My Darling Caroline Read Free Page B

traveled down, then up the length of her body, until his eyes met hers once again, his expression completely unreadable. “I wasn’t expecting someone quite so old.”
    Never in her life had Caroline been treated so by a man gently bred, and the strangeness of his manner almost startled her. Almost. With a deep exhalation, she held his gaze and retorted sarcastically, “I wasn’t expecting someone quite so skinny.”
    She noticed the immediate sign of anger as his jaw tightened considerably, although her eyes never wavered from his. Then his mouth abruptly changed to a knowing smirk. “Your father said you have a saucy tongue.”
    “And did my father also say I have a life of my own and no wish to be married?”
    His smile vanished. “That’s irrelevant—”
    “Irrelevant to whom?”
    He regarded her for a moment, then carried on as if her words were completely insignificant.
    “Banns will be posted tomorrow, and we’ll be married in three weeks’ time. I would, of course, prefer you to be a virgin. Since I have no choice in the matter, I will take you ruined, with the condition that any child you’re now carrying be disposed of properly at its birth.”
    Caroline could not believe her ears and was suddenly filled with outrage. Clenching her fists tightly at her sides, she slowly began to move toward him. “Shall I hang the poor child by his toenails and leave him for the wolves to maul, perhaps?”
    That truly seemed to startle him. “You know that’s not what I meant,” he responded quietly, defensively.
    “Then maybe,” she continued with absolute intolerance, “if I’m not requesting too much, you’ll ask me to marry you in a gentlemanly fashion instead of coining phrases such as ‘I’ll assume you’re a virgin,’ and ‘I’ll take you ruined with conditions.’”
    His cheek twitched, his lids narrowed, but he didn’t budge or move his gaze from her face.
    “I haven’t the vaguest idea of how to fill a scatterbrained female with words of sweetness, so let me say only this, Miss Grayson.” His voice was low, hard. “I despise the notion of marriage to someone about whom I know nothing. I have very specific situations in my life that require my full concentration, and I don’t need that concentration interrupted by a weeping female clinging to my arm and begging for attention. I cannot afford trinkets, or fancy clothing, or endless parties. I cannot afford imported Spanish tapestries, or Bavarian chocolates—”
    “I don’t need chocolates,” she cut in defensively.
    He took a step toward her, and she instinctively took one back.
    Suddenly his face lost all expression as he once again studied her appearance. “Actually, I’m rather surprised you’re not jumping at this opportunity, Miss Grayson. I’m sure you’ll not be getting any other offers.”
    She was so shocked by his manner that she simply gaped at him, finding it unbelievable that a nobleman would speak to a lady the way he had. Usually men at least pretended to find her charming, although truthfully she saw almost no men at all except those married to her sisters.
    But after a moment’s hesitation on her part, her eyes still locked with his, she decided he was simply another idiot man who undoubtedly thought himself smarter than she. She would eventually prove him incorrect in his assumptions, and that thought alone made her smile to herself.
    Sighing heavily, anger subsiding, she dropped her gaze and abruptly turned her back to him, moving to sit in a large leather chair across from the desk. She leaned her head back against the soft cushion, placed her rose in her lap (hadn’t she been going to put it in water about three years ago?), and closed her eyes.
    “What’s that?” he asked seconds later.
    She peeked out cautiously through lowered lashes, noticing proudly that he had placed his curious gaze on her flower. She smiled in satisfaction and raised the rose to study it in front of her face.
    “This, my lord, is