Autumn Rain Read Online Free PDF Page B

and forced a watery smile. "Your papa really believes he does this for you."
    "It's because he could not leave the cards and dice alone," Elinor retorted, rubbing at her swollen eyes.
    "It's a weakness he cannot help, I'm afraid. And weak men make excuses that they come to believe." Mary Ashton rose from the bed and turned away. "I did try, you know."
    To Elinor, it was as though the last gate had closed, trapping her. "I know," she managed miserably. "But I shall hate Lord Kingsley—I know it."
    Later, when all tears were spent, when she could do naught but stare into the faded canopy over her bed, Elinor heard her father's words again. You'll want for nothing—nothing. You '11 have jewels, fancy gowns—a hundred servants to do your bidding—and you will be in a position to help your sisters. What had the vicar once preached? Be careful what you seek. Well, even God was against her, she decided bitterly, for He'd fulfilled her dreams in the cruellest way. She'd dared to hope for someone young and handsome like Longford. Instead, she faced a life with an old man.

CHAPTER 3
    Stoneleigh, Cornwall: December 16, 1807
    It did not seem possible that this was happening to her, but after six weeks of tears interspersed between frenetic shopping and fittings, Elinor Elizabeth Anne Ashton faced her unwanted bridegroom in the elegantly appointed saloon and said the words that bound her to him, while her mother wept silently behind her. To her credit, the girl did not even flinch when he slipped the ring onto her finger. Telling herself that she no longer cared, she allowed Arthur Charles William Kingsley to lead her to the parish book, and there, on the carefully lined and numbered vellum page, she signed her name.
    It was over. At fifteen, she was married. She now belonged to a man more than twenty years older than her own father. She stepped back, and her parents signed for witness. Behind her, her husband's grandson, a boy her own age, murmured his good wishes.
    It was over. There would be but the elegant, intimate supper, an hour or so of quiet conversation, and then... her thoughts stopped there. She was not at all certain what to expect later. Whatever it would be, it would not matter either, she told herself. She cast a sidewise glance at her elderly bridegroom, wondering if he knew how much she wished him dead. Not dead precisely, she corrected herself guiltily. Just gone. Anywhere.
    "Tired, my dear?" Arthur Kingsley asked her solicitously.
    "No."
    "Nonetheless, I should insist that you rest before we dine. I'd not have you out of looks tonight."
    "Really, I—"
    "Lord Kingsley is quite right, dearest," her mother declared a trifle too brightly. "I shall be happy to go up with you."
    "Go on, puss—plain to see your husband has business with me," Thomas Ashton said. "Got to be obedient— no time to argue with the man."
    "Papa—"
    "Not to look at me, Nell—got to learn to look to him."
    "I want to go with Nell," Charlotte announced.
    "Me, too," a six-year-old Frances chimed in.
    The elderly baron exchanged a significant glance with Elinor's mother, making her color uncomfortably. "Yes, well—really, but I think Lord Kingsley has ordered entertainment for you, my dears," she murmured. "And I should like a few moments alone with Nell."
    Dismissed, Elinor trod the stairs slowly, reluctantly, to the elegant bedchamber above. Behind her, her mother sucked in her breath. "Well, you cannot say he does not value you," she murmured. "I vow I have never seen the like."
    "Yes," the girl answered without enthusiasm. "I shall be like a bird in a golden cage."
    "It's not forever, dearest."
    "I doubt he will die today, Mama."
    "No—no, of course not. Indeed, you should not wish it—the settlements—"
    "Hang the settlements, Mama!" Elinor cried. "Is that all any can think on? What about me? I am your daughter!" Looking around her, she sighed. "Your pardon, Mama—I do not blame you for this. But Papa—"
    "There was nothing he could