Dare to Kiss by Jo Beverley Read Free Book Online Page B

reaction as they passed, but she didn't sense any. She slid a glance around the front pews, where the important people of the area would sit, and saw no one she knew. Indeed, she saw no one with that distinctive Town look. She relaxed a little.
    There were watchful expressions, however, so there would certainly be questions after the service, when people gathered outside to greet and talk.
    She saw a tomb to one side of the altar, holding the figure of a knight in armor, his crossed legs showing he’d been on crusade. She was sure he was a Brook. On a nearby wall, she saw memorial plaques to more recent Brooks.
    Sir Benjamin Brook was squire of a quiet country area, but his lineage was long. What would the people here think of the lowly invaders?
    However, the vicar addressed the subject directly in his sermon, choosing the story of the Good Samaritan. He pointed out that Christians were obliged -- obliged -- to assist the afflicted on the roads. He mentioned Lily's aunt and uncle, who would be praying that their friends and neighbors look kindly on their widowed niece and her fatherless children.
    Lily realized Sir Benjamin must have primed the vicar to this, and she wanted to take his hand and kiss it.
    She was seeing a new problem, however. Had her uncle and aunt said much about her? She hadn't met them in years, and her own parents were dead. They'd never been close, so they might not have talked about her, but if they had, they would have mentioned a niece called Dellaby. Not Gifford, Dellaby. And someone here who read gossip would recognize that name.
    There was no sign of it. When she and her family emerged from church, they were swarmed by well-wishers. She was welcomed to the area. Gentry children were encouraged to speak kindly to hers. Ladies spoke of tea -- but vaguely. She was not impeccably respectable. All was well, however, and Lily prayed that her little ones wouldn't let anything slip.
    Then she saw another pit at her feet.
    After weeks of hiding from people in Bloomsbury, then difficult travel, then the isolation of Brook Hall, she'd forgotten what normal life was like. If she lived here, she wouldn't be allowed to hide away. She couldn't want that for her children, but every new encounter would threaten exposure.
    Damn Sir Benjamin for giving the impression of being a recluse! He wasn't completely comfortable among his neighbors -- he mostly had his lips as closed as possible -- but he mingled here.
    Of course he did, and damn her for not realizing it. He was the local squire, with duties, some of them social. To prove it, the vicar and his wife were to return to the hall, as was their custom every Sunday.
    Lily walked back toward Brook Hall, seeing it fully in daylight for the first time, and grieved its loss. She could not possibly marry its owner with the probability of exposure hanging over her. Even if she could bear it for herself, she wouldn't repay Sir Benjamin’s kindness that way.
    She imagined it -- them married and happy, until the day when someone came by and recognized her. Sir Benjamin would be horrified and disgusted, but she'd be his wife. He would probably refuse to throw her out. He might even defend her, falling out with his neighbors and becoming a miserable recluse in truth.
    Perhaps she could still become his housekeeper, for then no shame would attach to him.
    No, that wouldn't work. She knew he was attracted to her and suspected that at some point he'd think of marriage, for he was a good man, so he’d not try to make her his mistress.
    When they arrived back at the house, she tried to go with the children to dine in the schoolroom, but he'd have none of it. She saw that her effort pleased the vicar and his wife, who beamed on her.
    They were to use the dining room, and even though the table had been reduced to its smallest size, it was too large. She suspected that in the past the vicar and his wife had sat on either side of their host, but now they were in the center of each