Married in Haste by Cathy Maxwell Page B

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.

    Father said I had to take care of you and I feared I would break down and you’d see how frightened I was. Then Father would have been disappointed in me.”
    “But you were brave. Father said you were very strong. I remember that, Neil.”
    “You held my hand, Tess, just like you are now. And you asked me, ‘Will Mother be all right?’ and I said yes.” He ran his thumb back and forth across her hand. “That memory haunts me. I lied to you. I lied.”
    He raised his gaze to meet hers and she could see in the depths of his eyes that he carried a terrible burden. “Neil, what is it?” she demanded, truly alarmed.
    “I have something to tell you, something I regret.” He paused. “I’ve lost your fortune, Tess. All of it.”
    She laughed, certain he had to be joking. But he didn’t join in her laughter and suddenly, in the cold pit of her stomach, she knew he was telling her the truth.
    She pulled her hand back. “I don’t understand, Neil. How could you lose my fortune? It doesn’t make sense.”
    He pushed up from the desk and began pacing nervously. “I made some unwise investments. I didn’t do it on purpose. I thought I knew what I was doing.”
    “What investments?”
    “A man came to me with an idea for some new mechanics.” Neil sat on the edge of the bed. “A battery.
    It’s a stack of copper and zinc plates. It gives off electrical current.”
    Now Tess knew her brother wasn’t joking. He’d always been fascinated by mechanics.
    “It was the most amazing experiment I had ever witnessed, Tess. Revolutionary even. He could make this dead chicken move with this battery. Imagine the possibilities, Tess! He could make dead material move.
    But he needed money to do more experiments. Of course, my money is entailed and Father’s will makes it so that I must always turn to Mr. Christopher for permission. It’s such a nuisance because Christopher is completely unyielding to my requests for more cash. Stella is expensive and Town living has its demands.” He stopped his