Her Sudden Groom (7 page)

He tried not to grimace as he willed his mind to forget the image that the impromptu visit from her breasts had left in his mind. But his efforts were futile.

“
Olivia,” Marcus snapped. “Make sure you keep those things in your gown for the rest of the evening, please. Nobody in this room wishes to see them again.”

Lady Olivia licked her lips and winked at Alex. “I’ll try.”

“
You had better do more than try,” Marcus said, stealing the words straight from Alex’s mind. “If you need more fabric for your dress, perhaps you can borrow some from your foot.”

Caroline and Miss Green snickered, drawing Alex’s attention. How was it possible Caroline and Lady Olivia were related? He shook off the thought. That didn’t matter one iota. What did matter was he would do absolutely
anything
to marry Caroline instead of Lady Olivia.

“
I can’t,” Lady Olivia whined, catching Alex’s attention once again.

“
Right.” Marcus nodded. “Because you broke the ball of your foot.”

“
Do you doubt me, Marcus?”

“
Yes.”

Alex sat still. Very, very still. If he recalled correctly, Lady Olivia had a terribly foul temper. He was afraid he was about to witness it firsthand.

Marcus sighed. “Olivia, I’ve never heard of such a thing before. Do you require me to send for the physician? Mayhap he can just saw off your foot so this won’t happen again.”

“
No!” She turned and batted her eyelashes in Alex’s direction for a few seconds. “What I meant to say is, no. I’ll just prop it up for a few days in my room, and Caroline can wait on me.”

Alex could have sworn he heard some teeth grinding but couldn’t tell if the sound was coming from Caroline or Marcus.

“
That will not be happening,” Marcus said tightly. “She’s not your maid.”

“
Perhaps a visit to Bath, then,” Lady Olivia suggested.

“
Very well. A trip to Bath it is,” her brother agreed. “But for now, a trip to the dining room.”

Alex took to his feet, ready to be done with this blasted meal. He’d much rather eat next to Caroline, but since he was legally betrothed to Lady Olivia, he’d likely be subjected to sitting next to her for the next hour. He blew out a breath and carelessly righted his left cuff.

“
Oh, Olivia.” Marcus’ words halted her pathetic limp mid-step. “Why don’t I escort you down to dinner?”

“
Why?” Lady Olivia’s shrill voice made Alex wince.

“
I think our gait is better suited.”

Alex smiled at his friend’s jest. At least Marcus was able to make light his injuries and their lasting results. Alex didn’t know if his own attitude would be the same.

“
But I’d prefer to sit with Alex.” She resumed her limp.

“
Caroline will be eating with Alex,” Marcus said firmly. “They have some science experiment to work on together.”

Lady Olivia screwed up her face in a most unflattering way. “Must the two of you spoil a good meal in that manner?”

“
Afraid so,” Alex answered, feeling not a pang of regret at his words.

“
Fine,” she said, sneering. “You two are the dullest dullards I’ve ever met. Enjoy your boring science talk.”

Caroline cracked a smile. “We will.”

Alex offered Caroline his arm and glanced at Miss Green. She lacked an escort. He looked back to Caroline. She was staring at him most oddly. He had no idea what she was trying to convey and still didn’t know if he should offer to escort Miss Green or not.

Alex remained still, debating what to do about Miss Green when Marcus’ smooth voice cut in. “Emma, if you don’t mind walking with a couple of cripples, I’d be honored to escort you to dinner.”

Relieved the problem had rectified itself, Alex led Caroline out the door and down the hall, all the while scheming in his mind how he’d go about winning her over.

Chapter 5

In his estimation, Alex had two weeks to woo Caroline enough to accept his proposal. That wasn’t very long at all. It had been long enough for his friend, Andrew. But Andrew was Andrew and Alex was Alex. In short, they were complete opposites in nearly every way.

Alex chuckled. Two years ago when he’d last seen Lady Olivia, Andrew had told him she’d actually proposed to him. Too bad his friend refused her offer due to his feelings for Brooke. That would have eliminated the situation Alex was currently in quite nicely. He looked over at Caroline. She didn’t seem a bad sort at all. He even rather liked her. She’d certainly gotten his attention when she’d dropped that stack of books on the floor. He just didn’t know if he could charm her into marriage in such a short time.

Andrew was coming to Watson Estate tomorrow to look at Alex’s stallions. Perhaps he would swallow his pride and ask for some ideas on how to win a wife in such a short time. That seemed a good idea, actually. Andrew had done most of his wooing of Brooke at Watson Estate during a house party his mother had hosted. The pair had visited the conservatory only three days before they’d gotten married. If showing Caroline the conservatory translated into a hasty marriage, he’d give her a tour tonight.

“
Alex,” Caroline whispered, tugging on his sleeve.

“
Yes?”

“
We’ve passed the dining room.” She glanced at him briefly then to the wall he’d almost walked them into.

“
Right you are,” he agreed, steering her back around. “I just thought we’d walk around a bit, in order to give the others some time to catch up.” He hated lying, but what else could he say?
Sorry, Caroline, I was too busy thinking of how to get you to marry me so I don’t have to marry your horrid cousin, and I forgot to turn in to the dining room?
That statement wouldn’t be met with much excitement, he was certain of it.

Walking into the dining room, Alex blinked. He’d become accustomed to small tables that were big enough only for the number of people eating. Inside this room was a table that was no less than twenty-four feet long. There were enough chairs to seat at least twenty guests. Yet, there were only five place settings out, and they were placed in such a way there was no confusion as to where each of them were expected to sit. At one end of the table, there were three settings. One on the end, and one on either side. Clear on the other end of the table were two other place settings set out. Side by side.

He glanced at Caroline, and she shrugged.

A moment later, Marcus and his pair of females came in. “I thought the two of you could sit down there so not to bore Olivia with your talk.”

Alex was almost moved to kiss the man’s feet in thanksgiving. Almost. He didn’t give a hang about boring Lady Olivia with details of science. He was more relieved he wouldn’t be tortured with whatever tales she wanted to impart on him. Andrew had once commented having Lady Olivia as a mealtime companion was enough to drive a man to suicide, or at least give him nightmares. Luckily he’d never had the experience himself; however, he didn’t doubt his friend’s words.

“
I’ve been thinking,” Caroline said, setting her goblet down, “perhaps you should solicit members to the
Society
at some of your other organizations.”

“
Good idea,” he said, quickly dismissing her suggestion. Not that it wasn’t a good one. It was. He just didn’t care about that just now.

She put her fork down and turned her beautiful blue eyes to him. “Why is it I get the impression you’re not taking this seriously?”

“
I am,” he lied again. “I just don’t think of it as a priority just now.”

“
And what would be a priority to you?”

“
Above increasing membership to the
Society of Biological Matters
?”

“
Yes.” She picked her fork up and delicately poked one her turnips.

“
The trees in my orangery,” he said honestly. “Say, do you like orangeries?”

She shrugged. “I’ve only been in one once when I was visiting a friend of Marcus’. But it’s been a long time.”

“
I’ll have to show you mine,” he said with a wide grin.

“
Really?” There was no mistaking the excitement in her voice.

“
Really.” Alex took a swallow of his drink. “I wanted to grow orange and citrus trees a few years ago, so I talked my father into splitting the conservatory in two and letting me grow citrus trees on one side.”

“
Fascinating.”

His fork stopped halfway to his mouth. Was she being sarcastic? It was hard to tell. He put his fork down and stared blankly at his plate. Before Caroline and Miss Green joined Marcus and him in the drawing room to wait for dinner, Marcus had offered this advice: talk to her about science, but not too much. Alex frowned. Why did Marcus have to be so cryptic?

Testing Marcus’ brilliant advice just now, he turned to Caroline. “What are your interests?”

She smiled at him. “You don’t have to make small talk, Alex. I’ve heard from
many
sources you don’t like to talk about anything except science.”

Alex threw a scowl down at two of the three people at the end of the table. He’d bet Marcus and Lady Olivia were the ones who’d told her that. “I’m perfectly capable of talking of something besides science,” he declared, hoping he wouldn’t prove himself to be a liar.

“
All right.” Caroline put her cup down. “What are your other interests?”

He blinked at her as he searched his mind. “History, pistols, and swords,” he said at last.

“
Pistols and swords?”

“
Yes, pistols and swords,” he confirmed with a scowl. After letting his mouth get away from his two years ago and challenging someone to a duel, only to have it promptly pointed out to the room that he’d die the next day due to his inability to successfully navigate either weapon, he’d made an attempt to fence while in London and spent at least three hours each week shooting at targets. That was all the time he could spare for such frivolous pursuits. But it was enough to claim them as interests. “Now that you’ve heard mine, you can tell me what you’re interested in.”

She bit her lip. “Promise not to laugh?”

“
No,” he replied honestly. “But I’ll try.”

She rolled her eyes and shook her head at him. “I don’t know if I can tell you, then.”

“
Yes, you can. Just spit it out.”

“
I like games,” she blurted, exhaling a deep breath.

“
Games?” Why was that odd? A lot of people liked games. He wasn’t necessarily one of them, but he was acquainted with enough other people who liked them.

She nodded enthusiastically. “I don’t think you understand. I
love
games.”

“
What kind of games?”

“
All games,” she answered, fingering the corners of her napkin. “Parlor games, board games, lawn games, even nursery games.”

He stared at her. “You’d love my Aunt Carolina. She loves parlor games.”

“
She does?” Her eyes grew wide.

“
More than anything. I think charades is her absolute favorite.”

“
I love charades,” she chirped. “Do you?”

“
Not particularly.” He snorted. “Actually, I dislike the game so much that only last year I was able to get myself and several other family members exempt from playing it when I suggested we go off to my father’s study to talk about science. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out like I’d planned. Instead of discussing the fascinating facts I’d found about a couple of hedgehogs I’d been observing down by the pasture, they all wanted to talk about Paul and Liberty’s explosive marriage. Andrew claimed it still followed the guidelines, since we were discussing combustible elements: Paul and Liberty.” He scowled as she broke into peals of giggles. “What could you possibly find humorous about that?” he asked in mock agitation. From an outsider’s prospective it probably was humorous.