Her Sudden Groom (22 page)

Just then the butler came into the room and announced luncheon.

Andrew and Brooke walked out first, leading the way. Following them was Paul and Liberty. Liberty stopped a moment and handed Michael, her two month old son, to Nurse.

“
Caroline, may I have a minute with you?” Madison said before Alex could walk her out the door.

“
Of course.” Caroline glanced at Alex with an unreadable look.

He smiled, hoping to reassure her. “We’ll wait in the hall,” he said to no one in particular as he and Benjamin walked to the hall.

“
Do you think you’ll marry her?” Benjamin asked when it was clear the ladies weren’t right behind them.

“
I plan to,” Alex admitted.

The duke nodded. “She seems nice. A bit shy, but nice.”

“
Wouldn’t you be?” Alex countered in Caroline’s defense. “She’s never met anyone here before and she has that awful brand of her cousin to overcome.”

“
I know,” Benjamin allowed.

A moment of silence passed. “What do you suppose they’re talking about in there?” Alex asked.

The duke shrugged. “I have no idea. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from having a wife, it’s one can never truly know what to expect.”

Alex eyed him quizzically. What on earth was the man talking about?

Benjamin shrugged again. “Just wait. You’ll know what I’m talking about soon enough.”

Alex shook his head. For as long as he’d known the duke, the man had always gone out of his way to speak cryptically, not to mention, he was almost always concocting some ridiculous scheme. Best to just nod in agreement and hope the ladies came out soon.

“
They actually waited,” Caroline said, emerging from the room a few minutes later.

“
Of course we did,” the duke said jovially. He offered his arm to his wife. “Duchess?”

Madison took his arm and they walked down the hall, Alex and Caroline tagging behind.

Walking into the dining room with Caroline perched on his arm, Alex had never been so close to bursting with pride.

“
Did you four get lost?” Andrew asked, looking up from the paper he held in his hand.

“
No,” Alex countered, noting his aunt and uncle had joined them now. “We just prefer our own company to yours.”

“
And I can see why,” Uncle John said, glancing at Caroline.

“
Caroline, this is my Uncle John and his wife Carolina,” he said, gesturing to his aunt and uncle.

“
Did you both just arrive?” Caroline asked, smiling.

Uncle John smiled broadly. “No. We were visiting Nathan.”

“
Nathan?” she echoed.

“
The grandson we don’t have to fight to hold,” Aunt Carolina explained, squinting her eyes in Paul and Liberty’s direction.

“
We let you hold him,” Liberty countered.

Uncle John snorted. “Yes, you do. As soon as a foul odor starts emanating from the region of his waist.”

Paul shrugged. “Are you complaining?”

“
No,” Aunt Carolina put in hastily.

“
And here I thought Alex and Caroline were the most intelligent two in the room,” the duke remarked.

Paul smiled. “Academically speaking, they probably are. Well, except for one academic.” He glanced down to his wife. “There’s one academic I’d say Liberty has them beat at.”

“
Paul, if you’d like to ride home
inside
the carriage this afternoon, I’d suggest you stop talking right now,” his wife said, pretending to scowl at him.

Her husband laughed and ran his hand over her shoulders.

Taking their seats to eat, several conversations started at once. Alex, however, was not part of any of them. Instead, he was content to shamelessly stare at the beautiful lady who sat next to him.

“
Alex, after we eat do you think we could discuss our project?” Caroline asked between bites of roasted chicken.

He wanted to groan. “No.”

“
But you promised,” she protested. “The day I came to your estate, you said we’d talk for a half an hour about it. We never did.”

“
I know. I’m sorry,” he said. “Another time.”

She frowned. “Why not today? After we eat we’ll just go find a private place for a half an hour.”

“
No.” He shook his head. “If we disappear for half an hour someone will suspect something improper is happening.”

She almost choked on her food. “No, they won’t.”

“
Yes, they will. You do realize three of the four married couples in this room married due to some scandal related to an inappropriate situation.”

Her brows drew together. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. But we’ll go find a quiet place after we eat.”

“
No,” he repeated firmly. “I’ll not have people thinking I’m debauching you in my closest friend’s home.”

She snorted. “Nobody will think that. Madison even said I could parade naked in front of you, and as long as I was talking about science you wouldn’t even notice.”

“
Madison doesn’t know everything,” he muttered, glancing down the table at his cousin. “Is that what the two of you talked about in there?”

“
Yes.” She blushed. “Now are you satisfied nobody will think you’re debauching me?”

He ignored her. “Would you care to test your newfound theory, Caro?” He brushed her upper arm with his knuckles.

Her eyes lit up at the same time something of his went up. “Absolutely.”

He groaned. “You’re going to be the death of me.”

“
What has you so tense over there, Alex?” Andrew called to him with a grin.

“
Membership to the
Society of Biological Matters
,” he said quickly.

“
That would make me tense, too,” Andrew remarked.

“
Would you, or anyone else, like to join?” Caroline asked, oblivious to Andrew’s cleverly worded jest. “We’re campaigning to increase membership.”

Andrew groaned. “Will a bank note do?”

“
It would help. But your physical presence is what we’re looking for.” She flashed him her best smile.

“
When is it? And what do I have to do?” Andrew asked through clenched teeth.

“
Just come,” Caroline said, tucking a lock of her dark hair behind her ear. “The meetings are held the third Thursday of the month.”

Andrew ground his teeth. “For how long?”

“
Membership depends on you,” she said, glancing at everyone as if they were all champing at the bit to join. “You don’t have to come to every meeting, and when you’re no longer interested, you may completely stop.”

Andrew nodded once. “How long do the meetings last?”

“
Three to four hours, I believe,” she said primly.

Alex bit down on the inside of his cheek to keep his smile in check. The grimace on Andrew’s face was beyond price. “Don’t worry, Andrew. A bank note will do nicely. I’d say a thousand pounds will go a long way to help us campaign for new members.”

“
Done.”

“
Tell me,” the duke broke in from down the table. “At these lengthy meetings, would you say one is able to glean enough interesting scientific tidbits to entertain their friends for a while?”

“
Of course,” Caroline said, beaming. “I’d say—”

“
Caro, stop,” Alex said quietly. “He’s scheming.”

She frowned. “He wants to join.”

“
No, he doesn’t. None of them do. Especially him. Look at his wife. She’s elbowed him three times since he started talking.”

“
You’re mighty perceptive today, Mr. Banks,” she said smartly.

He shrugged. “I’ve known him since we were thirteen. He rarely doesn’t have ulterior motives. He’s got a reason for asking you those questions. Madison elbowing him only confirms it.”

She sighed. “He’s right, isn’t he?” she asked loud enough for everyone to hear.

“
If he told you nobody in this room has a true interest in joining your
Matters of Biology Society
or whatever it is, then yes, he’s right,” Uncle John informed her with a shudder.

A fetching pink stained her cheeks and she turned back to her food.

“
Don’t fret about it,” Alex murmured to Caroline. He looked around to make sure everyone was done with their meal, then caught Aunt Carolina’s eye and winked.

Aunt Carolina jumped out of her seat faster than a bullet leaving a gun. “Would anyone be interested in playing a game?”

Murmurs and groans soon followed.

Ignoring them, Aunt Carolina looked down at Andrew and winked. “Charades, perhaps?”

“
No,” Andrew said, scowling. “Charades has been banned from this house.”

Madison and Liberty looked like they were about to burst with laughter while both trying to imitate Andrew’s scowl.

“
But I do have the equipment for bowls,” Andrew added, freezing Liberty’s mirth on the spot.

“
Absolutely not,” Paul said tersely, shaking his head.

Andrew grinned. “Are you sure? I believe I have enough
balls
that we’ll not have to bowl in teams.”

Several snickers followed his remark, most notably not from Liberty or Paul. “I hear hiding and waiting to be sought out is a personal favorite nursery game among a few in this family,” Paul suggested helpfully, succeeding in deflecting the attention off of him and his wife.

“
No,” Aunt Carolina said, shaking her head. “This house is too big. Nobody will ever be found.”

“
Exactly,” Benjamin muttered. “All right. What about snapdragon?”

His wife rolled her eyes. “Benjamin, if your idea of an afternoon of fun is to light a bowl of brandy on fire and try to pull out a little button with your bare fingers, then suit yourself. But you’ll have no competition.”

He shrugged. “I don’t know why not. The person who retrieves that little button gets a boon. And—” he leaned his head closer to his wife— “I know exactly how I plan claim to mine.”

She blushed.

“
That’s enough of that,” Uncle John said, curling his upper lip. “How about five stone?”

“
That’s boring,” Brooke said, waving her hand through the air. “What about twirl the trencher?”

Her father snorted. “Brooke, as amusing as it would be to see you and your sister try to sit on the floor and get back up, run across the room, and grab an object before it reaches the floor in your conditions, I am an old man now, and I would be struggling right along with you. No, thank you.”

Madison shook her head and sighed. “Let’s see, that eliminates charades, bowls, hide and seek, snapdragon, five stones, and twirl the trencher. What else is there?” She looked directly at Caroline. “Any ideas?”

Caroline shook her head. “The only other game I can think of Alex hates.”

“
Pall mall,” Uncle John supplied, smirking.

Aunt Carolina sent her husband a warning glance before turning her attention to Alex. “What about you? Do you have any ideas?”

“
Hmm, I don’t know,” he drawled slowly, glancing at Caroline. “By any chance would anybody care for a game of
lawn chess
?”