Her Sudden Groom (39 page)

Regina sniffled and dragged her fingertip along the bottom of her red-rimmed eyes to dry her tears. “Yes, you.” She smiled weakly. “Edward’s had a tender spot for you since you were seven. Oh, don’t worry. I don’t know exactly what you did to make him so fond of you, but I could tell he liked you quite a bit when he’d ask your uncle to brag about his uncommonly intelligent niece.”

Caroline couldn’t stop the watery smile that took her lips. “All right. I’ll say goodbye.”

“
Good. It will mean a lot to him. To both of them.”

Caroline understood her meaning perfectly. She also understood it would mean a lot to Regina, too, she was just too stubborn to say so. And, more than any of them, it would be meaningful for Caroline, too. She’d grown quite attached to the cheeky old fellow and was glad his family was allowing her the chance to go see him.

She nearly collided with Alex outside his father’s door and inwardly grinned at his appearance. He was clad only in his shirtsleeves and trousers, and of course, his hair resembled a porcupine.

“
Are you going in?” he asked, his voice rough with emotion.

“
Yes. I’ll just be a minute.”

He opened the door for her. “Do you mind if I join you, or would you like to be alone?”

She glanced at his father. There wasn’t anything he could say to her now that couldn’t be said in front of Alex. She grabbed Alex’s hand. “Come with me.”

Together they walked into the room, potentially for the last time as merely Mr. and Mrs. Alex Banks.

“
Caroline, my gel,” Edward said, his breathing loud and labored. “Joined by none other than her doting groom.”

She smiled and kissed his sunken-in cheek. While she was close, she whispered her goodbyes as evenly as she could, considering it a success her voice only cracked twice and only four tears slipped out.

“
Remember what I told you, gel.” Edward wiped away her tears with one long, thin finger. “You’re a special girl. Always were. But remember what I told you about my son.”

“
I remember,” she said, choking on a sob. “I’d better leave so you can talk to Alex.”

“
Now, why would I want to do that?” Edward asked loud enough for Alex to hear. “You’re so much better company than he is. Prettier, too.”

She smiled at him. “Goodbye, Edward.”

She dared not to look at Alex with the unshed tears in her eyes as she left him to be alone by his father’s side.

The hallway was full with the family sitting and standing about. Regina gave her a watery smile as John went into his brother’s room.

She didn’t want to stand in the hall with them, but she still wanted to be close in case she was needed. Spotting an open door just a few steps down the hall, she slipped inside. The room was large, massive even. It had bookshelves that lined the walls and reached to the ceiling. There was a large fireplace on the back wall and about half a dozen chairs and a giant desk in the middle of the room. This had to be the baron’s study.

This was not the room she wished to be waiting in. Caroline turned to leave and glimpsed Alex’s coat on one of the chairs. Likely he’d come from in here when they’d passed each other in the hall. She picked up his coat off the chair then hugged it close to her chest and closed her eyes. She inhaled deeply, letting her nose fill with his heady scent. She sighed. For a reason she couldn’t explain, that simple action had given her the greatest comfort. She opened her eyes and shook her head. His cravat was lying on the floor. She bent to pick it up and flung it over her shoulder. “Silly man,” she muttered, scooping up his waistcoat while she was down there.

Arms full of his clothes, she walked out the door.

“
It appears Alex has once again lost his clothes,” Henry remarked when Caroline came into the hall carrying Alex’s clothes.

She shook her head sadly. At least, like their father, he could attempt a joke at such a low moment.

“
You could have left those, dear,” Regina said. “The staff has been picking up Alex’s discarded clothes for almost thirty years. They won’t know what to do with themselves if they don’t find any tomorrow.”

She smiled weakly. “I didn’t realize it was a daily ritual for the staff to comb the house in search of the clothes Alex wore the previous day. Should I just drop these here in the hall, then? I wouldn’t wish to cause them any distress at not finding their daily treasure.”

The small group chuckled, and it seemed for a brief second, spirits and hearts lifted.

“
You can stand with us,” Elijah offered.

She accepted his offer and went to stand by the identical brothers. A few minutes ticked by and one of the brothers left for a minute, coming back with two chairs. “Here, ladies. Have a seat.”

Regina sat down first and Caroline offered her thanks and took a seat, still holding Alex’s clothes, not wanting to let them go. The chair wasn’t overly comfortable, and she shifted to find a better position. It wasn’t working. She seemed to be sitting on her skirt in an awkward way. She carefully laid Alex’s things in her lap and pulled on the side of her skirt to free it from where it was bunched up underneath her. It didn’t come right away. Perhaps she should just stand and try sitting again. She looked down at Alex’s clothes on her lap. No, if she stood she’d have to hold his clothes in both hands again and she’d end up sitting on her skirt like this again. She’d just pull a little harder this time. “Oops,” she said, her skirt pulling free and Alex’s clothes spilling onto the floor.

“
Here, allow me,” Henry offered, reaching down to pick up the fallen clothes. He handed her the silk cravat and waistcoat first.

She took them and folded them across her lap before holding her hand out for his coat. He handed her the coat and she put it with the other things across her lap.

“
Dropped something.” Elijah leaned down to pick up what appeared to be several pieces of paper. He wordlessly handed her a sealed piece of vellum that had Edwina’s name on it. “This must have been one hell of an experiment,” he muttered, unfolding a small stack of bundled papers. “Oh, pardon my language.” He flickered a glance to his mother, who’d just coughed delicately.

“
Why do you say that?” Henry asked, his blue eyes alight with mischief.

Elijah shrugged. “First, it’s thick enough to be a treatise. Second, I saw him scowling like the devil as he shoved it into his pocket while we were in the library earlier.”

“
Are you planning to read us the objective or what?” Henry asked. He turned to Caroline while Elijah continued to unfold the papers. “Alex and his experiments never cease to amaze us. Besides to see our lovely mother—” he glanced at his mother, presumably to make sure she heard him— “reading Alex’s experiments is a large part of the reason we come home every so often. We’ve read details on everything from the mating habits of hedgehogs to which type of grass works best for using as a whistle. The things his brain thinks up to study is astounding.”

“
Or atrocious,” Elijah muttered. “There have been a few clankers. Just be prepared, this might be one of them.”

“
All right, Elijah, enough chatting. Read that objective,” Henry said.

Caroline had an impulse to grab the paper from Elijah. She didn’t though. They were just having innocent, brotherly fun. They weren’t hurting anyone, least of all Alex. Not everyone understood Alex the way she did. She smiled. No, she’d wager nobody understood Alex with his bizarre tendencies and unusual love for science like she did.

Elijah cleared his throat and held the paper out flat in front of him, ready to read. “’Objectives, 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.’”

He barely got through the sentence before joining his brother who was bent over, howling with laughter. Caroline sat stock-still. The blood roaring in her ears only becoming louder with each passing second. She glanced at Regina, she looked positively pale.

“
That’s not all. There’s more,” Elijah said, still doubled over, his body convulsing with laughter. “Just a moment and I’ll read the rest.”

“
I don’t know who this Lady Olivia is—unless, wait. Is she that awful creature the late Lord Sinclair sired? If she is, I believe I understand his desire to marry a tart in her stead,” Henry mused aloud, his eyes red and glistening with tears.

Caroline pursed her lips. She may not like Olivia overmuch, but that was her cousin and they had no business talking of her that way, nor did Alex have any right to pen such a statement. Rage and anger settled in her chest and she stood up to take the paper from Elijah. This was enough foolishness.

Elijah regained his composure and pulled the paper out of her reach. “Sit back down, dear sister. This is proving to be his most interesting experiment yet, and I have every intention of being the one who gets to read it first.”

She sat. What could Alex have possibly written that could be worse than what Elijah had already read? And anyway, how in the world could avoiding marriage to Olivia be an experiment? Her anger ebbed slightly and curiosity took its place. His brothers were right. There was no telling what his mind could conjure up for an experiment.

“
Ah, here we are, ‘Marry Caroline instead—question mark. If able to fulfill latter objective, marriage to Caroline, that will fulfill objective listed above without requiring a soiled dove.’”

This time nobody laughed at the end of Elijah’s words. Nobody moved or spoke or even blinked for what felt like an eternity. Anger and rage coursed through her all over again, this time accompanied by their close companion: hurt. She stood up, letting all of Alex’s neatly folded clothes fall from her lap. She reached out and numbly took the stack of papers from Elijah’s loose grasp.

“
I’m sorry,” he whispered. “If I’d known, I wouldn’t have read it aloud.”

“
You couldn’t have known,” she said without much thought. None of them could have known. She looked down at the papers and read over his research and experiment ideas. Nearly every single thing he’d done before their wedding had been planned. Choking back tears, she carelessly dropped the bundle of papers to the floor and willed herself to keep her chin high as she walked away.

Chapter 21

By midnight it was over. Caroline wiped her eyes for the last time and froze. There was a slight commotion in the hall, followed by the front door just closing, signaling the doctor’s departure. Her heart ached and her eyes watered again, this time for a different reason. Edward was gone. She brought her knees up to her chest and rested her head against them, waiting for the house to grow quiet again.

Hours ago, she’d determined her anger at Alex was misdirected—in a sense. Yes, what he’d done was wrong. Very wrong. But she couldn’t blame him. Not completely anyway. Facing marriage to Olivia had to have been a scary prospect for any man. To handle their courtship the way he did wasn’t the most respectable or preferable, but there was nothing to be done for it now. The past was done and being angry about how he’d conducted his courtship was of no use. Unfortunately, acknowledging this did nothing to relieve her current state of humiliation.

She’d learned from all her years of dealing with Olivia that returning an unkind gesture with one of her own rarely ended the way it was intended to. Therefore, she wouldn’t try to humiliate him in any way but do to him exactly what he’d done to her. If she was nothing more than just an experiment to him, she’d make an experiment out of him. But her goal wouldn’t be one he’d want to give up as easily as she’d given him her hand in marriage. No, she wanted his heart. And come what may, she would get it.

The faint ticking of the second hand on the clock behind her was the only noise she heard now. She gained her feet and tiptoed down the hall. Only a few candles were lit, giving her an eerie feeling as she made her way down the corridor.

“
Caroline,” Regina said, coming around the corner and wrapping her in a hug. “I’ve been so worried about you. The servants have been looking everywhere for you.”

Not everywhere. Not once had anyone peeked into the lighted parlor she’d been sitting in. “I apologize for not being there,” she said solemnly.

“
It’s quite all right. I’ve been in an awkward situation a time or two myself and feel your actions were quite appropriate. Besides, I didn’t stay out in the hall but another minute or two after you’d left.”

Caroline didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know what would bring her mother-in-law the most comfort nor what would ease the tension that had seemed to settle on them all after Elijah read aloud from Alex’s latest experiment.