As she marched toward the library, the butler and housekeeper, Mrs. Scruggs, were there. They were whispering animatedly, and when they saw her, they braced as if with dismay.
The butler said, “Miss Caroline has arrived, sir.”
“Marvelous,” her uncle replied. “Send her in.”
They weren’t a fancy family, and there was no need to announce her, so it was very odd. She swept by the pair and entered without pausing to wonder what was happening. But the instant she was inside, she staggered to a halt.
The vicar was there, and he was over by the hearth and gripping his prayer book. Gregory was there too, dressed in his best suit, and his presence definitely flummoxed her. Mrs. Starling had slithered away a few days earlier, and he’d left with her. Caroline hadn’t realized he was home.
“What’s going on?” she asked Gregory.
He shot a furtive glance at her uncle, then he bustled forward and clasped her hands. He pulled her over to the vicar, and she was so bewildered that she lurched after him like a puppet on a string.
“You’re here, and the vicar’s here,” Gregory said. “Why not proceed with the ceremony?”
“With the wedding ceremony?” she inquired like a dunce.
“Yes. It’s our wedding day after all, and it hasn’t been officially cancelled, so Father and I thought, why not? The vicar was kind enough to oblige us.”
Her uncle came over, and he stood on one side of her, Gregory on the other. They boxed her in, as if trapping her so she couldn’t dash out.
“You’ve been upset,” Uncle Samson told her, “but we were sure you didn’t mean to cry off. Gregory and I are sorry to have quarreled with you, and we’d like to put this bickering behind us.”
Caroline bristled, recognizing it to be the most awkward moment she’d ever suffered. She was fuming, but she wouldn’t lash out at them in front of the vicar.
“The wedding has been called off—by me,” she tightly stated. “I’ve been very clear. I can’t and won’t marry Gregory. We don’t suit, and there are too many. . . issues between us.”
She didn’t cite them: Gregory’s mistress, drinking, gambling, and dissolute existence in town.
As she should have anticipated, her uncle disregarded her remark and waved to the vicar. “Don’t listen to her. Open your prayer book. Read the vows.”
“Mr. Grey!” The vicar’s tone was scolding. “I have two functioning ears, and she spoke in plain English, so I understood her with no difficulty. She has refused.”
Uncle Samson scoffed. “She doesn’t know what she wants.”
Gregory chimed in with, “My father is her guardian. Her choice of spouse is up to him. Not her. He and I are both committed to the union. Please begin.”
The vicar glowered at them, then spun to Caroline. “What is your preference, Miss Caroline? Will you continue—as your uncle is demanding?”
“No!” she insisted. “I’ve been very firm about it. I sent you a note to inform you that the service was cancelled. Didn’t you receive it?”
“Yes, I received it.”
“Then I apologize for your being dragged here on false pretenses.”
“Once I grasped what you had penned,” he said, “I wasn’t certain what to think, but your uncle claimed you were confused. I stopped by because this is a big decision, and I must be convinced that you’ve weighed the consequences. I ask you again: Do you—or do you not—wish to wed Gregory Grey?”
“No, I don’t wish it. I will never marry him. I just can’t.”
Caroline whipped away and stomped out. Behind her, the vicar said to her uncle, “You have wasted my time, sir!”
“She’s not serious!” Samson said. “Let me talk to her. Stay where you are. I’ll be right back.”
“I won’t stay,” the vicar replied. “I will not perform a ceremony when the bride is so vehemently opposed.”
She didn’t hear the rest of their conversation. She hurried to the foyer and up the stairs to her room. She went inside and slammed the door.
Typically, she viewed herself as being very calm. She never liked to rock a boat or cause a scene. But buried deep down, she had a terrible temper. She’d spent too many years tamping it down, and when it exploded, it was hard to control. She never liked to have it flare, but it was flaring now.
How dare they put her in such a hideous position!
She’d never been more embarrassed, and her mind was awhirl with trying to figure out what her next moves should be. Gregory and Uncle Samson were so determined she wed Gregory. Why? Their resolve made no sense.
Gregory was a rich bachelor from a landed family. He could marry practically any girl he liked. Why not search for her? Why harangue at Caroline when she was so reluctant? Why torment her like this?
She couldn’t remember ever being so angry, but she had to relax and focus on what was important. The two idiots had to be reined in, but she wouldn’t confront them when her fury was sparking. Nor would she chastise them while the vicar was still present.
She started to pace across her bedchamber, and she walked back and forth, back and forth, until she might have traveled for miles. She was actually tired and out of breath.
She wandered to the window and stared out, and it dawned on her that she hadn’t told Uncle Samson about Janet. Well, Janet’s problems would just have to wait. Caroline had other fish to fry.
After a bit, as she’d quieted sufficiently to head downstairs, there were footsteps in the hall. It was a male from the sound of it, and she braced, curious if it would be Gregory or Samson.
He halted, and she expected him to knock. There was a lengthy pause, then, to her stunned surprise, a key was stuck in the lock. It was turned! Then, whoever it had been, he continued on.
She gaped with dismay, then tiptoed over and tried the
