Meriden Park by Julie Daines

Author:Julie Daines
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Covenant Communications, Inc.
Published: 2022-10-03T16:31:09+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

Mary stood at her bedroom window, her eyes keen for any shadow that stirred. It was getting very late and still no sign of Mr. Markham. Her first thought was that he’d tried to hurry and fainted. He could be stubbornly collapsed on the forest floor somewhere, barely breathing.

She’d been selfish encouraging him to show her the tree of her dreams when she’d already known his condition. If he were found dead under the bracken, she would never forgive herself.

The clock on her mantel chimed twelve soft dings. Midnight. She would check on Mrs. Welling one more time, then if he still did not appear, she would go to bed. Half of her hoped Mrs. Welling was coughing and wheezing, her chest on fire as punishment for the whole marriage project. Well, perhaps not a whole half. Maybe half of a half.

Mrs. Welling was sound asleep, and all was quiet. Mary went back to her room and parted the curtain again. The faintest movement coming from the hedge caught her eye. He was here.

She signaled to him, unsure if he could see or not. It seemed the right thing to do. She grabbed her elephant shawl and raced out into the garden.

“Good evening,” he said.

“I thought you would not come.” She pulled her shawl tighter around her shoulders even though the night was warm.

“I did try to get here sooner, but other things arose and took longer than expected. Am I too late?”

Other things? She wanted to ask more, but he’d made it clear on the ride back from Mansfield that he wouldn’t talk about it. If she did not have enormous secrets of her own to conceal, she might have been tempted to press him. The coin still rattled in her mind. But it was unthinkable, so she put it away where she would not have to think about it.

She had to stop herself from blurting out the horror that had occurred in the drawing room several hours ago. Here, again, was territory that might best be left unexplored. How strange her relationship with Mr. Markham seemed. So much exposed yet so much kept hidden.

They had come to know each other quite well since the day of the bun transaction. Yet at the same time, she felt a distance growing between them. They were each on opposite sides of a river, and no matter how the river widened and narrowed, neither could cross over. How desperately she wished they would find a bridge, but one did not exist.

“No. It’s not too late.” She smiled at him, and it might not have been the heartfelt smile he deserved, but it was the best she could do at the moment. “I am ready.”

“Good.” He returned her smile, and it was a beautiful one.

Silver-blue light coated the world in night. A gift tossed out by the moon to all those willing to stay up late enough to collect it. A glorious night where the moonlight was dark enough to hide all the unwanted things: mysterious business in the forest, midden heaps, the marriage project.

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