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

  “I said with him. I might enjoy the activity with someone else.”

  Caroline shook her head. Poor Mr. Banks. “You might enjoy it with him.” Knowing Olivia had no desire to be faithful, let alone a desire to give the gentleman in question a chance before declaring she’d need to seek comfort elsewhere, was disheartening.

  Olivia snorted. “I won’t.”

  “How do you know?” she countered. “Just because he wears spectacles, talks consistently about science, wears his clothes slightly askew, and has been publicly dubbed Arid Alex, doesn’t mean there’s not something you might find enjoyable about him.”

  “There’s not,” Olivia assured her. “Anyway, I can just imagine how awful our first—and only—time will be. ‘Now, hold very still, I’m going to insert my penis,’” she said, imitating a man’s voice.

  Caroline’s eyes went wide. She knew the mechanics of procreation because she liked to be outside and from time to time she’d helped with the animals. But how Olivia had learned such a thing was a mystery she didn’t wish to uncover. “He won’t say that.”

  Olivia rolled her eyes. “It doesn’t really matter.”

  Caroline shook her head. It was probably best not to mention that in England, the law was on the husband’s side with regard to bedroom affairs. It really wasn’t her business what did or didn’t take place in any bedchamber apart from her own.

  She had no idea how Olivia had snared an unsuspecting Mr. Banks into agreeing to marry her, but she had, and the poor gentleman was surely going to suffer for it.

  Actually, how had they become betrothed? Caroline was just about to ask when a commotion sounded down the hall.

  “I wonder who that could be.” Olivia mused in a voice that was so sugary sweet Caroline had to take a second glance.

  Resisting a groan, Caroline shut her eyes and counted to ten. Olivia only spoke in this tone and adopted that ridiculous smile when she was about to play nice for company.

  “Could you gather my stockings, dear?” Olivia asked, trying to sit up straight on the settee.

  Caroline was tempted to pretend she couldn’t remember where she’d tossed them and let whoever was here see Olivia in all her indescribable glory. But then pity for their caller overtook her and Caroline couldn’t bring herself to subject anybody to such a fate. “Just a moment,” she murmured, walking across the room to pick up the stinky stockings. Pinching them between her thumb and forefinger, she brought them to Olivia, and tossed them on the settee next to her. “Here you go. I’ll be right back.”

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Olivia asked with a growl. “I need help with my slippers.”

  Ignoring Olivia’s pout, Caroline stepped away before Olivia could clutch onto her skirt and keep her at her side. “I need to go get Marcus.”

  “Why?” Olivia demanded, still pouting.

  “I glimpsed out the window that our guest is a gentleman. I need to ask Marcus to act as a chaperone.”

  Olivia pursed her lips then gave a single nod.

  Caroline left the room and darted down the hall in the direction of Marcus’ study. Ever since Lady Sinclair died five years ago, Marcus had been forced to act as their impromptu chaperone whenever necessary. Which wasn’t very often. Between Olivia’s beastly attitude and Caroline’s being a poor relation with no society polish, gentleman callers had been rare at best between the two of them.

  Before he died last year, Olivia’s father had successfully pressured his widowed sister-in-law into acting as Olivia’s chaperone for things like house parties and whatnot. But that hadn’t happened very often, either, and never was Caroline included.

  Now that Marcus, Olivia’s brother, had inherited, there still wasn’t anyone to act as a proper chaperone. Marcus had written to all of their female relatives asking them to come stay at Ridge Water, but they’d all found some reason or another to refuse. It didn’t take a great mind to know why. Olivia’s demeanor was truly that awful. As it was, if Caroline and Olivia were to go anywhere, a maid went with them, and on the rare occasion a gentleman came to call, Marcus would join them in the drawing room and brood in the corner.

  Caroline brought her knuckles to the door, gave three quick knocks, and then waited for Marcus to bid her to enter.

  “Marcus?” She opened the door to the darkened study and peeked in.

  “Caroline,” he said flatly.

  Caroline’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, and she searched the room for Marcus. As usual, he was sitting behind his dimly lit desk. “We have a visitor,” she said with a swallow.

  Marcus sighed. He scrubbed his fingers over his heavily scarred face, the outline of his action filtering through the few rays of sunshine streaming in from the break in the curtains behind him. “Who is he?” His voice was tight and held a slight edge.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Could you go find out, please?”

  Caroline nodded. As she left the room she chastised herself for not discovering the identity of the gentleman before going to get Marcus.

  It wasn’t that Marcus was a snob—quite the opposite, actually. But only his family got to see what a sweet, caring person he really was. To the rest of the world, he was either a self-important snob or a laughingstock. It just depended on who one asked, really.

  He’d had an accident twelve years ago, and since then he’d become a recluse who only went into Society when absolutely necessary.

  “Chapman,” Caroline called to the butler. “Who is our guest, and where have you put him?”

  Chapman didn’t even blink at her directness. He’d been working with this family so long he’d long ago stopped questioning their quirks or rudeness. “Mr. Alex Banks. I put him in the library. I thought he’d be more comfortable there.”

  Caroline nodded. She didn’t know much about Mr. Banks, but from what she did know, Chapman was absolutely right. He would definitely be more comfortable in the library. There, or in the conservatory. Or the fields. Or by the pond collecting specimens. Or...or...or... There were so many places he’d rather be than in a drawing room. And to be honest, she quite agreed. She’d rather be any of those other places than in the drawing room, too.

  “All right. And Lady Olivia, is she in there, too?”

  Chapman’s eyes widened. “Gracious, no. I wouldn’t subject anyone to her without at least one other person in the room to act as a bulwark.”

  “Very good,” she assured Chapman before turning to go get Marcus.

  “Who is it?” Marcus asked without ceremony as she opened the door.

  “Alex Banks. Chapman put him in the library. Your sister is still in the drawing room, trying to reattach her slippers if I had to guess.” She waited at the door as Marcus limped over to her side.

  Marcus grumbled something she couldn’t understand, then raised his voice. “Probably for the best she’s occupied at the moment. I have a feeling her presence would be unwanted in my meeting with Alex.”

  Caroline knit her brows. If Olivia and Mr. Banks were engaged, why would her presence be unwanted? Oh well, not for her to worry about.

  Outside the library, Caroline stood with Marcus for a minute. Was her presence unwanted as well, or should she offer to act as hostess for the men?

  As if sensing her discomfort, Marcus said, “You might as well come in with me, Caroline. No sense in subjecting you to Olivia’s company any more than you already have been.”

  “All right.” Caroline smiled slightly. Marcus was a good cousin. He and his sister were complete opposites in so many ways that she’d actually caught herself questioning Olivia’s parentage on more than one occasion. However, when Marcus made a comment about Olivia’s unpleasant personality, it wasn’t to be cruel, but because he was always forthright and painfully blunt. She supposed that was the product of growing up in this family. That, or he’d become that way as a result of his accident. Either way, he meant no real harm in his words.

  Marcus opened the door and let Caroline walk in the room i
n front of him. Caroline’s eyes immediately flew to Mr. Banks sitting by the fire, an open book on his lap.

  “Alex.” Marcus took a seat in a chair that he’d strategically placed in the shadowed corner for times like this.

  “Good to see you, old fellow,” Mr. Banks said uneasily. “I...uh...I.” He swallowed hard and cleared his throat.

  “May I introduce you to Caroline?” Marcus interjected, stretching his legs out and crossing his ankles. “She’s my cousin.”

  Mr. Banks’ bespectacled, brown eyes swung around to land on Caroline. He nodded and blinked a few times. “Nice to meet you,” he murmured, not bothering to stand up.

  Caroline would have taken offense to his lack of greeting—especially since they’d actually been introduced before, which apparently he’d forgotten—if she hadn’t detected his unease. Although, she wasn’t sure if his unease was because she was in the room, or because of his meeting with Marcus, in general.

  “It’s nice to see you again, too.” Caroline took a seat across from him.

  Mr. Banks blinked owlishly at her. “Right. The Society of Biological Matters,” he muttered, twisting his lips.

  Ah, so he did remember her. Good. Though she might feel bad for him for being permanently attached to Olivia for the rest of his natural life, she’d still not forgiven, nor forgotten, the way he’d had her tossed out of the Society of Biological Matters for no real reason four years ago. “Yes, I believe we met there.” She glanced at Marcus to see if he’d get the conversation going.

  Mr. Banks cleared his throat again. “Marcus, I know we’re not really chums these days, but I’ve a favor to ask you.”

  The room grew so quiet after his words that Caroline was almost certain a piece of lint would have been heard, had it fallen to the floor.

  “What kind of favor?” Marcus drawled after watching Mr. Banks shift in his chair for a few moments.

  Mr. Banks nodded once, then dug into his breast pocket and pulled out a bundle of neatly folded papers. “I’m sure you know what I’m holding. But—” he shuffled through the papers until he found the one that he wanted— “I’m not sure if you’ve seen this one.” He stood and walked a piece of paper over to Marcus.

  Marcus grabbed the paper and scanned it while Mr. Banks returned to his seat.

  A minute later, Marcus broke the silence with a chuckle. “Is this what you want, Alex?” He held the paper in the air.

  “Yes, please,” Mr. Banks said with a gulp. “I know there’s no third party signature, but you cannot dispute that your father and mine signed it.”

  “I can see that.” Marcus tapped the piece of paper against his leg. “All right. I’ll acknowledge the addendum, if you wish.”

  “Thank you.” Mr. Banks jumped up and rushed over to shake Marcus’ hand.

  Caroline watched them, completely bewildered. They’d both ignored her presence entirely.

  Mr. Banks took back the paper from Marcus’ hand and turned to walk from the room without so much as a fare-thee-well to either of them.

  “Oh, by the bye, Alex,” Marcus called as Mr. Banks reached the door.

  Mr. Banks spun around. “Yes?”

  “I just thought I’d let you know, I wouldn’t have held you to any of that asinine agreement if you’d only asked.”

  Mr. Banks groaned and shook his head. “Is it too late now?” His brown eyes were full of hope.

  Marcus chuckled. “’Afraid so. You said you’d like to honor the addendum, so that’s what we’ll stick to.”

  Nodding curtly, Mr. Banks muttered, “Thank you, again.”

  “Just think of it as an experiment,” Marcus suggested with a smile.

  “An experiment? I love experiments,” Caroline chirped excitedly before she could think to stop herself.

  Marcus eyed their guest shrewdly. “Say, Alex, why don’t you include Caroline in your endeavor.”

  Caroline practically leapt off the settee. “I’d love to help with your experiment. First, we shall need to write down your question or goal,” she said to no one in particular, running across the room to grab a piece of parchment and a quill. A groan floated to her ears about the time she reached the secretary. She wasn’t sure who the creator of such an irritating response was, and chose to ignore it.

  “I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Mr. Banks protested. Unfortunately for him, his words went virtually unheard as Marcus brooded in the corner, whistling a merry little tune and Caroline scribbled down the scientific process on a piece of parchment.

  “All right, Mr. Banks.” Caroline looked up from her paper with a bright smile. “What’s the point of this experiment?”

  He coughed and his face flushed a bright red.

  “Why don’t you stay for dinner?” Marcus invited jovially. “That way you and Caroline can have more time together.”

  Chapter 3

  Alex could no more say no to Marcus’ invitation than he could break contact with Miss Caroline Sinclair’s sparkling, deep blue eyes.

  “All right,” he said against his better judgment.

  “Excellent.” Marcus reached into his pocket and removed his watch. “Dinner ‘will be served in about an hour and a half. Shall I leave you two alone to discuss this matter?”

  Alex stared at him. Did the man actually intend to leave Alex and Miss Sinclair alone without a chaperone?

  Marcus limped across the room and stopped, turned his head, and winked at Alex. “I’m not worried about leaving her alone with you. I know you won’t do anything with my cousin you wouldn’t do with your own.”

  Care to place a wager on that? Currently the thoughts he was entertaining of him alone with Miss Sinclair were not very cousinly. “Right,” Alex said hoarsely, trying to push inappropriate thoughts of Miss Sinclair from his mind. “We’ll only speak about science, nothing else.”

  Marcus gave him a curious look, then shook his head and departed.

  Alex had no idea what Marcus was about, nor did he care to know. He’d just been granted a reprieve from being forced to marry Lady Olivia. If her brother wanted him to entertain the beautiful Miss Sinclair with talk of science in return, he wasn’t going to argue.

  Taking a seat by the small secretary Miss Sinclair occupied, Alex tried to focus on making up an experiment. He’d understood Marcus’ brilliant suggestion to approach finding a wife like running an experiment, but he couldn’t tell Miss Sinclair that was Marcus’ meaning. He may not know a lot about females, but he knew enough to know it would be best not to mention something like this to her.

  “Your experiment, Mr. Banks?” Miss Sinclair prompted, tapping the end of her quill against her pink lips.

  “Call me Alex,” he murmured, stalling for time.

  “And you may call me Caroline. Now that we have that settled. You can tell me about your experiment, Alex.”

  “I’m trying to recruit people to the Society of Biological Matters,” he blurted before thinking.

  “Might I suggest you open membership up to both sexes?”

  Alex closed his eyes and tried to keep from scowling. “I’m sorry about that,” he said. He drummed his fingers on the arms of the chair for a moment, an idea forming. His fingers stilled with one final thwack. “All right then, Caroline, you are officially a member-contingent.”

  She gasped. “Excuse me?”

  Alex didn’t know whether her response was due to being offended she was a member-contingent or due to actually being considered for membership. He chose to believe the latter. “Absolutely,” he said with a smile.

  She cleared her throat and bored holes into him with her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. “And why am I being considered a member-contingent?”

  His smile slipped. “Well, because I don’t know what you do or don’t know about biological matters.” He idly scratched his chin.

  “I know quite a lot, thank you,” she said stiffly.

  Alex didn’t know what that really meant. His younger sister had attended the best girls’ sc
hool in London and knew not a hint about science. “All right.” He nodded in contemplation. He walked across the library to where the science texts were kept and plucked down a few, then strode back over to her. “Here, study these and you’ll be allowed full membership.”

  “Excuse me?” she repeated, her voice a bit firmer this time.

  Alex put the stack of heavy books down on the edge of the secretary. “All the gentlemen there like to discuss relevant topics in biology, specifically those which appear in a circular titled Prominent and Avant-Garde Horticulture, which long ago was informally nicknamed, by my own father, no less, Popular Plants. The most notable articles from that circular we discuss are written by a fellow named E. S. Wilson. Also, the other gentlemen all have had some sort of study in biology before. It would be best if you knew the basics. Then you can understand the articles we read and contribute to the discussions.”

  She pushed the stack of books off the edge of the secretary, missing his toes by mere inches. “I don’t think so.”

  “I’m sorry, but that’s the way it is,” he said softly. “Everyone must have some basic knowledge of the subject.” As her eyes continued to spear him, he smiled. “Don’t worry, your examination won’t be too hard.”

  “You’re insufferable,” she muttered. “This is the reason your membership is down. You’re so selective about who you allow to join.” She shook her head. “If it’s not because they’re a lady, then it’s because they’ve not had proper schooling. Heaven forbid if they’re a lady who’s not had proper schooling. Then, Mr. Alex Banks, president-extraordinaire, gives them a giant stack of books to read, followed by an examination before they’re allowed to join. Good gracious.”

  Put that way, he’d never been made to feel so ungentlemanly. “Forgive me. I didn’t mean to offend you. I was just trying to make sure you’d be able to contribute without embarrassing yourself by asking elementary questions.”

  “No need to worry,” she said, waving a hand. “I know as much about biology as any of the gentlemen there.”

  “All right,” he said hoarsely. “You may join.”