Read Miss Lindel's Love for Free Online

When I walked in, I disgraced myself by laughing uproariously.”
    “For joy?” Maris asked daringly.
    “I’d never seen a place that made me so happy. It remains the most extravagant expression of Christianity I have ever seen. I suppose I fell in love at first sight.”
    “That’s how I feel. It’s not at all like I expected. It’s more solemn than Westminster and yet it makes me happy.”
    “Did you laugh at Westminster?”
    “No. Did you?” She began to wish to see the man behind the screen but didn’t want to seem bold.
    “No. I’ve always preferred St. Paul’s.”
    “And now you serve here? What a wonderful outcome.”
    “Serve here?” The boots disappeared and Maris heard the measured tread of his steps as he came around the end of the screen.
    Dressed in the best of men’s fashion, shoulders broad, waist narrow, Lord Danesby was every inch the gentleman. Yet his expression lacked the haughty remoteness, proof of his superiority over ordinary mortals that was a nobleman’s surest birthright. Instead, his smile seemed tentative, his eyes asking her a question that she could not understand, let alone answer.
    From surprise, Maris’s lips formed the syllables of his name, though she was certain she did not speak aloud. He seemed at once to remove to a distance, his hand, half raised as though to touch her, dropped to his side. “Have we met before?”
    Belatedly, Maris dipped a curtsy. “Only in passing, Lord Danesby. My mother is your tenant.”
    “Tenant?”
    “Mrs. Lindel. She holds the lease of Finchley Old Place from your father’s time.”
    He nodded but hardly seemed enlightened. He glanced over her shoulder. “Is she here with you now?”
    “No. She is staying with my sister, who finds herself not entirely well today.”
    “I’m most sorry to hear it. But you surely are not here alone?”
    “Certainly not. My friends are waiting for me.”
    “So you weren’t merely saying that to be rid of an importunate stranger?”
    Maris silently shook her head, knowing her cheeks were an unbecomingly hectic shade of pink.
    “I had best return you to them.” He offered his arm, holding his hat in his left hand. Controlling her quivering excitement, she rested her hand lightly on his forearm. The fabric of his dark blue coat was as smooth as silk and she wondered if it was. Her head came to the top of his ear but she didn’t feel too tall or too awkward. Their steps seemed to match.
    Sir Christopher Wren could have made his church twice as long and pleased Maris very much, for all too soon they were approaching Mrs. Paladin and Lilah. Lilah tapped her mother’s arm to make her turn.
    Her reaction made Maris realize the enormity of wandering around alone and returning with a man. “There you are, you bad girl,” she said, though with a smile. “We were wondering where you’d gone. Thank you very much, sir, for returning our strayed lamb to us.” She extended a languid hand in Lord Danesby’s direction.
    Maris instantly let go of his arm, having hardly realized she still touched it. Yet he took an instant to smile at her before bowing over Mrs. Paladin’s fingertips. “The pleasure is mine, madam. I have rarely met a more charming student of architecture.”
    “Ah, young girls are always so serious when they first arrive in town. May I have the pleasure of my dear Miss Lindel’s rescuer’s name?”
    Considering that Mrs. Paladin had seemed to know all about Lord Danesby when they’d glimpsed him on the street, this rang falsely in Maris’s ears. But she was willing to accept that a lady should feign incognizance until etiquette permitted her to have knowledge. At least, that’s the way her life had been so far. A girl was always presumed to be ignorant of even the most elemental human understanding until some magic hour when illumination would be shed.
    “Kenton Danesby, madam.”
    “How do you do. May I present my daughter, Miss Paladin?”
    “Enchanted, Miss Paladin.” He