Mariel Read Online Free PDF

are you trying to make everyone dislike you, Mariel?”
    She swallowed harshly. Why could this man with a few words, cut to the quick of her soul? He did not know her, but revealed the secrets she could not admit to herself.
    Slowly Ian released her arm. Viewing the bare emotion on her face, he could not ask more of her. More than anyone he had met in his life, Mariel needed to heal the pain within herself. He might not be the one to help her, for she did not fail to show him on every opportunity how little she wanted him to play a part in her life.
    When she had arrived this afternoon, he had thought … He erased the intriguing image from his mind. As if a sudden lassitude had dropped on him, he sat again. He looked at her confused features.
    â€œForgive me, Mariel. I had no cause to speak to you like that.” His mouth tilted in a wry grin. “Sometimes I have this yearning to solve all the problems of the world. An egotism shared by too many clergymen.”
    She stood uneasily by the door, torn between the urge to spit out angry words and leave, and the urge to stay and learn more about this surprising man. Her feet seemed nailed to the floor and her voice frozen in her throat. She knew there must be something she could say, but her normally facile mind could think of nothing. As each moment passed, her embarrassment grew. The hot flush along her face warned her she could not hide it.
    The door opened abruptly into her back. She was jolted forward several steps. With a hurried apology, Mrs. Reed peeked into the room. When she saw Lady Mariel’s reddened cheeks and the reverend’s tight lips, she knew she had interrupted something important.
    â€œReverend, I knocked, but no one—”
    He rose with the aid of his cane and waved aside her apology. “What is it, Mrs. Reed?”
    â€œIt is Mrs. Albion. She wants to talk to you about the new altar cloth she is making.”
    â€œHave her wait in the parlor. I will be there shortly.” When the housekeeper nodded and closed the door, he looked at Mariel. “Will you stay while I deal with this?”
    Unwilling to lose her chance to flee from this uncomfortable situation, she said quickly, “You are busy. I can return at a later date.”
    â€œI won’t be long. Five minutes.”
    â€œI can come back.”
    He stepped closer to her. When he took her fingers in his hand, she looked from them to his mysterious eyes. The gentle stroke of his thumb across her palm sent strange sensations through her. He lifted her hand and sandwiched it tenderly between his own.
    â€œMariel, don’t leave when we are unsettled with one another. That happened yesterday. We are going to be working together while I am in Foxbridge. Must we argue all the time?”
    â€œProbably.” She dimpled as her sense of humor reasserted itself. “I argue with everyone else I work with.”
    â€œSo I have heard.” He became serious as he asked again, “You will wait?”
    â€œYes.”
    He squeezed her fingers gently. His face mirrored his reluctance as he released them. “It will take no longer than five minutes. Make yourself at home.”
    â€œThank you.”
    Mariel watched as he walked to the door. He moved so smoothly with his cane, she could forget it except for times when it hit the door with a hollow sound or when it brushed her skirt. She whirled about to look out the window past the sofa. Wrapping her arms around herself, she regarded the activities on the green.
    Children chased a hoop and played with a ball. Two women with baskets of laundry resting on their hips talked soundlessly. A man staggered from the direction of the village pub, which bore the odd name of “Three Georges.” In front of the parsonage, she could see her automobile and a carriage she assumed belonged to Mrs. Albion.
    She did not know the woman, although she was well acquainted with her husband, for he served with her on