The Reluctant Duke (Love's Pride Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

Saturday. That would give his diminished staff enough time to get things into working order.
    Mr. Moore said that he looked forward to seeing him in church on Sunday. Thomas cringed inside. Church was a waste of time, something he no longer had. A man was going to either Heaven or Hell based upon his actions throughout the week, not because he attended a meeting on Sunday.
    He knew the importance of appearances, however. So he reluctantly confirmed he’d be there on Sunday, knowing it would give everyone in the village an opportunity to see the new Duke.
    Most of these people had never traveled out of the district. Their entire lives revolved around this village, their families and Brookshire were forever entangled.
    To a large extent, the congregation would be made up of either his tenants or merchants whose livelihood relied upon him and his tenants. They’d want to see him and try to determine what impact he’d be having upon their village. Another of those responsibilities that were beginning to feel like an anvil tied around his neck.
    He bade the Vicar farewell and made his way back through the village retrieving the loaded wagon from the inn and pulling out onto the road back to Brookshire. He’d made sure to purchase something from each of the merchants, including some dress fabric from the milliner. What he was going to do with dress fabric he had no idea, but it was important that each of the shops had benefited from his arrival.
    Of course, the fact that the cloth was the same color as Miss Harding’s eyes had no impact on his decision. None what so ever.
    Retrieving the wagon, he started the horse back up the long hill to Brookshire. He’d only traveled a few hundred yards when he saw the woman filling his thoughts walking down the middle of the road, carrying an empty basket and looking at the dusty path lost in thought. He pulled up the horse and waited for her to notice his presence.
    “Hello Miss Harding”
    She looked up surprised. “Your Grace,” she said and curtsied. Her eyes had grown big as a pretty flush touched her cheeks.
    “What are you doing here? Running away already?” he teased.
    “Hoping to talk the butcher into providing your dinner,” she answered, and then remembering who she was talking too, blushed.
    He smiled and pointed to the back of the wagon, “I believe this will take care of dinner, and much more.” He studied her for a moment; she was so innocent, purity in motion. The walk had placed a tantalizing rosy glow to her cheeks, and those striking eyes were alight. Lighter in color today, almost mirroring the crisp blue sky above.
    “Would you like a ride back to Brookshire?”
    The gentlemanly thing to do would be to jump down and help her into the wagon. His leg cringed in anticipation of the effort of getting down and then back up into the wagon.
    Before he could act she was up on the vehicle, smoothing out her dress as she sat on the bench seat of the wagon. She looked over at him with a raised eyebrow as if asking what? You expected a helpless female, didn’t you?
    Shaking his head, he flicked the reins. How does a Duke talk to a woman like her he wondered? A servant but so much more. Why even bother. Because you want to impress her you idiot. While that was definitely true, it was also very true that he’d just scare her away.
    A woman like this had probably been fighting against unwanted advances from her employers for years. The last thing she needed was to be bothered by another boorish oaf pestering her with attention. But God, it was hard not to.
    Has there ever been such a beautiful, innocent woman, someone so full of life? Just looking at her made him want to smile. Thoughts of bloody battlefields and Ducal responsibilities melted away.
    A strong desire to know everything about her washed through him. What is she doing here, where’d she come from, and what did she think of Brookshire? What did she think of him?
    “Nice weather isn’t it,” he said, God,