Her Sudden Groom (8 page)

“
It’s true,” she said between bursts of giggles.

“
What?”

“
That you cannot have a conversation without speaking of science,” she answered when she’d gathered her composure.

Hell’s afire, she was right. He’d proved himself a liar in less than two minutes. “Sorry,” he murmured.

“
It’s quite all right. Shall we talk about the experiment now?” She pushed her plate away.

“
No. Why don’t you tell me what your favorite game is instead.” He flashed her what he hoped to be an encouraging grin.

“
Lawn chess.”

“
We’ve a set at Watson Estate.”

Her eyes grew huge again. “Truly?”

He nodded. “Would you like to come and play?”

She twisted her lips. “I probably shouldn’t. With you being Olivia’s betrothed, it wouldn’t be right.”

He tried not to scowl. He was not betrothed to Lady Olivia. All right, he was, but that wasn’t going to stick. He was going to marry Caroline, not Olivia. He couldn’t tell Caroline that though. If he did, he’d have to explain about his father’s mistake during a drunken stupor. That would not look very good to a potential bride. Nor would the idea of asking her to help jilt her cousin only because he didn’t want to marry her. Best to just keep quiet for now.

“
Sure it would. Tomorrow your cousin is going to Bath. Just come to Watson Estate while she’s there.”

“
I can’t,” she protested. “I’ve no chaperone.”

“
That’s not a problem,” he said dismissively. “My mother can act as your chaperone.”

“
Don’t you think you should ask her first?” Caroline’s lips twitched. “She may not wish to spend her day chaperoning a stranger, you know.”

“
She’ll do it,” he said offhandedly. Mother would chaperone the devil himself if it meant her son wouldn’t have to marry Lady Olivia. He had no idea why, nor did he care her reasons, but his mother detested Lady Olivia in the worst way.

“
Are you certain?”

He cleared his throat. “Quite.”

She clapped her hands together. “All right, you’ve convinced me. I’ll come.”

“
I had no idea I had such powerful influence,” he said dryly.

“
Well, you do. But we’ll have to talk of the experiment.” She leaned back to let a footman refill her glass. “Olivia will know where I’m going, and steam will spiral out of her ears if she thinks I’m going to see you for any reason other than science.”

“
Fine,” he grumbled. They’d talk about her experiment for the two minutes it took him to set up the chess board, but not a minute more. He had better things to do. One such thing being to woo her.

“
Are you two done?” Marcus asked, pushing to his feet.

“
Just finished,” Caroline answered.

Alex glanced out the window at the end of the hall as the group left the dining room. “I’d better be off. It’s nearly dark.” He turned and said his goodbyes to Caroline, reminding her of their agreement for her to come play lawn chess tomorrow.

***

Early the next morning, only twenty minutes past the hour that marked morning to be precise, Alex’s eyes sprang open as his body shot up from his bed. He ran his hand over his perspiring face and shoved his fingers through his hair. Scooting to the edge of his bed, he put his feet on the floor to remind himself he’d only had a nightmare.

He put his hands on his back just above his waist and arched backward to stretch, his fingers touching the scars in remembrance of a lost innocence. He shook his head and brought his hands to his knees. As much as he wished for it, nobody could rewrite history, even if it would be to the benefit of a scared little girl.

Nothing for it now. He shot to his feet and lit a candle before throwing on his dressing robe. Nightmares didn’t happen to him often, but when they did it was hard to get back to sleep. There was only one thing to do now: take a trip to the library to read up on one of his real experiments.

Grabbing his candelabra, he left the room and headed to the library, mentally making a note to talk to Marcus privately in the next day or two. There was something about that awful night he needed to know.

Chapter 6

Caroline barely slept in anticipation of her afternoon with Alex. She squeezed her eyes shut tight. She should
not
be looking forward to such a thing. He was her cousin’s betrothed, for goodness’ sake. She had no business going to his house to play chess, let alone being so excited about it.

Due in part to her deceased mother, Caroline’s love for lawn chess was so great she couldn’t have declined a game with Lucifer. She remembered being a little girl and her mother would take her to Ridge Water to play. Of course she’d been too young to know how to play by the rules, but she loved to watch people push their pieces around, nonetheless. Her mother was always happiest when they were playing lawn chess or looking out at the stars with a telescope.

Caroline smiled. She’d loved her mother more than anyone in the world. She’d been such a happy person, even if the world seemed determined to kill her joy, usually in the form of her own husband. Caroline’s father was the vilest creature Caroline had ever met, and the less she thought of him, the better.

She sailed down the stairs and went to the front door. She’d told Marcus she intended to go to Alex’s today. He hadn’t asked any questions except to confirm Alex’s mother would act as her chaperone. Other than confirming that, he didn’t seem to care what they’d be doing while she was there. His dismissive attitude surprised her a bit. He didn’t normally care about details on the whole, but she thought he might be interested since this time it involved a gentleman. Apparently not.

The carriage ride to Bath was extremely uncomfortable. Olivia complained of her foot the entire time, except when she complained about marrying a dullard like Arid Alex, that is. Olivia knew full well where Caroline was going, and surprisingly didn’t seem to care. In fact, Olivia told Caroline it was excellent the two of them had similar tastes—it would benefit her after they were married. She’d worked it out in her head. Caroline could stay at Watson Estate and act as Olivia’s companion since she’d never find a gentleman willing to marry her. Then, when Olivia could take Arid Alex’s incessant science chatter no longer, she’d send Caroline in to listen to his nonsense.

Caroline frowned. He really wasn’t so bad to talk to. Sure, he was known for talking about all subjects relating to science, but she’d learned in their short time together there was a lot more to him than that. And she couldn’t help herself for wanting to discover more, even if nothing could ever happen between them. He was Olivia’s intended, she firmly reminded herself once again.

She looked down at the papers in her lap. She’d brought her notes with her today so they could discuss their experiment about gaining membership to the
Society
. She reread the first page. She’d come up with some really good ideas. Too bad he didn’t seem as interested in working on this as she was. Well, like the ever dutiful scientist she was, she would insist that they discuss their experiment today. She would
not
let him get away with dumping the whole thing on her.

As the carriage rolled up the drive at Watson Estate, Caroline’s excitement rose. Today had the workings to be one of the best days of her life. Not only would she get to play lawn chess, she would also get to play it with Alex, and for some reason that made her much more excited than she thought possible.

The carriage came to a stop, and from the window she could see Alex and another, larger gentleman talking. She blinked. Forget larger, he was massive. Almost like a giant marble statue. Yes, a marble statue with coal black hair. She’d heard enough gossip from Olivia’s lips to guess this had to be Lord Townson, Alex’s closest friend.

The carriage door swung open, startling Caroline.

“
Coming down?” Alex asked, reaching a hand up to her.

Caroline came to the door and took his hand. “Thank you,” she murmured after she’d descended. She looked at Alex and silently asked him with her eyes to introduce her to his friend. Not that she had a hankering to meet nobility. Quite the opposite. She’d only even seen possibly half a dozen titled gentlemen in her life—and her uncle, Marcus, and Marcus’ friend, Lord Drakely, made up half of those. The reason she wanted to be introduced to Lord Townson was to help ease the tension that had fallen over the trio as they stood there together.

“
Allow me to introduce myself, seeing as Alex here is too enamored by you to make introductions,” Lord Townson said with a grin. “My name is Andrew Black, Earl of Townson.” He did a quick, low bow and came back up to meet her eyes.

“
Caroline Sinclair,” she said, doing the sloppiest curtsy she’d ever attempted. She didn’t do it intentionally; she’d just never actually done one before anyone of importance before. It was quite nerve-racking.

Lord Townson didn’t seem to mind though. “Nice to meet you, Miss Sinclair.”

“
It’s nice to meet you, too, my lord,” she greeted with a smile. “I’d prefer it if you’d call Caroline.”

“
Caroline it is,” the earl said.

“
Andrew came by this morning to look at my new thoroughbred. He was just about to leave,” Alex informed her.

“
While he was here, did you talk to him about Biological Matters?”

Lord Townson gave her a queer look and a choking sound came from Alex’s throat. “Yes, he talked to me,” Andrew said tightly. “And I’d suggest he not do so again.”

Caroline’s eyes widened. She had no idea he’d be so opposed to joining the
Society of Biological Matters
. Mayhap Alex was right when he told her he wouldn’t be interested.

Alex crossed his arms defensively. “That’s not—”

“
No more, Alex,” Lord Townson said in a warning tone. “I think I’m old enough to make those decisions for myself.” He turned to Caroline and his tone softened considerably. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Caroline. I sincerely hope to see more of you in the future.” He turned back to Alex and gave him a look she couldn’t see.

Alex smiled and nodded at his friend. “Give my best to Brooke.”

“
I will,” Lord Townson said, mounting his horse.

“
That was most peculiar,” Caroline mumbled as he rode off.

Alex smiled at her. “He’s a good sort. I know you think he’s angry with me, but he’s not. He’s a good man.”

“
If you say so.” Caroline turned to walk toward the house. “I brought my notes with me today. Perhaps after chess we could discuss your experiment.”

His head snapped in her direction, his eyes wide and intent, almost like he was guilty of something. “Oh, right,” he said with a slight shake of his head. “We’ll see.”

She was about to say something in response when a lady with Alex’s same dark brown hair and matching eyes came walking down the front steps toward them, the skirts of her red day dress swishing back and forth as she walked.

“
Mother,” Alex said as the older lady approached. “This is Miss Caroline Sinclair. She prefers to be called Caroline. Caroline, this is my mother, Regina Banks, Lady Watson.”

“
It’s nice to meet you,” Caroline said, attempting another ill-executed curtsy.

Grabbing Caroline’s elbow to help her back to proper standing position, the baroness flashed her a smile. “There is no need to curtsy, dear. I shan’t be returning one.”

Caroline stared at her. Had she just been insulted?

The baroness laughed. “I can’t. This dress does not allow me to do so without falling on my derriere. Anyway, we’re a
very
relaxed family around here. Such formalities aren’t necessary.” She turned to her son and wagged her finger playfully. “As host, you should have told her that, Alex.”