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

Lucy interjected. “He is opposed to anyone learning more than they ‘should’.”
    Eleanor barely heard Lucy’s words. She did not care about Lord Weatherby or his attitude toward her childhood playmates. How could she be expected to listen when Beckworth stood so close that she could have reached out and placed a hand upon his leg? She might give a gentle tug and pull him down beside her and kiss him.
    Lord, what could she possibly be thinking? That was the last thing she wanted. She took a bite of the pear in her hand and forced her attention back to the conversation. Entertaining such fantasies about Beckworth was absolutely absurd.
    And nearly impossible to suppress after that kiss last night. Dear heavens, just the scent of his skin made her insides quiver.
    “But we did teach them,” Eleanor said, forcing her attention back to the conversation. “And you say a few are now employed?”
    Meg agreed. “Yes, they are, thanks to you.”
    “An admirable undertaking, Miss Easton,” Lord Stillwater said. He asked her several polite questions about her travels before turning to Beckworth again. “’Tis been a long session in parliament this year, has it not, Duke?”
    Beckworth nodded. “Long and tedious.”
    “I admire your efforts on behalf of the children working in the mills,” he said.
    “Thank you. I do believe you might be the only one.”
    “Beg your pardon?”
    “The mill owners are not at all pleased with me.”
    “No, I suppose they are not,” the baron said.
    “What they do is immoral and unethical,” Beck said quietly. Eleanor remembered that tone, that intensity, but in far different circumstances. “The long hours the mill children must work is inhumane.”
    “That is true, Your Grace,” one of the neighbors said. “But what else are they to do?”
    “Certainly not work inside one of those mills from dawn until dusk,” Lady Stillwater said with some disdain.
    “Where does the labor bill stand, Your Grace?” Lord Stillwater asked.
    “I am still working to convince a few members to vote our way,” he replied. “We’re quite close to a majority, but at this point, it could go either way.”
    Eleanor recalled some of the discussions she’d had with Beckworth. In spite of Aunt Minerva’s admonitions, Eleanor had read the newspapers and was well versed in the issues of the day. Her knowledge seemed to be one of things Beckworth liked best about her.
    She studied him surreptitiously. There was a scattering of silver hairs at his temples, and he had developed a few thin wrinkles about his eyes. The past year had been hard on him, and she felt a twinge of guilt for the way she’d abandoned him on the eve of his mother’s sudden illness. He’d had a high regard for the duchess, and her death must have grieved him terribly. No doubt he’d had to deal with his brother’s frequent misadventures, too.
    Oh dear. She did not want to feel any sympathy for him. She altered the direction of her thoughts and turned to Joshua.
    “Tell me, Joshua,” she said, “about your sisters. Where do they reside now that they are married?”
    “Marguerite is in Reading. Her husband is a barrister there.”
    “Marguerite should have been the barrister,” Eleanor said with a wry grin. “Do you remember how she used to argue?”
    Joshua laughed. “Who could forget? But a female barrister?”
    “Sounds quite perfect,” Beckworth said. “The arguing.”
    Eleanor ignored him. “I shall be able to visit her, then, since she is so close.”
    “I expect so,” Joshua replied. “She does stay close to home as she and her husband expect their first child soon.”
    “And Joan?”
    “Joan will not be far. Her husband’s estate is in Hampshire, so I shall be able to visit frequently. She is only recently married and is on an extended wedding trip to Greece.”
    “How lovely,” Eleanor said, though not without some regret. She and Beckworth were to have traveled to Greece for their own wedding