Part 7 (1/2)
Could a woman raised in this room, in this house, share his vision for rebuilding Erwynn Keep? Would she be happy living in a crofter's cottage until the house was finished?
He glanced around the sitting room.
The answer was no.
But he needed her money if he was to realize his dreams.
Sir Charles's warnings plagued him. Why was Hamlin pus.h.i.+ng for the wedding to take place with all possible haste? Perhaps something truly was not right. Even his nose was beginning to itch.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of two maids whispering outside the half-closed door. Thinking that their presence heralded the approach of Miss Hamlin, Brenn moved toward the entrance.
”Who's in there?” he heard one ask the other.
”A gentleman caller for Miss Tess.”
”Only one? Normally by this hour Miss Tess has a roomful of male callers.”
The maid sucked in her breath. ”You haven't heard then?””Heard what?””Why, Miss Tess has agreed to marry. That gentleman in there, in fact.””Lor', no! And me not hearing a word! Tell all, Bonnie.”Their voices dropped even lower as they shared confidences. Brenn s.h.i.+fted from one foot to the other.
He would give his sword to know what they were saying.
One of the maids giggled, the sound ever so slightly malicious.
Manners be d.a.m.ned. He moved toward the door just in time to hear the first maid cut short the idle talk.
”I best get myself upstairs. She was sick again this morning.”
”Oooo, three mornings in a row. I hear the doctor was in yesterday.”
”Aye, it's true. Never any doubt in my mind, doctor or no-but don't breathe a word to anyone. She'd
have my head if she thought I'd let it slip. It's a secret. You know the gentry. 'Course I know what she's.h.i.+ding. When her belly pops out with that babe, they'll all know she was trotting around pretendingnothing was wrong and all the gentry will be scandalized...or at least that is what the master's valet toldme.”
”He's been telling you a lot of things lately,” the other maid said slyly. Her comment inspired a good bit ofgirlish laughter and then they were both gone-and Brenn had his answer.
Sir Charles had been right.
He stared down at the yellow centers of the rose b.u.t.tons in the bouquet, wis.h.i.+ng he hadn't heard the maids talking. For a long moment, his pride warred with his plans for Erwynn Keep.
He was being used. She was pregnant and needed a father for her child.Of course, didn't he want to use Miss Hamlin for her money?But could he accept another man's babe as his own?At that moment, booted footsteps walked purposely across the marble floor toward the sitting room door. Brenn stepped back just as Neil Hamlin, followed by the butler, strode into the room.
”Ah, Lord Merton, what a pleasure to see you.”
Brenn shook Hamlin's offered hand. The man sounded friendly enough but Brenn couldn't help noticing
lines of strain around his mouth and that Hamlin's gaze didn't quite meet his own.
”My sister will be down shortly. Would you like Nestor to take those flowers from you?” He didn't waitfor an answer but signaled for the butler to do so immediately.Brenn pulled back. ”That's fine. I'll give them to her.” He wanted to use his small offering to see if her gaze s.h.i.+fted away from his own like her brother's had. The butler retreated, leaving a silent footman
behind to see to their needs.
”Well,” Hamlin said, clapping his hands together to fill the sudden void of conversation. ”This is a momentous occasion. We need a gla.s.s of wine to celebrate.” He moved toward a wine decanter and
gla.s.ses on a nearby serving table.
Brenn watched him, the words Is your sister carrying another man's child? on the tip of his tongue. He'd always been one for plain speaking but then that had been before he was an earl...before he'd wanted something as much as he did Erwynn Keep. The starched and carefully folded neckcloth around his throat seemed as tight and constricting as a noose.
And then he heard the rustle of skirts and smelled the scent of lilies. He turned...and questions died in his throat.
Miss Hamlin stood in the doorway. Tess. Beautiful Tess. She appeared even more lovely in the light of day than she had in the garden last night, and he no longer questioned his judgment.
Her thick, red-gold hair was piled high on her head but without the fussy curls and jewels of the night before. Brenn imagined that if he pulled out a pin here and another there, it would tumble down to her waist.
Her dress, the shade of a robin's egg, brought out the vivid blue of her almond-shaped eyes. She raised those eyes to his and said, ”How are you today, my lord?” in a honey-smooth voice.
It took him a moment to find his own voice. ”These are for you.” He shoved the bouquet forward, conscious that the flowers paled in comparison to her vibrant beauty.
She moved with a grace that made her seem to float across the floor. Her long, elegant fingertips brushed his as she reached for the bouquet. She didn't wear gloves and he felt the heat of her body all the way down to his toes.
What spell did this woman weave over him?
She lifted the flowers to her nose and he noticed her hands trembled, ever so slightly. ”These are lovely,” she murmured.
”So are you,” he said. The words had come out unbidden; he couldn't have stopped them if he'd tried.
Her lips parted in surprise. Hamlin chuckled. ”Merton, you will have to be less direct. You're not on a battlefield anymore but ready to join the ranks of married men. Mark my words, if you talk to my sister that way after the wedding, she'll walk all over you.” He laughed at his own small joke.
But Tess didn't join him. Instead, two bright spots of color appeared on her cheeks and, for a moment, Brenn sensed the truth. It was there, plain to see. She was hiding something. Both of them were.
The heat of l.u.s.t was tempered by a slap of cold reality.
His gaze dropped to her slim waist. No sign of breeding-yet.
A woman's trilling voice announced herself from the doorway. ”My lord, pardon me for not joining you sooner.” An attractive blonde swept into the room.
”Merton, this is my wife, Stella,” Hamlin said, gesturing with his winegla.s.s. He handed a gla.s.s to Brenn. ”Stella, the earl of Merton.”
Brenn bowed over the hand she offered. ”Mrs. Hamlin.”