Forbidden Fire by Heather Graham Read Free Book Online

cried passionately, her warm brown eyes glistening with the hint of tears. “I love him, Marissa! There is nothing else to do!”
    â€œMary, listen to me! Your health—”
    â€œNo, Marissa, you listen to me!”
    â€œYou’ve lost touch with the realities of life—”
    â€œNo, Marissa, you have! Life cheated you when you were a child, so now you would cheat it. You truly don’t understand what it is to love someone. Oh, Marissa! I would rather have one moment of ecstasy with Jimmy than a lifetime of mediocrity with any other man. Oh, don’t you see that!”
    Mary sank down on the settee facing Marissa. The tears streamed down her face. “There is nothing left, nothing left at all!” she said.
    Marissa found herself patting Mary’s shoulder as her friend sobbed.
    â€œWe’ve lost,” Mary groaned. “We’ve lost everything.” Then she added passionately, “I hate my father, oh, God, I hate my father!”
    â€œMary, hush! The squire is dead, and you loved him dearly.”
    â€œI might as well be dead.”
    â€œDon’t say that!”
    â€œIt’s true.”
    â€œNo, no, there is a way out of this, I know it,” Marissa assured her. But Mary was so desolate that Marissa sought desperately for some further words of encouragement. “We must call the solicitors again in the morning. I’m sure Tremayne must be wrong about this allowance stipulation.”
    â€œFather knew about Jimmy!” Mary whispered. “And he had no faith in me!”
    â€œLet’s have a sherry, shall we?” Marissa said. “And we’ll work on this in the morning.”
    It took her some time, but she coaxed Mary into taking a drink, and then into bed. Late that night the proprietress of the hotel tapped on the door to say that there was a phone call for Miss Katherine Ahearn downstairs.
    Marissa checked to see that Mary slept peacefully, then she hurriedly descended the stairs to reach the establishment’s single phone. The connection was very bad, but at length Marissa heard Jimmy’s voice.
    And she lied. She told him that things were fine, she had met Tremayne. She told Jimmy that the man was young and gentle and very kind, and that she could foresee no difficulties. “I can take care of things, Jimmy, I promise,” she vowed.
    Then she wondered what she had done, for there was no truth to her words.
    â€œYou mustn’t sacrifice so much for us, Marissa Ayers,” he warned her firmly.
    â€œJimmy, I’m not sacrificing anything.” He didn’t believe her. “My Uncle Theo is at stake here, too, Jimmy. My own livelihood.”
    He laughed softly. “I don’t think so, Marissa. You’ve incredible strength and will. You put the lot of us to shame. And I will not have you doing anything to hurt yourself, and neither would Mary.”
    â€œI won’t do anything to hurt myself,” she said.
    â€œYou don’t owe us this.”
    â€œBut I do,” she murmured. Jimmy might not understand. Maybe there was no one who could understand.
    Mary and Sir Thomas had taken her away from the coal mines. She owed Mary everything. “Jimmy, please be patient. I’ll be in touch soon,” she promised vaguely.
    She stood against the wall, the ear piece still in her hands. For a moment she glanced at it, marveling at the ingenuity of Mr. Bell, who had invented the amazing piece of equipment.
    Then she replaced it and grew amazed at herself instead.
    Why had she lied to Jimmy?
    Because she could not bear that they could not make things work. Nor could she listen to Mary’s dreams of ecstasy. She was the one living in the real world, and she knew it.
    She had seen the brutal cruelties of that real world often enough, and it seemed that the best way through them was to keep one’s gaze ever upward and climb over them.
    She sighed and closed her eyes. There had to be a way to