Tess walked into the middle of the room. "The view is beautiful. It would be nice to have large windows

to take advantage of it."

"We can do that. We can put in window doors. All I need to do is knock down more of the wall. I

thought a terrace like Lady Garland's would be nice here, too, so we can sit and enjoy the lake. I mighteven be able to fish from up here.""I don't want fishing off the terrace," she decreed before pointing to a corner close to the front window.

"My mother's harpsichord would be perfect here. And there is a lovely rug among her things that would look beautiful in this room. I couldn't believe Stella when she wanted to throw it out."

Brenn came up to his wife and put his arms around her waist. "This will be a grand house."

"When do we start work?" she asked eagerly.

"As soon as possible," he said. "Of course, I must wait until I receive certain lines of credit but it shouldn'

t take long."

"Lines of credit?" A frown appeared between her eyes. "I hope it won't take too long. I don't know if Iwill like living in that cottage.""You will. It's very cozy," he promised. Now that he had confessed his secret, his hunger for her was stronger than ever. Her arms came around his neck. He pressed close, his arousal thick and strong between them.

"Once your funds are available," he said huskily, "we can start work on the house."

Tess jerked away slightly. "My funds?" Her voice rose on a touch of panic. "What of your money?"

He hated this question, but steeled himself to give the honest answer. "I used what I had to make the cottage livable and to pay for my trip to London."

She stared at him as if she'd been frozen in time. He could see himself in the pupils of her eyes. "Tess, is something wrong?"

"You're a fortune hunter." He frowned. "No, I have prospects, and all this land." He tried to cuddle her close. "Tess, I have such plans for this place and dreams for our future. I'm already experimenting with a new breed of sheep. I want the wool from Erwynn Keep to be the best in the world." He nuzzled her neck. "With my land and your capital, we will create our own haven."

She pushed against his chest, breaking his hold."Tess, what's wrong?""You need my money."He spread his arms out. "It's important, but it isn't everything.""But you can't rebuild the house without my money."He wished she wasn't making an issue of it. But he wouldn't lie. "That's right."She shook her head. "Brenn, I have no money."

Chapter Fifteen.

Brenn stared at Tess. "You're joking." He even forced a half-laugh.

"I wish I was."

His brows came together in uncertainty. "But you have a fortune. Fifty thousand pounds."

Tess nodded. "Yes, it was a fortune when my father was alive."

"Was?"

"Neil lost it all."Brenn's hands dropped to his side. "All of it?"Tess shook her head, the lump forming in her throat making speech difficult.Almost in a daze, her husband walked toward the windows. He swung around abruptly. "It can't be true!

I was with Mr. Christopher. He's your brother's man of business. He would have told me if somethinghad been amiss in the marriage contract.""I imagine Neil was very careful to ensure everything looked right and proper.""He deceived me-?" Brenn leaned back against the wall. He stared out over the lake in silence.Tess shifted uneasily. "Brenn?" She hated disappointing him this way.He didn't answer.She stood waiting, her hands clasped in front of her.Slowly, he faced her. "It was fifty thousand pounds.""Yes, there about.""How could he lose fifty thousand pounds?"

"He invested it."

"Invested it?" Brenn pushed away from the wall. "In those Italian doc.u.ments. There should still be some money there."

Tess shook her head. "He told me he'd lost it all. He gave it to a man who was a scientist. He'd invented a battery."

"A battery?"

"Yes, it's these plates and wires-""I know what a battery is," he said, interrupting her ruthlessly. "It's a ruse, a charlatan's trick. They toucha dead chicken with a set of wires and the electric current makes the animal's muscles twitch. It's nogreat discovery."

He started prowling the perimeter of the room, moving with the angry grace of a caged panther."Then Neil was the one that was deceived," she said stiffly.He came to a halt. "Do you believe that?""It's what he told me."Brenn's eyes narrowed as if he focused on something only he could see. "No. Hamlin is a fool but not that much of a fool." He switched his gaze to her. "Why didn't he use his own money to finance this

foolishness?""He couldn't. Father felt that Neil didn't have a good head for business. His will made it such that theonly way Neil could spend his own fortune is with Mr. Christopher's approval and he never approved anything. I've heard Neil and Stella complain about him often."

"I imagine they did," Brenn said dryly. "Tell me, Tess, did Mr. Christopher think it a good idea that Stella buy a houseful of furniture?"

"No. He refused to let them do it. Stella had a terrible tantrum over it."

"But they went ahead and made the purchases?"

"Yes, but I don't see what it has...to...do..." Her voice trailed off, a horrid suspicion rising. She

rejected it with a shake of her head. "Neil wouldn't have taken my money to purchase the furniture that

Stella wanted."

Brenn crossed his arms. "The money came from somewhere, didn't it? Where else could he have gotten money? Gambling?"

Tess went very still. Deep inside her, a coldness began building. "Neil is a terrible player."

"Stella gambled too. Sir Charles mentioned that she had a fondness for gambling and expensive baubles."

Crossing her arms, Tess admitted, "Stella loves jewelry but that doesn't mean-" She stopped, unwilling

to speak her suspicions aloud.

Brenn didn't share that reluctance. "They were spending your money." He gave a mirthless laugh. He

ticked off on his fingers. "The furniture, the gambling, and how about that horse? I hear he paid a fortune for it and it turned out to be a nag. Would Mr. Christopher have authorized that expenditure?"

Tess gave him her back, unwilling to answer. The wind had picked up. The ominous gray clouds hung

heavy in the sky. "If Neil did what we-you think he did, then I'm sure it is because Stella drove him toit. That woman is impossible.""I agree," Brenn said bitterly. "Neil isn't the only man to have been ruined by a woman."Something in his tone of voice made her turn. "What do you mean by that?" she asked levelly.Their gazes met and she read all too clearly the recriminations. He blamed her for her brother's actions."I didn't know."

"Yes, you did, Tess. You were the one who told me the investments were worthless.""I didn't know about his taking my money." She drew shaky breath. "I thought he'd lost the money onthose investments. I never dreamed he might be borrowing it to pay for Stella's extravagances. You mustbelieve that."

"Oh, I do." He crossed to the front door and placed his hands on his hips. "If I had Neil Hamlin hereright now, I'd throttle him with my bare hands.""He's my brother," Tess protested weakly.

"Your brother is a thief."

"It was Stella. It had to be Stella. Besides, you are making too much of this. The way you are carrying on, one would think you only married me for my money."

"I did."

Tess reeled back from his answer.

"I didn't have a choice, Tess. You can't have thought we were a love match. We were contracted to be married in less than twenty-four hours after meeting."

"But you...wanted me." Her voice didn't sound like her own.

His expression took on the hardness of disappointment. "But I had come to London for a rich wife. I would not have married you if I had known your coffers were empty. Nor would I have subjected a wife to this if I had not thought we could begin to rebuild the house immediately. We're ruined, Tess. Between the two of us, we have two hundred pounds."

Tess felt as if the walls of the house were crumbling around her. She staggered to one of the empty windows. Her knees practically buckling beneath her, she sank down to sit on the window edge. The lake was growing choppy. Its waters lapped against the crag of land.

For long moments, neither spoke.

She was the first to break the silence. "Do you remember telling me that if I fell you would pick me up? You also mentioned several times that together we could do anything." She looked up at him. "Together."

He made an impatient noise.

She stood. "Brenn, it couldn't have been an accident that the two of us met that night. No, we were meant to meet and to marry and to build this house," she said, a wave of her hand encompa.s.sing the empty sh.e.l.l around them.

"Tess, there are no fairies. If no one has told you that, let me be the first. Worse, I believe Maria Edgeworth has gone to your head." He paused a moment, his hands on his hips. "We were a business arrangement, Tess. And we fit well together in bed and we managed to be companionable-"

"Oh, no! We are much more than just companionable!"

"What would you know?" he said. "You were so afraid of letting a man close, you didn't have any idea."

"Afraid?" Tess's pride welled up. "I was never afraid. I told you I loved you and I meant it. I have never met a man who wanted to know what I thought or what I felt. I believed you were different." Suddenly, she saw the truth. It was like blinders coming off her eyes. "You wanted me to believe you were different, didn't you? It was all part of your plan to snare a rich wife."

He took a step toward her. "That wasn't it. Not even that first night. Not out on the terrace-"

"Don't say another word." She backed away, raising a warning hand. And then suddenly it was too much. The hurt, the betrayal, the sadness. She turned on her heel and ran.

"Tess!" he called, as if ordering her back. Well, she wouldn't listen. She didn't have to listen. Not anymore. Not since he didn't love her.

Her kid slippers made no sound as she raced across the stone floor. She almost tripped over a clump of gra.s.s. Miles was back from his chase. He made a purring noise for attention as she stumbled down the front steps but she ignored him.

Brenn came out on the step behind her. "What are you going to do, Tess?" he called. "Return to London? Return to your faithless brother?"

She didn't answer but she did slow her step, walking toward the coaches waiting by the barn.

What was she going to do?

He was wrong about her returning to London. She couldn't. Then everyone would know the truth and she would be laughed at. The high-and-mighty Miss Hamlin had fallen. There would be many a match-making mama and her daughter who would dance to hear that news!

She wouldn't give them the satisfaction.

But how could she stay here?

Not only did Brenn not love her, he was nothing more than a common fortune hunter. She curled her lip

at the thought. Her father had been right. They were the worst breed of male.