Her Sudden Groom (Groom Series, BOOK 1) Read online

  Caroline smiled. “I can only imagine what you two boys had in that room.”

  He shook his head. “I bet you can’t.”

  “You’re probably right,” she agreed, watching as he untied the last tie. “So are you trying to say that shed is a blivet, Mr. Banks?”

  “No,” he said earnestly. “Nor is it a blivet and a half. It’s two.”

  She burst into laughter. “I tried to spare you.”

  “I know. But it didn’t matter in the end. I still had to come in to rescue you.” He smiled at her in a way that made her heart double its pace. “Now, are you going to uncover this thing or what?”

  She proudly walked up to her telescope, grabbed the top of the drape, and pulled it off, letting the cloth fall to the ground beside them.

  “I know Marcus was never interested in astronomy,” Alex commented, running his fingers along the side of the scope tube that was facing him. “Every once in a while he’d come ask me to show him a constellation or planet. Knowing that, and assuming he did not suddenly develop an astronomical interest since school, it begs the question of how Ridge Water ended up with a telescope that lives in a shed.”

  “It belonged to my mother,” Caroline said proudly, beaming at him. “She used to like to stargaze. She even took me with her sometimes. When she died, my uncle bought the telescope from my father and kept it here for me to use.” She shrugged. There was no sense in telling any more of the story. He could think what he wished.

  “Well, it’s a nice scope.” He bent to peer through the eyepiece.

  Nodding, Caroline didn’t bother to wait to hear his expert opinion on the magnification of the eyepiece. She went straight to the end so she could clean the lens of any smudges that might block her view when she tried to see the stars tonight. She pulled the hem of her sleeve down with her fingers and gasped. The blood rushed from her face and her heart hammered out of control, and all she could do was helplessly stare at the hundreds of shards of glass that made up the shattered lens. Refusing to believe what she was seeing, she numbly reached her trembling index finger forward and nearly screamed with horror as her finger confirmed her brain’s assessment of the state of the lens.

  “I’m sorry,” Alex said solemnly as Caroline backed away, still staring motionlessly at the destroyed telescope. “I should have been more careful with it when I was bringing it out.”

  She shook her head. “You’re a terrible liar, Alex. We both know what happened. Olivia always does things like this to me. She’s the reason it was in the back corner of the shed to start with. I used it only two weeks ago. It should have been in the front. She ordered it sent to the back.” Her voice was cracked and she made herself to stop talking and look away before the tears fell from her eyes.

  “That doesn’t mean...”

  “Yes, it does.” She swallowed convulsively. “She must have broken it herself, though. None of the servants would have ever done such a thing, even if she ordered them to.”

  Alex came up to stand in front of her and wrapped his surprisingly thick arms around her trembling body, pulling her against his chest. “Shhh, Caro,” he crooned softly in her ear. “It’ll be all right.” He used the pad of his thumb to wipe away a tear that had slipped out the side of her eye.

  Her body shook with sobs, and he held her close. She inwardly commanded herself to stop crying, but it was useless, her tears continued to pour, creating a large, warm stain on the front of Alex’s shirt.

  “I’m sorry she did that.” His voice was soft and quiet. “And I know this won’t fix anything, but I know of someone who has a telescope you can borrow tonight. You may not be as familiar with it as your own, but I assure you, you’ll be able to see the stars all the same.”

  She shook her head the best she could against his hard chest. “I can’t borrow someone’s telescope on such short notice. It would be rude to even ask,” she whispered. She drew in a ragged, shaky breath. “Besides, they may not even be willing to lend it to me.”

  “Yes, they would. They’d let you use it on a moment’s notice, I promise.” One of his big hands slowly caressed up and down her spine. “It’s not portable like yours, I’m afraid, so you’ll have to go somewhere else to use it. Will that be all right?”

  She wiped the tears from her cheeks and bit her lip, embarrassed she’d shown such a display in front of him. She was accustomed to Olivia doing such things to her. This was nothing new. Years ago, she’d entertained thoughts of seeking revenge on Olivia for the dastardly things she’d done, but the two times she’d ever gone through with her plans it hadn’t had the desired effect. Olivia just plain didn’t care. Knowing Olivia would never stop doing these things hadn’t eased the pain though. And now she was making a fool of herself by letting it show just how much Olivia could hurt her. “There’s no need,” she said, smiling weakly. “As you said earlier, I don’t need a telescope to see the lunar eclipse.”

  “I know. But you wanted to look at the constellations, did you not?”

  She nodded. “I did. But now it looks like I’ll have to do that without a telescope, too.” If there was one thing Caroline was, it was resilient. She’d had to develop resiliency to survive Olivia’s maltreatment of her so long.

  He frowned down at her. “Are you saying you wouldn’t like to use the finest telescope ever built to look at the stars tonight?”

  She laughed. “It’s not that. I would love to,” she admitted. “But I don’t think Marcus would like me to go off to some stranger’s house and use his telescope.”

  “Ah, I see,” Alex said slowly, nodding. He rolled his eyes upward toward the sky. “And what if this wasn’t a stranger’s house you were going to? Would that be all right?”

  “I don’t know.” She used the tip of her right index finger to wipe beneath her eyes before returning her hand to Alex’s broad shoulder.

  He pulled her closer. “If I can get Marcus’ approval, would you be willing to go?”

  “Go where?” a shrill voice asked, making Caroline’s body stiffen up like a fire poker.

  “Lady Olivia,” Alex said sharply.

  “Mr. Banks, Caroline,” Olivia said archly. “I strongly advise you to get your thrice-mended gloves off my betrothed, Caroline.”

  Caroline flushed. Alex still had his arms around her, and her head was resting on his chest with her hands braced on his wide shoulders. “I...uh...”

  “Don’t bother, Caroline,” Olivia snapped, her green, squinty eyes full of fury. “Release him now, and do not even think of touching him again. I’ll not be made a fool by having it spouted my husband is carrying on an affair with my whore of a cousin.”

  Stung, Caroline’s mouth worked fruitlessly to form an answer.

  “Have no fear, Lady Olivia,” Alex began in a hard voice Caroline had never heard him use before. “Such rumors will never be spoken. I’ll not be having an affair with my bride’s cousin. My affections will be solely for my wife. Which, contrary to what you may believe, will not be you.”

  Olivia sucked in a hard breath and her hand slapped her bosom so hard the noise made Caroline wince. “I’ll sue you for breach of contract!”

  “Try it,” he said with a simple shrug. “You’ll lose.”

  Olivia gritted her teeth and pulled her lips back into snarl. Her gaze dropped to Caroline’s telescope and a smile so sweet it made Caroline’s stomach clench spread across her face. “I see you found the surprise I left for you.”

  “I did.” Caroline’s body went numb all over again. “I’d say you should expect to find a similar surprise soon, but since I consider myself to be above such tasteless tactics, you won’t.”

  Frowning, Olivia shook her head. “You’re no fun.”

  Alex’s went rigid, his eyes hard. “You think it’s fun to destroy other people’s things?”

  “Yes. It’s a game we play.” Olivia blinked her eyelashes at him in a way Caroline had once seen a woman of ill-repute do to a gentleman she was talking to on the street.

>   “I see,” Alex cut in smoothly. “And what of yours did you have in mind for Caroline to destroy?”

  Olivia shrugged as if she didn’t have a care in the world. “I honestly don’t give a fig what she does,” she answered airily.

  He ground his teeth. “All right. I think I understand it all better now. Your dislike for Caroline is so fierce you wouldn’t care what she did to you as long as you hurt her more.”

  “Something like that,” Olivia said, nodding and smiling. “We understand each other very well, Mr. Banks.”

  “We don’t understand each other at all,” he spat. “The only reason I understood your true motive is because I know Caroline well enough to know she has a lot for you to be jealous of.”

  “Of her!” Olivia shrieked. “Never. She’s not even a lady.”

  “She’s more of a lady than you’ll ever be.” Alex’s voice remained even and cool as he spoke. “You might outrank her with your courtesy title of Lady right now, but I’d be willing to bet every piece of science equipment I own that one day Caroline will have a real title—one that she’ll gain from her husband.”

  A low whistle sounded from around the corner of the shed. “Now, that’s quite a wager, ladies,” Marcus said, limping over to them. “I’ve never known Alex to depart with even the smallest, most insignificant piece of his equipment.” He looked at each of the three. “And to be honest, I’d never bet against him.”

  Alex and Marcus exchanged a glance Caroline couldn’t see. “No, I don’t depart easily with anything that’s mine. Consequently, I’d like to depart company with your sister, post haste.”

  Marcus gave a curt nod in Alex’s direction. “That can be arranged. Olivia, I need to speak to you in my study about the drawer full of purple cravats I was greeted by this morning when I went to dress.”

  Olivia cackled. “Oh, that was Emma.”

  “No, it wasn’t.” Marcus clamped his jaw tight and grasped hold of Olivia’s elbow. “She’d never do such a thing. You, however, would. I’ve told you before what will happen if you keep...” His words continued to flow, but just not to Caroline’s ears as the two of them walked away.

  Caroline sighed. She truly pitied Marcus. What could a gentleman in his position do with a problem such as Olivia? Send her away, she supposed. But Marcus was too tenderhearted to subject all the poor, unsuspecting souls living at the asylum to Olivia and her dreadfulness.

  “You never answered me,” Alex said abruptly, squeezing her affectionately. All the tenderness from earlier filled his voice once again.

  She blinked. “About what?”

  “Using the finest telescope in England to stargaze with tonight,” he said, grinning. “If I can talk Marcus into it, that is.”

  It took her less than two seconds to weigh her options of spending the night here with a very irate Olivia, or being anywhere else, looking at the stars through what Alex claimed to be the best telescope in the country. “I’d love to,” she said.

  “Excellent. How about if I come back by and pick you up at seven?”

  She nodded. “Wait a second, Alex. I forgot to ask. Whose estate am I going to, and whose telescope am I borrowing?” It was nice he was arranging this for her, but she still needed to know where she was going and whose generosity she was imposing on.

  He took her hand in his and led her toward the house. “You have to ask?”

  “Yes,” she said, knitting her brows.

  He shook his head. “And here I thought my reputation preceded me,” he mumbled under his breath. “Darling Caro, you will be spending the night at my family’s estate, and we will be using my scope.”

  Chapter 10

  With a stroke of luck, a bit of convincing, and perhaps a few evasive sentences that might be considered misleading, Alex gained Marcus’ approval for Caroline to come stargazing at his estate. He had only a second’s worth of guilt about purposefully withholding information from Marcus. While it was true his mother would be there, she just wouldn’t be there. Instead of chaperoning Alex and Caroline, she’d be sleeping soundly in her bed, blissfully unaware the two were together.

  After making a quick stop on his way, Alex rode home to get ready for Caroline’s visit tonight. First, he wanted to go over his notes regarding his experiment. After that, he’d get the gazebo that housed the telescope ready.

  He dropped his tall frame into a leather wingback chair behind his desk in the library. To his right was a drawer where he kept the notes to his unfinished experiments. He slid it open and reached to the bottom of the stack. Locating the paper he was looking for, he pulled it out and set it on his desk.

  He grabbed a quill, inked it, and got poised to update his experiment notes wherever necessary as his eyes scanned the paper:

  OBJECTIVE(S): Avoid marriage to Lady Olivia at all costs, including, but not limited to, finding a tart from Lady Bird’s brothel at the last minute if necessary. Marry Caroline instead(?). If able to fulfill latter objective, marriage to Caroline, that will fulfill objective listed above without requiring a soiled dove.

  HYPOTHESIS: Marriage to Caroline.

  RESEARCH: Attached are three case studies of hasty marriages. The basis of the studies was: remarkable admiration and affection were poured out upon the young ladies. Thus, close contact, praises, and affectionate touching are required for a hasty marriage.

  EXPERIMENT: Ideas to win Caroline’s hand:

  Affectionate touching (continual).

  Bring her to Watson Estate to meet family and become familiar with estate. Done.

  Impress her with chess skills.

  Shower her with compliments (continual).

  Tell her something you wouldn’t particularly want anyone else to know. Done. (Pall mall took care of that.)

  Sneak her off alone whenever possible. Done—almost anyway, stargazing alone together will count.

  One grand gesture to be followed by marriage proposal.

  CONCLUSION (currently unresolved, this is hopeful conclusion only): Marry Caroline.

  He sighed and put down his quill. He hated having to do things this way. Caroline seemed to be such a nice young lady. Unfortunately, he couldn’t read her any better than he could read Japanese. If she’d give him even a little hint she was interested in him for something other than his telescope or to discuss the damned membership of his Society, he’d be eternally grateful. But that wasn’t the case. As it was, he didn’t know where he stood with her. She used a lot of facial expressions when she spoke, he just didn’t know exactly what they meant.

  In desperation and for no other reason than his love for science and experiments, he’d gone through with Marcus’ suggestion and had literally written out his courtship as if it were a common experiment. First, he’d written the objective. Then he’d racked his brain to think of anyone of his acquaintance he’d witnessed have a quick wedding and written down what he could remember of their courtship. From there, he had made a list of what he could do to win her and prayed it would be enough.

  Today he’d set up the framework for his grand gesture, and by the end of the week, he hoped to have her agreement to marry him. He didn’t have much time beyond that. His birthday was a little over three weeks away and he not only needed to gain her agreement to the marriage, but he also needed her to agree to a quick wedding. He ran his hand through his hair in aggravation. This had all the workings for another experiment. He scowled and pushed that thought from his head before it could take root. If she didn’t agree to a quick wedding, he’d have to take drastic measures, which either involved another experiment or abducting her and dragging her to Gretna Green.

  He snatched the paper off the desk, then yanked open the drawer to bury it again. There was no two ways about it, he’d have to talk her into a quick wedding. He wouldn’t seriously consider abducting her and he absolutely wasn’t doing another “experiment”. One was bad enough.

  He shot to his feet, grabbed a few of his favorite astronomy volumes, then went to his gazebo to get
ready for her visit.

  The day dragged by, and when he could finally wait no longer, he left to get Caroline.

  “Mr. Banks,” Marcus’ butler, Chapman, intoned when he greeted Alex at the door. “Lord Sinclair would like a word with you, sir.”

  Alex frowned. “Very well. In his study, I presume.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Alex walked down the hall impatiently, hoping Marcus hadn’t changed his mind. “You wanted to see me?”

  Marcus was sitting behind his desk. There was only one candlestick burning, giving off just enough light for Marcus to see his work. “Yes, I did, Alex. You’re actually later than I expected.”

  “I had a lot to do this afternoon,” Alex said inanely, glancing at the clock on the mantle to confirm he was only thirty minutes early for the time he’d told Caroline.

  “Yes, well, you occupied yourself longer than I’d thought you might.”

  Alex stared unblinkingly at his friend. What was that supposed to mean? Was he supposed to be here earlier? Or did Marcus think Alex was a slobbering suitor who could do nothing but paw at Caroline’s skirts all day?

  “I meant no offense, Alex,” Marcus said, putting his quill down. “I just wanted to talk to you before you left.”

  Alex sat in an empty chair. “Have you changed your mind?”

  “No. She may go. I wanted to ask a favor of you.” Marcus shifted in his seat. “We both know the events of this evening are highly unusual. Generally speaking, nobody in his right mind would allow such an outing. But I think I know you well enough to know you’d not do anything with her you shouldn’t.” He glanced away and the edges of his scarred face turned an unusual shade of pink. “The crux of it is, Alex, I know you have no plans to shame her, but anyone else who might learn of this might not. Caroline doesn’t have a suitable chaperone to accompany her in her travels tonight. Normally her maid goes with her, but tonight she can’t. She has to stay and help Olivia bathe or some other such nonsense.” He exhaled and flicked a glance out the window. “Just promise me if someone finds the two of you, you’ll take her immediately to Gretna Green.”