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Cartwell Manor

A few miles south of Maidstone, Kent

It was the night before the house party officially began, and the Honorable Caroline Ives was not in the mood to socialize with any of the people her mother had invited to this gathering, and neither she did want to entertain conversation with men who didn’t matter.

At least to her.

The idea of doing the pretty in the ton for any reason was ridiculous.

There were far more entertaining prospects to spend one’s time on, and she was interested in many of them.

Unfortunately, her mother was vehemently opposed to her doing any of those things.

To her way of thinking, one should only spend one’s time in pursuits that would find one a husband or make one more wanted as a future hostess.

Both of which made Caroline’s eyes cross in boredom .

When her nose tickled, she stifled a sneeze the best she could, for the family had gathered in the drawing room after dinner.

Her parents, her younger sister, and her older brother, who was preparing to depart for Brighton with a few of his fellows, were all talking at once, for life was busy and was about to change again for all of them.

Yet her brother was quite lucky to be leaving; he and his mates had plans for May Day in Brighton where they could take advantage of the social scene there as well as the sea, and do whatever young gentlemen did before the summer commenced and the heat made everyone crotchety.

Once the Season began in the autumn, no doubt their parents would heavily encourage Andrew to take rooms in Town in the hopes that he would make inroads into courting a miss from a decent family—he was one and thirty after all—but that was a notion for another time.

Not wishing to partake of the conversation that focused on the house party which would begin on the morrow, Caroline browsed through a periodical that talked about the heavens and the stars, and that the author thought the world was on the cusp of brilliant discoveries in what lay just above their heads in the night skies.

Truly, it was a thrilling time to be alive, and more than anything, she wanted to be a part of that, because it would matter, where the opinions of a group of tabbies in the ton would not.

Or she was merely bitter that she’d reached the age of eight and twenty and had never been wanted by a gentleman in society for anything other than scandalous pursuits.

At the last second, Caroline stifled a snort, for that wasn’t true.

She hadn’t a bitter bone in her body; her bubbly and sunny personality could attest to that, but the fact that she hadn’t taken did rankle a bit.

However, she rather thought she would expire from the dullness around her.

Something was needed to stir the pot as it were.

“Caroline!”

She startled at the obvious annoyance in her mother’s voice. “Hmm?” When she glanced over at her parent, she slowly set the pamphlet down, for there was a thunderstorm brewing in her mother’s expression. “Did you say something?”

“I have been talking to everyone for the past ten minutes, but once again, your head is in the clouds as you woolgather about God only knows what.”

“Stargazing, actually.” The additional information didn’t help her cause as four pairs of eyes stared at her. “I apologize. What were you saying?”

Andrew snickered. “You really put your foot in it this time, didn’t you, sis?” he whispered, since he sat next to her on the sofa.

Then it was her sister, Debra, who interrupted. “Why must you insist on being such an odd duck, Caro? For once, can you try not to embarrass me?”

“I remember that being two and twenty was such a difficult age, so I’ll forgive you for that,” she responded with heavy sarcasm in her voice.

Her sister had been an accident and quite the surprise for her parents, and since Debra was six years her junior, she was still very much the baby of the family.

“Truth to tell, though, I’ve grown weary of hearing about this house party ad nauseum . ”

Her sister frowned, but on her, it only made her more charming. “You’re jealous that all the attention will be on me for the next week.”

“Ha!” Caroline shook her head. “Hardly. I didn’t enjoy being in society during my own Come Out, and my views on that haven’t changed all these years later.”

“Enjoy being a spinster.” Debra patted hair that was as black as her own, but somehow, she managed to look like a china doll where Caroline resembled…

well, not that. “I’ll wager I’ll land a man as soon as I’m out, even if it’s a few years later than my friends.

” She cast a speaking glance to their father, who largely ignored everyone as he hid behind his newspaper.

“And when I bring a man up to scratch, he’ll be titled. ”

Oh, to be young and na?ve again.

“Not with that swollen head,” Andrew said with a laugh that nearly had him tilting off the sofa. “Men don’t chase after women who think so highly of themselves, and if they discover you’re only hunting titled husbands? They’ll avoid you.”

A huff escaped her sister. “Just because that happened to Caro doesn’t mean it will happen to me too.”

Oh, that was just so wrong! “And shall I remind you that some women aren’t wed or haven’t married because we aren’t so desperate as to take the first man who looks our way?” At least that is what Caroline told herself when her spirits dipped and she suspected that life was passing her by.

“Children, enough!” Their mother shook her head.

Silver strands throughout her dark blonde hair winked in the candlelight.

Then she blew out a breath. “Let us return to the matter at hand.” She glared at them all in turn.

“Be mindful of the fact that some guests have arrived this evening and they might be wandering the house.”

Their father grunted. “Already?” He put down one corner of the newspaper. “Truly?”

“Not one word out of you, Edward. I have planned this house party for the past three months. You have been absent for as long.”

“Ah, but who funded this event?” With a smirk, he hid behind his paper again.

“Regardless,” their mother said with a shake of her head.

“One of my friends is here, and her travel plans were accelerated due to her children’s schedules.

I have put her and her fifteen-year-old daughter in one of the guest rooms, but she’ll have another roommate once the rest of the party arrives.

Her brother is in one of the larger guest rooms that host two other narrow beds in the short wing where we are housing the men. ”

Cartwell Manor, named that after Caroline’s great-great-grandmother’s maiden name, was in the shape of the letter “L” in that the older structure was the long part and retained much of the original building while the newly added wing was the shorter side, added within the past twenty years or so.

Her stare dared any of them to contradict her. “I don’t anticipate they’ll probably be out and about, since they’ve taken dinner on trays, but one never knows.”

“This is so exciting!” Debra fairly bounced on her chair. “I can’t wait until the house party officially starts tomorrow with the welcome luncheon and then the rout that evening. My Come Out is finally here!”

At the last second, Caroline stopped herself from rolling her eyes in exasperation.

But she couldn’t help but try to temper the enthusiasm.

“It’s not all that wonderful once a few Seasons come and go,” she said as she fiddled with her brass telescope.

Would it be rude to leave their company right now?

“ There are m more interesting things to spend one’s time on beyond flirting and trying to attract men. ”

“Do stop.” Debra pulled a face. “Just because all your Seasons ended in disappointment doesn’t mean mine will. Especially since you refused to take due to your weirdness.”

“I refuse to argue about this with you.” Not for worlds would she show her family that she might agree with that assessment.

Was she too odd for most men to stomach?

Was it truly off-putting and scandalous for a woman to have varied interests that went beyond embroidery, painting, and how to run a household?

“I had plenty of men interested. It was me who dragged my feet.” Because she didn’t want to marry merely to say she was married.

She didn’t need someone bossing her or withholding pin money or worse, keeping a mistress.

Their mother huffed. “And that is the reason at eight and twenty you are unmarried and unwanted. If it turns any worse, I don’t know what we’ll do.”

Is being a spinster such a bad thing?

“They’re right, sis.” Andrew nodded and gave her a cheeky wink. “A familial embarrassment, I’ll wager.”

“Do shut up. At least I’m not the one who got himself so inebriated that he ran out of a tavern in the village without his breeches.

” Though she wanted to protest about the embarrassment, she couldn’t help but think there was a grain of truth there.

“I refuse to marry without love, and I won’t settle for someone just to lord my status over my unmarried friends.

” She shrugged. “In the meanwhile, I wrote a book. When I have the time, I’ll write to publishers in London to see if one of them wants to publish it.

If they do, I’ll write another one.” That particular fact excited her more than any other.

It was amazing what one could do when one didn’t need to make herself available in the event a man took notice.

“I have also pursued things of interest that improve my mind and quench my thirst for answers. Both styles of living are enough for now.”

“How perfectly dull.” Debra shook her head. “I’d rather be married instead of a mockery or object of pity.”