Read Behind the Mask (House of Lords) for Free Online Page A

immensely, and she had thrown herself wholeheartedly into the scheme. The princess’s visit had thrown her plans off kilter, but she comforted herself that it was only a short hiatus, that soon she would be back in London with Imogen, Charles’s sister, and they would get to work once more.
    Lady Sidney pursed her lips at Cynthia’s praise but said nothing. Eleanor knew that her mother did not approve of the school or her work to get it up and running, but she had decided that she did not care. She spent so much of her time trying to make her mother happy that, deep down inside, some rebellious little fire had sparked and she had made up her mind to do this one thing to make herself happy.
    Now, as they waited for the youngest Chesney to come down, Lady Sidney leaned close under the pretense of adjusting her sleeve. “Don’t mention that school to Lord Pierce, darling,” she said softly. “Men don’t like a woman with an occupation.”
    Eleanor nodded, but she was not really listening. After all, Cynthia had been working as a tutor when she met the duke, and it hadn’t kept him from marrying her. Besides, she thought, Lord Pierce seemed like the last man on earth who would find a woman with an active occupation unattractive. He struck her as the sort of person who could not bear to be idle, just like her.
    As if thinking of him had summoned him Lord Pierce appeared at the top of the stairs with Maris beside him. She was wearing one of her most daring evening gowns, a deep pink affair with a low cut neckline that was perhaps more fit for a ballroom than supper in the country. But there was no denying she looked ravishing, and it was clear that Maris knew it, for she was smiling her most charming smile as Lord Pierce said something, and then she laughed prettily.
    “All assembled, then,” the duke said when they had reached the bottom of the stairs. “Shall we go in?”
    Starling Court apparently had two dining rooms, one that was smaller and more suited to intimate gatherings, and a larger one that had once hosted a state dinner for two hundred when King George III had visited. It was into the smaller dining room that they went now. The room was arranged for a convivial dinner among friends rather than a formal affair where one only talked to one’s table partner, which was for the best since there were only two gentlemen and five ladies. Eleanor found herself seated between Cynthia and Lord Pierce, with Georgina across the table.
    As they started in on the first course, Lord Pierce began quizzing Cynthia about the house. She answered the first few questions before deferring to her husband saying, “I have always considered myself to be a quick learner, Lord Pierce, but architecture is not my strong suit.”
    Charles laughed. “And what makes you think I have any greater knowledge than you, darling?”
    “You’ve lived here all your life,” she protested, smiling.
    “I suppose that’s so,” he replied, though Eleanor noticed that he still did not offer any information about the house.
    The discussion moved to other topics: the weather for the shooting season, the progress made during the Parliamentary session that year, Lord Pierce’s experiences on the Continent. When the duchess asked about Lord Pierce’s impressions of Vienna compared to Brussels, he said without looking up from his plate, “Brussels is far less...exciting.”
    It was such a cryptic statement that Eleanor was intrigued. The Belgians had barely finished fighting a revolution to establish themselves as a country and installing a new king on the throne. What could be more exciting than that? From the meaningful looks Lord Pierce exchanged with Charles, Eleanor decided she would dearly love to be present when the two men remained in the dining room after supper. But of course that was not possible, and when the meal had ended she was forced to follow the ladies into the drawing room, where the talk turned to how Georgina and Maris had