. A gauntlet had been thrown down between them and they awaited Neil’s decision.
He turned, his bloodshot eyes weary. “Stella, will you please give me a moment alone with my sister?”
Tess’s heart gave a little leap. She stared at the floor so that Stella wouldn’t see the gleam of triumph in her eyes. Another outburst might make Neil change his mind.
Of course, Stella did not obey immediately. “Why? Are you going to beat sense in her?”
“A few minutes, Stella, please,” he repeated gravely.
Tess held her breath and then Stella said, “I’ll wait outside the door.”
She’ll probably listen at it, Tess thought irreverently, but, for once, she kept her thoughts to herself.
“Thank you,” Neil said, and he sounded like he meant it. He waited until the door closed before saying,
“Sit down, Tess.”
She remained standing, knowing that anytime he made her sit down, he was going to lecture her…which he’d been doing quite often since the day he’d married Stella.
He sighed heavily and took his own seat behind the desk in front of the window. “Sit, Tess.”
She had no choice then. She took the seat next to his desk, folding her hands demurely in her lap. “You don’t seem at all yourself today.”
“I don’t feel like myself, Tess. My head aches from the inside out. And I don’t want to have this conversation, but I must. I’ve put it off long enough.”
He sat forward. “Tess, the time has come for you to marry. This Merton doesn’t seem like such a bad sort. He might even make a good husband.”
“I will marry, Neil. But not yet. Please, call on the earl and beg off for me. Tell him I’m ill or mad or anything just so that I don’t have to marry him.”
“Tess, what are you afraid of?”
“I’m not afraid, Neil. I just sense that there is something more to life.”
“Other than marriage?”
“Yes.”
He snorted. “Not for a woman. Tess, you’ve had your freedom. The time has come for responsibility.
Besides, drunk or not, I gave the man my word.”
“But I didn’t. I wasn’t even consulted. Please don’t make me marry a man I don’t even know. Father wouldn’t have,” she reminded him.
“Ah, Tess.” He ran a hand over the shadow of his beard and stared out the window. When he turned back to her, there were tears in his eyes.
“Neil?” She reached out, but he pulled away. “Is something the matter?”
He nodded.
She reached again and this time he let her take his hand. “Tell me and we’ll make it right. Together.”
He shook his head, gathering himself, and then said, “I remember when Mother was dying. You were no more than five and I was nine and the two us were both afraid. But I tried to be strong in front of you.