More Than Willing by Laura Landon Read Free Book Online Page B

Maggie’s heart. “I wish you were old enough to remember Papa the way he was before he started drinking and gambling. He was so different then.”
    “What happened?” Felicity asked, sitting in the chair opposite Maggie’s desk. “What made him change?”
    Maggie took a deep breath then whispered, “Mama.”
    Felicity’s gaze shot to meet Maggie’s. “Mama? Mama was the most wonderful, loving wife any husband could want. She was perfect. If it weren’t for her, Papa would have lost the brewery years ago. She knew far more about managing a business than Papa does even now. Everyone knows that.” Felicity sat straighter, her determination to protect Mama’s memory evidenced by the tightly clutched hands in her lap and the frown on her forehead. “Why, she made all the decisions when she was alive, just like you do now. You’re just like her.”
    “I know.”
    “Then how can you say that? Even Aunt Hester says the brewery never needed Papa as long as Mama was here.”
    “Don’t you see, Felicity? That was the problem. Mama was so perfect Papa couldn’t compete with her. Mama was so good at running the brewery she didn’t need him. No one needed him.”
    Felicity stared at her with rounded eyes. “We needed him.”
    Maggie shook her head. “Little girls need their mothers. Perhaps if he would have had a son…”
    Maggie looked up to find her sister studying her. “Did Papa love Mama?”
    “Too much,” Maggie answered. “So much their love destroyed them.”
    Felicity’s look changed until it contained a depth of understanding Maggie wasn’t sure she wanted her sister to possess.
    “Is that why you refused the suitors who offered for you?” Felicity asked. “Because you’re afraid to fall in love?”
    Maggie shoved the papers around on her desk. “I don’t know what you mean.”
    “Yes, you do. I heard the argument you had with Papa when you refused the Earl of Gaffney’s offer. Papa said he was rich as Croesus but you said he wasn’t a good match for you. That he was weak. You were comparing him to Papa, weren’t you?”
    “No. Of course not. I—”
    Charlotte burst through the door with Aunt Hester at her heels. Thankfully, Maggie didn’t have to come up with a lie her sister would believe.
    “Maggie, you’ve got to help me. Felicity and Aunt Hester have picked out all these materials and expect me to decide which fabric I want made into which gown and which gown I intend to wear for my come-out. How am I to know? You know I’ve never had an eye for fashion.”
    Maggie sat back against the chair that had been her mother’s and tried to forget what Felicity had almost said. “You don’t have to worry, Lottie. How often have you said that Felicity has the best eye for fashion in all of England? Let her help you.”
    “That’s what I told her. ” Aunt Hester sat primly in the chair opposite Felicity. “You’ll help her, won’t you, Felicity?”
    “Of course.”
    “See, Charlotte,” Aunt Hester said with a decisive nod. “Now, what about you, Margaret?”
    Maggie raised her brows. “Me?”
    “Yes. Surely you realize you have to have some new gowns too. This may be Felicity’s and Charlotte’s come-out, but you’ll be expected to attend the functions they do. Even though you’re probably too old to catch someone’s eye, it doesn’t mean you won’t have to be dressed properly.”
    “Maggie’s not too old to catch someone’s eye,” Lottie said in an indignant tone. “She’s simply…,” she squinted her eyes in thoughtfulness, “…more mature than most of the debutantes who will be in attendance.”
    Aunt Hester brushed her hand to the side as if ignoring any argument. “Being seven and twenty is considered by even the most optimistic as being on the shelf. But spinsterhood was Margaret’s choice and it’s too late to change things now.”
    “No it’s not,” Felicity rebutted as if the idea of her eldest sister remaining alone for the rest of her life