Cressida's Dilemma Read Online Free PDF Page B

offer some insight into the reasons for Cressida’s withdrawal the past ten months.
    First, though, it was understandable that Mariah would want to know his progress concerning the unexpected request she’d made several weeks ago. There was much to admire in this woman who had suffered with such dignity.
    Almost businesslike, she said, “You have discovered something, Justin, and I have not the patience to wait for you to tell me in your own words and time.”
    Justin nodded slowly. “You have waited a long time, Mariah. I understand that.” He weighed up the kindest way to couch his response. The truth was, he had discovered nothing that could either give her hope or a reason to accept that she must suspend her desire for answers for the sake of everyone’s happiness. Directness was always the best way forward, he decided, before realizing he and Cressida had been anything but direct with one another lately. “There are several avenues, Mariah.”
    “ Several ?” She took a breath, drawing herself up and fixing him with an incisive look.
    One dainty, black slipper peeped from beneath the flounce of her once fashionable cerulean gown. Mariah had always dressed elegantly, but in the dim light, Justin could see the signs of wear, the discreet darning.
    “Yet nothing concrete?”
    He shook his head. “Mariah, if you need money—”
    She raised her hand, cutting him off. “I sing for my supper every Wednesday, Justin. Mrs. Plumb has been a good friend.” She indicated the small drawing room in which they sat. “She gives me my privacy when I need it and ensures I do not lack entertainment.”
    Justin gave a wry laugh as he removed his face mask. “I wish it weren’t necessary to disguise myself, Mariah. I feel like a thief in the night and don’t know how I’d begin to explain these visits to my wife.”
    “Your wife should strive a little harder to value the prize jewel she married. You’ve not told her about what you’re doing, Justin? You promised me.”
    His urge to confide in Mariah about his marital problems was checked by her mild criticism of Cressida, and he regretted unburdening himself when he’d hinted that his wife was no longer as eager for the joys of the marital bed as she once had been. But it had been so good to see Mariah again after so many years and natural to revive the friendship with its old familiarity.
    “Cressida is an angel. I’d trust her with my life, but since you are concerned that she mixes with some of the parties concerned in my investigation, I assure you that my lips are sealed.”
    “Cressida is a lucky woman.”
    He glanced at Mariah’s face, serene and faintly sympathetic in the light cast by the Argand light on the low table nearby. He did not think jealousy was behind the faint contempt he sensed. Mariah and he had shared similar interests and an affectionate rather than passionate physical relationship all those years ago. He’d been generous when he’d given Mariah her congé, though her illustrious marriage to Lord Grainger ought to have ensured her comfort for the rest of the days. It was, in fact, when Mariah looked set to be left all but destitute by the aging peer who was in the process of divorcing her that she and Justin had met. Mariah had already risen to great heights of her own accord when she’d won Grainger’s heart. The once-famous opera singer had gone on to win Justin’s after she’d sought legal advice while struggling to maintain her dignity—and enough support to keep body and soul together—in the face of Grainger’s appalling treatment of her during the final months of their marriage. Mariah had given the youthful Justin her loyalty and her gratitude for his friendship. Much later, she’d given him her body, but never a hint as to the reasons for her humiliating divorce. Not all of them, anyway.
    “It seems Cressida would rather put you through the mill than offer a reasonable argument for her cruelty.”
    Mariah looked so