Married in Haste by Cathy Maxwell

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