Along Came a Duke by Elizabeth Boyle Read Free Book Online Page A

another.”
    â€œIn other words,” Preston began, “I need to be as dull and sensible as all those mushrooms and cits you pander to in the House of Commons.”
    Hen pressed her lips together and narrowly avoided smiling at this insult. “Henry does have a point. You must consider the lineage. And our position in society.”
    â€œHang Almack’s and the rest of them,” Preston replied. “Besides, I don’t see the rush. Grandfather added you two to the family tree when he was well into his dotage.”
    The old duke’s marriage to the young and comely widow Lady Salsbury had been yet another on dit in a long life of scandals, especially when she’d gone and produced a spare heir and a daughter all at once. Society had been shocked. Who would have thought the old duke capable, let alone Lady Salsbury—who’d had four husbands before her marriage to the duke and not a child to show from any of those unions?
    â€œDash it all, Christopher,” Lord Henry said, completely forgetting himself, “you need to infuse some cash into your estates, and I am trying to help you do just that. These cits and mushrooms you mock have more ready brass than you do. Than any of us do. The world is changing, and mark my words, one day it will be the merchants and shop owners who run this country.”
    â€œGood heavens, what a distasteful notion,” Aunt Hen declared, her nose wrinkled at the very thought. “Really, Preston, it is simply a matter of getting married to a proper lady and securing an heir. Then Henry will do the rest, and all of us will be redeemed.”
    There it was. Get married. The solution to everything.
    Why couldn’t his aunt be more like one of those chits from that little village Roxley had dragged him through? If it were true—that none of them had any desire to be wed—he might consider moving there. Permanently.
    But his momentary plans for escape were for naught, for Lord Henry reached across the table and caught up his sister’s list. “Hen has the perfect lady in mind. She comes with a decent bloodline and a goodly inheritance.”
    â€œHow kind of you,” Preston replied.
    Hen ignored his sarcasm. “I cast this paragon in your direction with much trepidation, Preston. There are others there as well. Just in case.”
    â€œTruly, Hen, I am no monster,” Preston told her, avoiding even a glance in the direction of Henry’s outstretched hand. Wherein lay his future bride. “I hardly see why one bit of scandal should force me into the parson’s trap.”
    â€œOne bit of scandal?” Hen shot back. “Look behind you, Preston! You’ve left a wake of ruin in your path this Season and it is only the first week of May!”
    â€œIsn’t that doing it up a bit, Hen?” he dared. Even as the words fell from his lips he knew he’d fallen into a dangerous mire.
    â€œLord Holdwin’s daughter?” She held up her hand and ticked off one finger. The rest of her fingers fell in quick succession. “Lady Violet, Miss Seales, the Earl of Durston’s twin daughters—”
    â€œThey only count once, for I could never tell them apart,” he tried to joke.
    Hen appeared ready to douse him with her tea. Or rather the entire urn. “And shall I remind you of how this Season began? With Lord Randall’s daughter?”
    Preston scuttled up in his seat, rising to his own defense. “That foolish chit shouldn’t have followed me out into the garden. At her own debut ball, no less.”
    â€œYou ruined her!” Aunt Hen shot back. “And put a blight on our reputations because you couldn’t control yourself.”
    â€œI didn’t ruin the gel. I kissed her,” he corrected. “I hardly call that ruin. Besides, isn’t she engaged now to that Scottish fellow?”
    â€œYes, but he’s a mere knight, and hardly the lofty and