Eleanor And The Duke (Berkshire Brides Book 1) by Margo Maguire Read Free Book Online Page A

kindly neighbor clucked her tongue. “A bitter, angry woman who took out her life’s disappointments on Eleanor.”
    “But Lady Derington put up with her?”
    “The viscountess was ill-equipped to deal with anything but her own shattered nerves,” the woman said quietly.
    Andrew knew little of Lady Derington, only that she was said to have died because of her husband’s dissipations. Fortunately, Primrose Manor had passed through her mother to Eleanor. Her father had not been able to mortgage it.
    “Joshua’s parents allowed the farce of their faux betrothal to continue until they sent him off to school,” Lady Stillwater said.
    “Lady Derington passed away the next year,” Lucy Stillwater remarked, “and Eleanor went to London.”
    “We saw her only occasionally thereafter,” Lady Stillwater added, “when she and her aunt came out to Berkshire to escape London’s summer heat.”
    “Your Grace . . .” Lucy said, “I don’t believe I ever saw Ellie happier than she was during your engagement.”
    Lord Stillwater cleared his throat and shot his daughter a warning glance.
    “But it’s true, Papa,” Lucy said. “And suddenly it was over, and she went away . . . Away from everyone she knew. From all of us who love her.”
    Andrew’s jaw clenched tightly. Eleanor had spoken sparingly to him of her mother and her life in Berkshire. He’d never known how bleak it had been.
    He did not hear her approach, did not know she’d heard the exchange until she spoke. “There is no need to feel any pity for me, Duke,” she said. The expression in her eyes was a stormy one. “I had all I needed.”

 
    CHAPTER EIGHT

    As Eleanor and Joshua returned to the group, she felt infuriated – and mortified – by the unwelcome expression of sympathy that crossed Beckworth’s face. The last thing she wanted was his pity.
    She looked at her friends. “Do you remember our forays into the village?”
    Lucy laughed. “Of course! We had such fun with the children there!”
    Joshua sat down on a rug, and Eleanor suspected he was relieved at being able to abandon her to the group. She wondered if she would need a different ploy to make Beckworth leave Berkshire, whether he would ever believe Joshua was actually courting her.
    “I sometimes used to walk to the village with the girls,” Lord Stillwater explained, “and our Miss Easton would collect as many of the local children as she could, and take them to the broken-down undercroft of old St. Stephen’s church.”
    “Where we taught them to read,” Lucy said.
    “And do simple sums,” Meg Stillwater added.
    Beck caught Eleanor’s eye. “You did that?”
    “Well, why should they not expect to do better in life than their parents?” she retorted.
    He raised his brows. “I have never believed that they shouldn’t.”
    Eleanor had known that about him, but she was not mollified. She sat down next to Lady Stillwater and picked up a ripe pear from a bowl of fruit near her.
    “Some of those children in our small village went on to find employment in Reading,” Lady Stillwater said. “One is clerk to a solicitor there. Two others are teachers themselves now.”
    “I am gratified to know it,” Eleanor said soberly.
    Lucy laughed. “You had fun doing it, Ellie. Remember how you used to steal the chalk from the rectory to use on the slate tablets Joshua found for us?”
    “Please, Lucy!” Eleanor said with mock contrition. “Do not speak of my sins before your brother-in-law!”
    Everyone chuckled, and she felt Beckworth move closer, the warmth of his body creeping into hers. Her breath caught, but she managed to resist leaning toward him.
    “Do you remember when Lord Weatherby came upon us?” Meg asked.
    Eleanor had not remembered it until Meg mentioned it. “He made us stop. Admonished us all to disperse.”
    “Yes, and later he spoke to your mother specifically about it,” Lord Stillwater said. “He was incensed by your actions.”
    “Of course he was,”