Married in Haste (34 page)

Authors: Cathy Maxwell

Tags: #Fiction, #Romance, #Historical, #General

She was almost afraid to look and when she did, her knees wanted to buckle she was so relieved. Brenn hadn’t shot Godwin.

Although he’d come close.

The man raised his hand to the top of his hair and gingerly felt the ends.

“I parted it for you,” Brenn said. “Now, shall I reload or will you return to London without a word of this to anyone?”

Godwin slowly rose to his feet. “A word about what?” he asked in a shaky voice.

Brenn lowered the pistol. “Tess, should we worry that he has printed a story exposing your brother?”

“I can print a retraction,” Godwin offered.

“That would be so kind,” Tess said. “Neil is guilty of doing as you charged, but he is still my brother.”

“I’m certain I made a mistake in writing the story,” Godwin agreed, one watchful eye on the pistol Brenn still held.

“Nor will you ever mention my wife in one of your papers.”

“Of course not,” Godwin said.

“I’m glad we understand each other,” Brenn said reasonably. “I’ll clean this and put it away.” He started to move back to the pistol case when he noticed Tess’s copybook.

He paused. “You are a publisher of books, are you not, Godwin?”

“Yes,” Godwin replied, still shaken.

“Perhaps you can do another favor for us.”

“Oh, anything.” Godwin sat in the rocker.

Brenn picked up the copybook. “Lady Merton has written a book, a fine book about Welsh customs and tales. You should publish it.”

Tess spoke up. “No, Brenn. I will not allow a man like Deland Godwin to publish my work.” Especially since he had disparaged it earlier.

“Very well.” Brenn set the book back on the table. “Now, if you will excuse me, I must return to the stables. It was a pleasure to see you again, Godwin.”

“Likewise,” the man answered faintly.

Brenn left the room, tucking the pistols in their case under his arm. The villagers followed.

Banon lingered by the door. “Should I not have gone running for him, my lady?”

Tess looked at the pale-faced publisher holding his head in his hand and the hole in the cottage wall where the bullet had embedded itself. “You did exactly the right thing.”

Godwin looked up. “I thought you said your husband would not overreact.”

“He didn’t,” Tess answered. She then asked in her best London hostess voice, “May I offer you a cup of tea?”

Godwin refused. He left shortly after that, mumbling to himself about bloodthirsty Welshmen and arrogant aristocrats. Tess watched him mount and until he rode around the bend and out of sight.

Brenn came out of the barn to stand beside her.

“I was a bit heavy-handed,” he admitted.

“A touch.” She shrugged. “You know that he may not honor his promises.”

“Then I’ll have to shoot him for real,” Brenn said lightly, and they both laughed because they realized that nothing Godwin could say would hurt them.

For them, their world was right here, created out of hard work, clever planning, and love.

“I have something to show you,” Brenn said. He took her hand and pulled her toward the house.

“I have something to tell you,” Tess said.

“No, mine first,” Brenn said. “I’ve been keeping this secret for almost too long. They’ve finished and I can’t contain myself a moment more.”

He led her up the steps of the house. “Close your eyes.”

She did as he asked.

Taking her by both arms, he guided her up the front step and into the hall. “Open them,” he whispered in her ear.

Tess did and then drew back with a gasp of wonder. There, inlaid into the unfinished wooden floor, was a pattern of dandelion leaves stained a darker color. The leaves connected into a huge circle in the middle of the room.

“It’s the fairy ring!” Tess tilted back her head and laughed. “It is the most marvelous thing about the house.”

“I knew you would like it. I’ve been working on it for weeks. You’ve been too busy writing to notice.”

She stepped into the center of the ring. “It’s the best gift I’ve ever received, especially after you hear my news.”

“What is it?”

“We’re having a baby.”

Brenn almost fell over. “Tess? Did you say what I thought you did?”

“Ummm hmmm.”

“A baby?” he repeated incredulously, as if he still couldn’t believe the good news.

Tess turned in a circle inside the ring. “I think he may have been conceived the night we made love right here.”

“He?” Brenn’s face broke out into a huge grin. “A boy, Tess?”

“Or a she. It will be one or the other, won’t it?” she teased.

He moved then. With a big whoop of joy, he swooped her up in his arms and twirled her around until they were both giddy with happiness.

“We’ll name him John, after my father,” Brenn announced, his arm proudly draped around her shoulders.

“Why not Harold after my father?”

“It’ll be a girl,” Brenn continued, as if she hadn’t spoken.

“Then we will name her Ariana.”

“Why Ariana?”

“Because it means silver,” she said with a sly smile.

Brenn laughed. “I like it, too.” Then he turned serious. “I love you, Tess.”

“I love you, Brenn.”

They kissed, right there in the middle of the fairy ring…and it was wonderful.

Epilogue

The baby was born healthy and strong a week before Easter. It was a boy, just as Tess had anticipated.

She and Brenn did not name him after either of their fathers. Instead, they chose a name that would be uniquely his own, and indicative of their great love. They called him Drake, the Old English word for dragon.

Erwynn Keep thrived, and Tess sold her first book to a modest Liverpool publisher sometime after their third child was born. Brenn did the illustrations and nothing much had been expected to come of it.

Nothing would have, if someone hadn’t given the book to the daughter of the duke of Kent. The young Victoria adored Tess’s stories of fairies and dragons and they became a resounding success.

When Victoria herself was crowned queen of England and became a mother, she insisted on copies of the books for each of her children. Fashionable mothers followed suit and Tess’s books became classics.

Years later, when a reporter asked Queen Vic toria about her favorite reading material, she included Tess’s fairy books.

Asked why, she answered, “They are love stories. And each has a happy ending.”

And so they did.

About the Author

CATHY MAXWELL spends hours in front of her computer pondering the question “Why do people fall in love?”—which remains for her the great mystery of life and the secret to happiness.

She lives in beautiful Virginia with children, horses, dogs, cats and a husband who drives her crazy in all the best ways.

Fans can contact Cathy at www.booktalk.com/cmaxwell or PO box 1532, Midlothian, VA 23113.

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

Books by

Cathy Maxwell

TEMPTATION OF A PROPER GOVERNESS

THE SEDUCTION OF AN ENGLISH LADY

ADVENTURES OF A SCOTTISH HEIRESS

THE WEDDING WAGER

THE LADY IS TEMPTED

THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT

A SCANDALOUS MARRIAGE

MARRIED IN HASTE

BECAUSE OF YOU

WHEN DREAMS COME TRUE

FALLING IN LOVE AGAIN

YOU AND NO OTHER

TREASURED VOWS

ALL THINGS BEAUTIFUL

Copyright

This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

MARRIED IN HASTE. Copyright © 2006 by Cathy Maxwell. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Microsoft Reader November 2006 ISBN 0-06-121209-1

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