by Rose Gordon
“Don’t ask,” Marcus barked from behind him.
Alex ignored him. “What’s that about?” he asked, spinning around to face his friend and jerking his thumb back to point behind him where Caroline had just entered the side of his house.
The sound of Marcus’ teeth grinding filled the air. “Olivia. Between the two, I’ve had one horrifying week,” Marcus muttered, leaning against a tree. “Alex, I’m going to tell you something about Caroline you should know. I can’t tell you how to handle it since I’ve yet to learn, but you should know all the same.”
Alex nodded, too anxious to speak.
“She won’t say a damn thing when something’s wrong.” Marcus shoved two fisted hands into his trouser pockets. “The night you proposed, I went to her room and found she had no suitable clothes. None at all. Not for everyday wear, and definitely nothing for a wedding. The next day I commissioned her an entire new wardrobe. Now, stop clenching your jaw. I meant no offense to you. I know you have the funds to dress her in the best money can buy. But as her cousin and her guardian, it had been my responsibility and I’d neglected it. Not intentionally, mind you. She just never said anything to me, and I just didn’t notice the sorry state of her gowns the past few weeks.”
“All right,” Alex said, not sure what to do with this information. His brows knit together. “Does that have anything to do with why she’s nearly late for her wedding and arrived in a tattered nightrail?”
“No,” Marcus bit off. “I paid nearly thirty pounds to have a very flattering dress made ready for today. The dress was delivered yesterday afternoon. Caroline was thrilled. That woman was well-worth every shilling, having such a beautiful dress made up so quickly.” He shook his head. “But that’s not important. Last night Caroline didn’t come down to dinner. I thought she was just nervous, so I went to see her before bed. When I went in the room, I found a needle and thread in her hand sloppily weaving in and out of that fabric at an alarming rate. At first it looked like she was making a minor alteration, but when I walked up closer, I noticed she was repairing it.” He blew out a breath and turned his head to study a nearby tree. His jaw clamped so tightly Alex thought it would be a miracle if Marcus had any teeth left to eat at the wedding luncheon. “As it turns out, Olivia took a pair of cutting shears to the dress and Caroline missed dinner because she’d spent the previous five hours trying to fix the dress.”
The air left Alex’s lungs in one big whoosh. He knew Lady Olivia was vile enough to stoop to just about anything—that didn’t surprise him. The air absent from his lungs was brought on by the pain and hurting he felt on Caroline’s behalf. He may not be a lady, and he sure as hell didn’t pretend to understand them, but even he knew to have such a thing happen must have hurt her deeply.
“Now, calm down, Alex,” Marcus said. “I can see the steam coming out of your ears. Olivia has been dealt with and my two best footmen are watching her to make sure she stays at Ridge Water today, where she belongs. The only reason I told you any of this was so you’d know two things. One, Caroline did want to be here today. She wanted to be here so badly she spent most of last night trying to mend her destroyed wedding dress. She even rode here today in a nightrail that should have been reduced to cleaning rags years ago. I’m not a seer, nor am I particularly good with the fairer sex, but I know that has to mean something. She wants to marry you, Alex. Which leads me to the second thing. Please treat her right. Between her family and mine, I fear that hasn’t always happened. I tried, but I didn’t know how to go about it, and it seems I’ve done too little too late. I’m trying to tell you what I didn’t know so you can have a better chance of meeting her needs and desires.” He scuffed the toe of his boot in the soft dirt and twisted his lips.
“Alex, Caroline hasn’t had an easy life, but she’s made a habit to make the best of things. She’ll never come to you when something’s not right. As her husband, I pity you this. But it’s just the way of it. You’ll have to ask and push Caroline to get her to allow you to take care of her. She’ll never volunteer the information.” He paused and tapped his finger along his jaw. “Curious, she did tell you she was angry with me…” What was left of his eyebrows moved closer together, and he looked in deep contemplation.
“That’s only because I embarrassed her and suggested she was having an emotionally trying time of the month.” He was torn between excitement that she’d been so eager to marry him and uncertainty of what to do next. He wanted to marry her today, but he didn’t wish to embarrass her by making her walk down the aisle to him in a hideous nightrail. “Thank you for telling me all that, Marcus. I need to talk to Caroline before anyone else sees her. Would you like to come in, too?”
“No, thank you. I’ll wait here until I get the signal.”
“The signal?”
“When I see Emma take her spot, I’ll know to get Caroline.” He shifted his weight off his injured leg.
Alex frowned. “You don’t have to hide, Marcus. Nobody here would ever be rude enough to say anything to your face or behind your back. Besides, they’ve all had plenty of gossip fly about themselves.”
Marcus swallowed. “You’re right. It was most insulting for me to imply otherwise. Perhaps I’ll sit over in the shade next to your father until Caroline is ready to be walked down the aisle.”
“About that,” Alex began uncomfortably, “there won’t be a wedding today. I’ll not have Caroline be embarrassed by walking down the aisle looking like a scullery maid. Not that my family would care, of course. They probably wouldn’t even bat an eyelash, truth be told. However, today is about Caroline and she deserves better than that. Everyone can wait another day or two for her to be ready.”
“No need,” Marcus said with a nod in the direction of the drive where off in the distance a lone rider was riding at a breakneck speed to the front of the house, a large brown paper package in his hand. “A message sent at midnight accompanied with a shredded wedding dress and an additional fifty pounds, and Caroline’s dress is ready just in time.”
A grin split Alex’s face. “Thank you.” Sometime since the day he’d proposed to Caroline, he’d discovered he wasn’t looking forward to marrying her because it was a means to escape marriage to Lady Olivia, but because he truly wanted to. But for as much as he wanted to insist he’d still marry her in that awful scrap of garment she called a nightrail, he couldn’t have truly done that to her.
“Perhaps you should inform your guests the wedding might be delayed a few minutes,” Marcus suggested, pushing off from the tree trunk.
“Right.” Alex uprooted his feet from where they were planted in the ground.
He walked over and made a quick announcement about how Caroline’s dress had suffered an unfortunate accident (he left off exactly what the accident was and who had caused it, but the guests weren’t dimwits—they knew the who and what of it). He then told them the wedding would start as soon as she was done changing.
Before anyone could ask questions, he sat down, pulled his fisted hands from his pockets, and took a deep breaths.
Sitting in a little row of chairs behind him, Andrew, Brooke, Madison, and Benjamin talked about names they’d picked out for their unborn children. He fought the urge to snort when the duke suggested Andrew and Brooke name their son Benjamin in honor of the gentleman who had helped them discover each other. Even more absurd was Andrew’s suggestion to Madison and Benjamin to name their son Andrew since he had such a large role in their marriage and lasting happiness.
Alex shook his head at the foursome. He assumed Andrew and the duke only got along because they both loved their wives, who just happened to be sisters, but he’d often noticed they still couldn’t help exchanging harmless barbs whenever possible.
“What of you, Alex?” Andrew asked. “If you and Caroline have a son, what do you plan to name him?”
Alex froze, stunned. His eyes grew wide. He’d never really thought past the wedding. Except perhaps the wedding night. What man didn’t think of th
at? Children, however, had never entered his mind. He turned around to face the group. “Following the suggestions you two have been giving each other, I think my son’s name will be Marcus,” Alex said dryly.
“Marcus?” Andrew asked, one eyebrow arching. “And why not Andrew?”
Alex shrugged. “Like I said, if I had to name my son for the man who helped me the most in ensuring my marriage to Caroline, it would be Marcus.”
“But what of my suggestions?” Andrew asked with a wink.
Staring blankly at him, Alex said, “Your suggestions were completely vague. All you said was take her to the orangery and let instinct take over.”
A high pitched strangled, choking noise came from Brooke’s throat, her eyes growing round as a pall mall ball. Next to her Madison and Benjamin laughed, and Andrew merely shrugged. “Did you really want me to be specific?” Andrew asked, garnering him a nudge in the side from his wife. He rolled his eyes up and to the side. “Perhaps I should have suggested you take her to your little telescope hut.”
“Andrew Black, stop it right now,” Brooke squealed, her face flushing crimson.
“Andrew, is there a single place on this estate you didn’t try to seduce my cousin?” Alex asked testily.
“Hmm—” Andrew looked to his blushing wife then back to Alex— “her room perhaps.”
“Well, that’s good to know. At least you stayed away from the one place with a soft, inviting surface,” Alex retorted.
“Except the thick green carpet of grass during their picnic,” Madison put in helpfully.
Alex ground his teeth. Brooke shot her sister a look Alex couldn’t catch and muttered, “See if I ever tell you anything again,” before scowling at her chuckling husband.
Madison responded, but Alex didn’t hear her words. He’d lost interest in their conversation. Instead, Caroline’s emergence from the back of the house had captured him completely.
She was wearing an elegant grey gown with shiny streaks of shiny silver fabric running down the skirts and wrapping around her wrists. The gown was so long and fluffy he couldn’t even see her slippers peek out the bottom as she walked. The bodice was covered with thousands of sequins and beads that had been embroidered around the edges of her cuffs, neckline, and hem. She was a vision as she clutched onto Marcus, who was dressed in solid black and wearing a top hat no less than eighteen inches tall.
Alex took his place under the trellis along with Andrew, his attendant, and Paul. Miss Green wore a light blue dress and walked up and stood opposite them, a smile as big as the moon on her face.
Slowly, Marcus walked Caroline to Alex and winked at him when he placed her hand in his.
Alex nodded, and the next minutes blurred together as he recited vows and vaguely listened to her do the same. When at last Paul announced they were now husband and wife, Alex could wait no longer. His hands came up to cup her face and tip it up toward him. He leaned his face to hers and captured her lips, not giving her a chance to make this a quick, chaste kiss.
This was a wedding and he needed to keep that in the back of his mind, of course. But that didn’t stop him from parting her lips with his. He sucked her lower lip into his mouth to run his tongue along it before releasing her mouth. Alex took a measure of pride in seeing her fingers move up to rest on her red, kiss-swollen lips.
He covered her hand with his and turned to face their applauding audience as Paul announced them Mister and Missus Alexander Banks.
A quick meal that could pass as either a late breakfast or a luncheon followed. Alex couldn’t help but smile and inwardly congratulate himself once again for finding the perfect bride. Caroline didn’t pick at her food as he’d seen many brides do. She was definitely different. No bridal nerves for her.
“Shall we have some dancing?” Mother asked, jumping from the chair she’d been occupying next to Father.
A pang of dread filled Alex’s heart. This would likely be the last chance his parents would have to dance together. He couldn’t deny them that. They may have had an arranged marriage, but Alex had never considered either of them miserable. If he had to guess, he wouldn’t be so sure if love hadn’t developed between them in all these years. He glanced at Caroline and hoped the same would be true for them.
“Would that be all right with you?” he asked Caroline quietly, taking into consideration she may not be comfortable with dancing since she didn’t know how.
She smiled at him. “I’ve already danced with you once before, Mr. Banks. I believe we had very good results that time. I can only imagine what will happen this time.” Her smile widened a touch and her eyes sparkled with an emotion he couldn’t name.
“Dancing it is,” Alex said to his mother. He watched in quiet amusement as his aunt jump off her seat so fast one might think her skirt had caught fire.
Together his mother and Aunt Carolina left to locate a few musically inclined servants.
When the duo came back inside, they announced dancing would be held in the drawing room.
The small group stood, ready to walk down the hall. Caroline abruptly let go of his arm and said she’d be back in a minute. She came back on the arm of a gentleman Alex hadn’t seen before today. The man looked to be close to Alex’s age and height. His hair was solid black and his face appeared hard as stone.
Alex had spotted the man during his grand announcement about the slight delay due to Caroline’s dress. He had to be the possible guest Marcus had spoken to him about. Three young girls were either sitting on his lap or climbing on him at all times. These must be his daughters. His wife however, was nowhere in sight.
“Alex, this is Lord Drakely. He’s been Marcus’ closest friend for as long as I can remember.” She turned to look up at the other man. “You two met the day of his accident, did you not?”
Lord Drakely nodded. “Yes. I stopped his horse.”
“Right,” Caroline agreed. A crooked smile took her lips. “Marcus always jests that he and Drake here only became friends because no matter what Marcus did or said to drive him away, Drake clung to him like a bur.”
Alex barely nodded and forced his lips to hold a brittle smile while inwardly guilt consumed him to the point of making his palms moist with sweat. Her last words hadn’t been meant as anything but a lighthearted jibe at Lord Drakely, but Alex felt every word like a blow to the gut. At a time when his friend had needed him most, he’d not been there. He’d heeded Marcus’ harsh commands to be left alone and though he didn’t see it then, he realized now what his friend needed most was for someone to stay. He raked a clammy hand through his hair and pulled. Hard. He shouldn’t have let Marcus put him off so easily. But he had and that was one of Alex’s biggest mistakes, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t make an earnest attempt to rekindle their friendship. Perhaps he should plan to visit Marcus more often and—
“The three little girls you see running around are his,” Caroline continued, pulling Alex from his deep contemplations.
Alex greeted the man and his little girls and was about to ask after his wife when Caroline’s delicate cough halted his words.
“Lead us down, boy,” Father hollered, prompting Alex to offer Caroline his arm and start walking down the hall.
“Where is his wife,” Alex whispered, unable to hold his question any longer.
“She passed away in childbirth about four years ago,” Caroline explained without much emotion.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Did you know her well?”
Caroline misstepped a fraction. “No, not well at all.”
In the drawing room, a group of servants holding instruments that varied from an ancient looking violin to two spoons bound back-to-back were assembled together.
“Shall we?” Alex asked, leading her close to where the musicians were assembled.
Caroline walked with him to the middle of the floor and let him take her into his arms the way he had a few nights before. “It’s all right, Caro, just follow my lead.”
She moved her feet to follow
where his went.
After the first song, several couples joined them, his parents included.
Over Caroline’s head, Alex’s eyes fell on his father and mother who were standing still and swaying to the music, their arms wrapped around each other. The pair’s eyes were each fixed solely on the other and nobody else.
Uncle John spun his wife, and she squealed as she almost bumped into Liberty and Paul, sending both ladies into peals of laughter.
The earl and countess along with the duke and duchess had each found a corner of the room to dance alone. He mindlessly pulled Caroline closer, marveling at the way her soft body felt against his.
“Alex,” Caroline whispered, catching his attention.
“Yes?”
She glanced down at his snowy-white, emerald-pinned cravat before looking back to his face. “Could you please dance with Emma?”
He froze. “Am I making you uncomfortable?”
“No, not at all.” She ran her hands along his shoulders in a comforting way, then bit her lip and glanced over his shoulder for a brief second. “She’ll never get to dance if you don’t ask her. Marcus can’t dance well because of his leg. Drake won’t dance at all. And as for your friend Andrew—” she shrugged— “I think he’s forgotten it’s the responsibility of the male attendant to dance with the female attendant at least once.” She reached up and pushed a lock of fallen hair behind her ear. “Anyway, I wouldn’t wish to remind him. He looks too content with his wife. So would you please dance with her?”
He glanced to where Miss Green sat next to Marcus and Lord Drakely. The three didn’t look to be having a conversation. They appeared to be sitting quietly, watching the couples and Lord Drakely’s three daughters dance. “Of course. As soon as this song is over I’ll ask her. Will that do?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
The dance ended and Alex walked up to where Miss Green was seated. “Miss Green, would you do me the honor of this dance?”