Read Online Married in Haste by Cathy Maxwell - Free Book Online Page A

time since Brenn had set off on his fortune-hunting trip to London, the future consequences of what he was attempting to do sank in. The bouquet of rose buttons and forget-me-nots he’d purchased from a street vendor began to wilt in his hand.
    He walked across the thick carpet and studied the row of green antique vases trimmed in gold lining the mantel. A well-traveled man, he knew the cost of things, and he would wager just one of those vases had cost more than his officer’s pay for the last year.
    Last night, he’d seen the sparkle in Miss Hamlin’s eyes and charged after her like a hungry trout striking bait. Now he was seeing the depth of her wealth. A woman raised in this luxury would expect to continue in this manner.
    Brenn thought of Erwynn Keep as it presently was—the shell of a once-great house. Gaping holes marked where the doors and windows had been. Parts of the roof were missing. It was completely uninhabitable. Brenn lived, as his uncle had, in a small crofter’s cottage within sight of the house.
    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 pushing 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 shifted 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 damned. 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 hiding. When her belly pops out with that babe, they’ll all know she was trotting around pretending nothing was wrong and all the gentry will be scandalized…or at least that is what the master’s valet told me.”
    “He’s been telling you a lot of things lately,” the other maid said slyly. Her comment inspired a good bit of girlish 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 buttons in the bouquet, wishing 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