She nodded, her smile still in place even as tears welled in her eyes. “Much better, sir, thank you,” she replied. “Despite what I just said about acceptance, I keep praying this is not a dream.”
“It’s real enough, rest assured,” he replied, “and given that you’re seated in my living room, eating my food, and wearing my dressing-gown, I believe we can dispense with the formalities. Please, address me as Daniel. May I call youMiriam?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Well, Miriam, I have considered our somewhat unorthodox circumstances and have a proposal. How do you feel abouteloping with me to Scotland? Just the two of us. No fuss. No questions asked. Nice and quiet and private.”
Miriam let out a soft sigh and, as if in ecstasy, closed her eyes and tilted her head back. It was an innocent but sensual move that had Daniel surreptitiously adjusting his trousers.
“It sounds wonderful, Daniel,” she said, opening her eyes. “How do I feel? I feel honored, as well as fortunate, grateful and happy!”
Daniel laughed. “Then I shall make the arrangements starting tomorrow. The first thing we need to do, I think, is to buy you some clothes.”
Miriam’s face fell. “I have some perfectly nice clothes at the Rectory, but didn’t have time to pack them all. I grabbed only what I could, I’m afraid.”
“We’ll sort that out later,” Daniel replied. “I have to go out this afternoon to let my current client know I’ll be absent for a few days, but I won’t be gone long. Might I suggest you get some rest in the meantime?”
As if on cue, Miriam stifled a yawn. “Oh, excuse me. Yes, I think I will.”
Chapter Five
Clutching a freshbunch of flowers, Miriam made her way along the cemetery path toward her mother’s grave. The sun had risen more than an hour since, its light masked by another bout of fog, which drifted in patches through the headstones like a horde of ghosts. Miriam smiled at the thought, wondering if her mother was with her right now. “If you are here, Mama, thank you,” she murmured. “And thank you to Alice as well. I’m not frightened anymore.”
Yesterday had been spent preparing for the journey. Today, Daniel had a few final arrangements to make, mostly to do with adjusting his work schedule. This time tomorrow, they’d be on the way to Scotland, an elopement not driven by fear, but simply to avoid any potential obstructions or delays. After that, they would be together completely, free to surrender to the temptations and desires that now existed between them.
It had been less than two days since Daniel had taken her to his home, a brief span of time in which Miriam had discovered what it meant to fall in love. Any and all of her fears had dissipated, replaced by a wonderful sense of rightness, as if she’d at last found her place, which was beside Daniel. He’d not been happy about her going to the cemetery alone this morning but, as she pointed out, she’d been visiting her mother’s grave for months without a chaperone.
The empty bench emerged from the fog and Miriam smiled at the memories it evoked. She paused at the graves, her gaze coming to rest on Daniel’s angel. Though biblically they had no gender, this particular angel’s face, with its delicate lines and gentle expression, was inarguably female. Miriam set her flowers down, stepped closer, and trailed her fingers across the angel’s cheek. It was cold and smooth. Flawless, as an angel should be. As she stepped back, a tingle ran up her spine and she froze, instinctively aware that she was no longer alone.
“That’s the trouble with habits,” a dreadfully familiar voice said. “They’re hard to break. I knew I’d find you here one of these mornings.”
The hair on Miriam’s nape lifted and she turned, slowly, to face her stepbrother. “Silas. What are you doing here?”
“Where are you staying?” he demanded, looking her up and down. “Not the workhouse. I already checked.”
“That is none of your business, sir.”
He laughed. “Actually, it is, since I’m your guardian.”
Miriam shook her head. “Not legally! Besides, what do you care where I’m staying? You wanted me out of the house and I’ve obliged you. You should be happy about it.”
His fists clenched. “We had an agreement.”
“Who did? I never agreed to anything.”
“Me and Paget.”
Miriam scoffed. “I wouldn’t marry Mr. Paget if he was the last man on Earth. I believe I made that clear already.”
Nostrils flaring, Silas took a step closer, enunciating every word as he spoke. “Paget and I had an agreement.”
A prickle of fear brushed over Miriam’s scalp. When impassioned, as he was now, Silas always assumed a wild look. It actually served him well in the pulpit, adding drama to his Sunday sermons. Yet this was different, somehow. He lookedunhinged. Frenzied, almost. “Then tell him the agreement no longer stands,” she replied.
Silas’s eyes narrowed. “It will cost me if I do that.”
“Cost you? How?” Miriam gasped. “Are you saying yousoldme?”
“No, of course I didn’t, you stupid girl, but Paget agreed to make a handsome donation to St Mark’s once you were wed. Youoweme, Miriam. I housed you, fed you, tolerated your presence beneath my roof. Paget is a decent man. A Christian man. A man who—”
