Free The Bride Says No by Cathy Maxwell Page B

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Chapter Six
    A ileen was now more convinced than ever that Tara would be making the gravest mistake of her life if she married Mr. Stephens.
    He didn’t care for Tara, just as Geoff had not cared for her. If it was within her power to stop this marriage, she would.
    And how dare he challenge her? He thought he was so quick, but she saw through him. He didn’t value Tara, not in the way she should be cherished.
    Right now, Tara was emotional, afraid. This talk about love had confused her. That is why she needed Aileen’s support. The brain was a far better barometer of the future than something as fickle as a heart.
    Filled with a new determination, Aileen set off to find Tara. She assumed her sister was with their father. However, an inquiry of Ingold revealed the earl was in the kitchen. He did not know where Lady Tara was.
    Assuming Tara had to be with the earl, Aileen marched down the stairs to the kitchen. Fortunately, she had the good sense to wait on the stairs a moment before charging into the room. Listening carefully, she realized that the earl was in the process of eating Cook’s pork pies by the handful and washing them down with copious amounts of cider. Cook was giggling with glee over his effusive praise of her “good Scottish cooking” while she assured him they were all pleased to have him home.
    “So much for planning a wedding,” Aileen muttered under her breath, quietly backing up the stairs. She continued her search.
    But Tara was nowhere to be found. Aileen even walked to the stables.
    And Aileen began to worry.
    Her sister was not acting herself—first running away, then changing her mind this way and that about the marriage. Who knew what she was about now?
    Eventually, Aileen looked where she should have started—Tara’s bedroom. Her sister was there. Through the closed door, Aileen heard her crying, low, muffled sobs, as if her heart was breaking.
    Aileen knocked.
    The crying stopped.
    “Tara, please, we must talk.”
    There was no answer.
    Aileen leaned toward the door. “Please, Tara, let me in. I can help.” She wanted to help.
    She waited, expecting the door to open.
    It didn’t, nor did Tara say a word . . . and Aileen felt slighted. Her goal wasn’t to make Tara feel worse. They were sisters, and she had Tara’s best interests in her heart—
    A door did open, but not the one she had anticipated.
    No, the door that opened was to Mr. Stephens’s room only two doors down the hall, and the man himself poked his head out. He had removed his coat and waist coat, and his neck cloth was undone.
    Aileen was a bit startled to see him that way, as well as embarrassed to think he might have overheard her pleading.
    “Is something the matter?” he asked.
    “No, nothing,” Aileen said, a trifle too quickly. “I have a message for my sister.”
    “Warning her away from me?” he suggested.
    “Of course not,” she lied.
    At that moment, Tara blew her nose in the most unbecoming manner. Not even Annefield’s strong doors or thick walls could hide the sound. She’d never been an attractive crier. Even when she was a child, the whole household always knew when she was distressed. She chased her nose blowing with hiccupping sobs.
    Mr. Stephens’s brows rose to his hairline even as he tried to stifle a laugh.
    A dimple . He had a deep one in his left cheek. Its appearance surprised Aileen, because, well, she didn’t want to notice charming little quirks about him. She wanted him gone, out of their lives.
    And he knew it, just as he believed there was nothing she could do about his presence. He nodded toward Tara’s door. “Is she reacting to your warning? Or had you warned her yet?”
    Hundreds of years of Scottish pride surged through Aileen’s soul. “Are you mocking us, Mr. Stephens?”
    He shook his head at the stiffness in her tone, as if he found it amusing. “Why would I ever think of mocking you, Lady Aileen?”
    “For the same reason you feel it is safe to