The Earl's Inconvenient Wife (Regency Collection Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

to five minutes ago, she wasn’t even engaged!
    Before she could respond, a cunning smile crossed Lord Roderick’s face.  “As luck would have it, I need to return to Weston soon.  I’m afraid there will be no time for such a wedding.  We’ll have to make do with a private affair.”
    She narrowed her eyes at him and removed her hand from his arm.  “I don’t care.  I don’t even want to marry you.”
    “Claire, let’s not be rash,” her father argued.
    “Yes, such a thing would foul up your plans, would it not?” Lord Roderick added.
    “I have no idea what you mean by that,” she told him, not liking whatever it was he was implying.
    “A private affair will be fine, my lord,” her father said, shooting her a pleading look to be amiable.
    She glanced at her mothe r and sister who were as happy as her father.
    “When do you want the wedding to take place?” her father asked.
    Lord Roderick’s cold gaze returned to her.  “I see no reason to wait.  The whole purpose of this marriage is to avoid scandal, is it not?”
    She gritted her t eeth as her stomach tensed up into a terrible knot.  “Is there really no other choice but marriage?”
    “Judging by the way you and Lord Roderick were rolling around on the grass together, you must go through with it,” her sister said, shooting Claire a congratulatory wink.
    Claire gasped.  “We weren’t rolling around on the grass together.  I was dizzy and fell.”
    Her sister shrugged and offered an innocent smile.  “From what I saw, you two were intimately entwined.”
    “That’s enough, Lilly,” her father admonished.  “We don’t need to go into details.  The important thing is that we’ll get the matter resolved and there’s no harm done.”
    “Yes, that seems to be of most importance,” Lord Roderick added.  “I suppose I should get a special license so we can get the wedding underway.  I see no reason to delay the event.”
    Her father laughed, probably not noticing Lord Roderick’s slight grimace.  “We’ll do everything we can to accommodate you, my lord.”
    Lord Roderick glanced at her with a clenched jaw.  “Splendid.”
    Claire blinked and then studied her family.  Didn’t they see how opposed he was to this marriage?
    “There’s no need to stay out here when we can discuss the details for the wedding inside,” Lord Roderick told her father.
    Her father nodded and hurried to lead the group back inside, and Claire swore he was half-skipping in his enthusiasm to see her married so well.  Without another look in her direction, Lord Roderick followed her father inside with her mother trailing close behind him.
    Her steps considerably slower than theirs, Claire trudged after them.  Beside her, Lilly whispered, “I never realized you were so clever.”
    “Clever how?” Claire whispered, clenching her hands together in nervous dread.  Good heavens but she was about to be married to a gentleman who detested her because her father made it look like there was a scandal going on when there wasn’t!
    Lilly giggled but kept her voice low so no one would overhear.  “Clever how?  The way you plotted to get a gentleman with a title alone with you was genius.  I wish I’d thought to go outside by myself so I could snag someone suitable.”
    She groaned and resisted the urge to rub her forehead as the y passed by a group of ladies who giggled from behind their fans.  She didn’t know what was worse: being stupid enough to go outside without a chaperone or not bolting to go inside as soon as Lord Roderick found her.
    “I wonder if something similar might work for me,” Lilly whispered.
    “Don’t be absurd!” Claire quietly hissed.  “Do you think he’s happy to marry me?” She stopped and motioned to Lord Roderick whose face remained stoic while her father and mother adamantly talked to him.
    Lilly shrugged and inspected her gloves.  “What does that matter?  You’ll be wealthy for the rest of your