Seduction Never Lies Read Online Free PDF

basic goodness of human nature that made her father so popular in the parish, even if his adherence to the traditional forms of worship did not always find favour with the hierarchy in the diocese.
    But that was quite another problem.
    Whereas—sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof, she thought. Which, in this case, was Jago Marsh.
    And she sighed again but this time rather more deeply.

CHAPTER THREE
    I T WAS ONE of the most difficult lunches she had ever sat through.
    And, to her annoyance, the macaroni cheese was one of her best ever, and Jago Marsh praised it lavishly and had two helpings.
    To her utter astonishment, her father had gone down to the dark, cobwebby space which was the Vicarage cellar and produced a bottle of light, dry Italian wine which complemented the food perfectly.
    She had turned to him, her eyebrows lifting questioningly. ‘Should Mr Marsh be drinking if he’s driving?’
    ‘Mr Marsh walked from the Manor,’ Jago had responded, affably. ‘And will return there in the same way.’
    Did he mean he’d moved in already? Surely not. The formalities couldn’t have been completed. And how could he possibly be living there anyway with no gas, electricity or water and not a stick of furniture in the place?
    Somehow she couldn’t see him camping there with a sleeping bag and portable stove.
    If he’d indeed been the traveller she’d first assumed, she knew now that he’d have had the biggest and best trailer on the site with every mod con and then some.
    Just as that cheap metal watch, on covert examination, had proved to be a Rolex, and probably platinum.
    What she found most disturbing was how genuinely the Vicar seemed to enjoy his company, listening with interest to his stories of the band’s early touring days, carefully cleaned up, she suspected, for the purpose.
    While she served the food and sat, taking the occasional sip of wine, and listening, watching, and waiting.
    Let people talk and eventually they will betray themselves. Hadn’t she read that somewhere?
    But all that their guest seemed to be betraying was charm and self-deprecating humour. Just as if the good opinion of an obscure country clergyman could possibly matter to him.
    He’s my father, you bastard, and I love him, she addressed Jago silently and fiercely. And if you hurt him, I’ll find some way to damage you in return. Even if it takes the rest of my life.
    ‘So, Jago,’ the Vicar said thoughtfully. ‘An interesting name and a derivative of James I believe.’
    Jago nodded. ‘My grandmother was Spanish,’ he said. ‘And she wanted me to be christened Iago, as in Santiago de Compostela, but my parents felt that Shakespeare had knocked that name permanently on the head so they compromised with the English version.’
    Iago, thought Tavy, who’d studied Othello for her ‘A’ level English exam. One of literature’s most appalling villains. The apparently loyal second in command, turned liar, betrayer and murderer by association. The personification of darkness, if ever there was one.
    It felt almost like a warning, and made her even less inclined to trust him.
    After the meal, she served coffee in the sitting room. But when she went in with the tray, she found Jago alone, looking at one of the photographs on the mantelpiece.
    He said abruptly, not looking round, ‘Your mother was very beautiful.’
    ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘In every way.’
    ‘Your father must be very lonely without her.’
    ‘He’s not alone,’ she said, defensively. ‘He has his work and he has me. Also he plays chess with a retired schoolmaster in the village. And...’ She hesitated.
    ‘Yes?’
    ‘And he has God.’ She said it reluctantly, expecting some jeering response.
    ‘I’m sure he does,’ he said. ‘But none of that is what I meant.’
    She decided not to pursue that, asking instead, ‘Where is he, anyway?’ as she set the tray down on the coffee table between the two shabby sofas that flanked the fireplace.
    ‘He