Read Marriage at a Distance for Free Online

sins in complete solitude, and that the keening of the wind was the hermit weeping for his past wickedness.
    And so would I, thought Joanna, adjusting her scarf more securely. She called the dogs and they came trotting to her side. As she reached for her torch they stiffened, and she heard them growl softly.
    ‘Easy,’ she told them. ‘It’s only a sheep—or a deer.’
    They were too well-behaved to go chasing livestock, but something had clearly spooked them. Or someone, Joanna thought with sudden alarm, as she heard the rattle of a stray pebble nearby. Her fingers tightened around the unlit torch. Normally she’d expect to have the hill to herself on a night like this.
    Perhaps it was the hermit, who was said to wander across the top of the hill in robe and cowl, usually when the moon was full, she thought, her mouth twisting in self-derision.
    She said clearly, ‘Jess—Moll—it’s all right.’
    For a moment they were still under her restraining hand, then with a whimper of excitement they leapt forward into the darkness. A moment later she heard them barking hysterically a short distance away.
    ‘Damnation.’ She switched on the torch and followed them, cursing herself for not having brought their leashes.
    She could only hope they hadn’t flushed some hardy courting couple out of the bracken.
    She could see their quarry now, a tall, dark figure, standing quietly while the dogs leapt about him, yelping in joyous welcome.
    She hurried into speech. ‘Good evening. I do hope they’re not annoying you. They’re not usually like this with strangers.’
    For a moment he neither moved nor spoke, then he put down a hand and the dogs sank to their haunches, their faces lifted worshipfully towards him.
    And Joanna knew in that instant, with a sudden sick dread, exactly who was standing in front of her in the darkness.
    He said quietly, ‘They’re not annoying me, Joanna. And I’m hardly a stranger.’
    The breath caught in her throat. She took a quick step backwards, the torch swinging up to illumine his face and confirm her worst fear.
    Her voice was a scratchy whisper. ‘Gabriel?’
    ‘Congratulations. You have an excellent memory.’
    She disregarded the jibe. ‘What are you doing here?’
    ‘My father died yesterday.’ A harshness invaded the usually cool drawl. ‘I’ve come to attend his funeral.’
    ‘But we weren’t expecting you—not for another two days.’
    ‘I decided to end my self-imposed exile and take an earlier flight. I hope it won’t cause you too much inconvenience.’
    She swallowed. ‘No—no, of course not.’
    ‘Said with no conviction at all,’ he murmured. ‘Not that it makes a ha’p’orth of difference. I’m here, and I intend to spend the night under my own roof. And if that’s a problem for you, Joanna, you’re just going to have to sort it out.’
    She said tautly, ‘You’re forty-eight hours early, that’s all. No big deal. And if anyone’s going to be inconvenienced it will be Mrs Ashby. I’d better go down and warn her.’ She paused. ‘Moll—Jess—come on.’
    The retrievers didn’t budge. Gabriel laughed softly. ‘They seemed to have transferred their allegiance.’
    She said, ‘Like all good subjects at the start of a new reign.’
    ‘Is that how you see yourself too?’ There was faint amusement in his voice. ‘Can I expect the same unquestioning obedience?’
    She said shortly, ‘You can expect nothing,’ and plunged off down the path, aware that her face had warmed.
    Don’t you ever learn? she castigated herself. Why bandy words with him when you always lose? Don’t let him wind you up.
    He caught up with her easily, the dogs pacing at his heels. ‘Take it easy. You might fall.’
    And break my neck? she thought bitterly. I’m not that lucky.
    She said, ‘What were you doing up there anyway?’
    ‘I’ve spent the past twenty-four hours cooped up in boardrooms and shut in a plane,’ he returned shortly. ‘I needed to breathe—and to