0945820950924859

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Melly lifted her chin. “He says he loves me.” “Yes,” said Emma, raking the scraps and peels into the bowl. Slop for a pig somewhere, she hoped, and not the basis for the dinner for Melly and the other servants. For you could never tell. Some of the most respectable looking houses could also be the cruelest to those helpless souls in their employ. “Yes, I’m sure he says he does.”
Chapter Seven “Emma has a theory,” Trevor said, putting the telegram in his vest pocket. “I’m not surprised,” Rayley said. “The one thing our little troupe has never lacked for is theories.” “Brace yourself, for this isn’t a bad one. A girl calling herself Rose Spencer was recently at a home for unwed mothers. A rather upper class sort of place, I gather, at least as these things go, and it hides behind the façade of a boarding school for young ladies. Then apparently she had her child and disappeared, just as they all do.” “And Emma thinks Rose is Dorinda’s sister?” Rayley frowned. “That is a bit of a stretch. Spencer is hardly an uncommon last name.” “Actually, Emma theorized that Rose and Dorinda might be the same person, but your idea has merit as well.” “She’s suggesting that Dorinda bore LaRusse’s child and gave it up, but then returned to Hever?” Rayley asked, skepticism evident in his tone. “Why would a young woman do such a thing? Continue to chase a man after he has abandoned her so cruelly? And, even if she might imagine she would still be his paramour, why would he allow her into the walls of Hever when he has already taken up with Anne Arborton? No, the woman I met is far too composed to have been through such an ordeal and even the half-mad LaRusse would not…” He shook his head. “It stretches belief, Welles.” “I suppose you are right.” The two were walking in the fields, burrowed into their scarves and hats against the afternoon wind. It had gotten colder each day since they had come to Hever Castle, and Trevor’s gaze fell on the bush outside the gatehouse. A singular bloom remained, one final and especially hearty Christmas rose. “A most unusual plant,” he said, gesturing toward it. “Beautiful, but dangerous. I should take a cutting back to Geraldine for her garden.” “I thought Emma tended the flower garden.” “So she does.” “Then you should bring Emma the rose. What are you waiting for, Welles? Even the most patient girl must in time begin to wonder – “ But just then the door to the gatehouse opened and Anne stumbled out. It was obvious she had been weeping and her clothing was disarranged, as if she had dressed in the darkness or in haste. Her hair was likewise tousled and she fixed on them a wild and desperate stare that Trevor thought he had seem somewhere before. Then he remembered: This was the exact same expression Anne’s mother Tess had borne when she came to Geraldine’s just days ago, begging them for help. “Are you looking for LaRusse?” the girl said, her voice hoarse from weeping. “May I assume that
Page 2 and 3: The Angel of Hever Castle A City of
Page 4 and 5: and Tom had decamped to his family
Page 6 and 7: and her long-deceased father was no
Page 8 and 9: “I agree with you that costumes a
Page 10 and 11: Chapter Two The countryside of Kent
Page 12 and 13: “Some women are like that,” Ray
Page 14 and 15: Chapter Three The porridge was wret
Page 16 and 17: joke. “But I take care to mix bes
Page 18 and 19: against the stone wall and swallowe
Page 20 and 21: place a jar of red-orange huge on t
Page 22 and 23: had added a woman to her scene, a w
Page 24 and 25: “And do you think Anne was right
Page 26 and 27: Chapter Five LaRusse Franklin Chapm
Page 28 and 29: that Hever is full of secret activi
Page 30 and 31: half-naked girl, just as expected f
Page 32 and 33: Chapter Six Even before she got Tre
Page 34 and 35: the telegram had said. It sounded l
Page 36 and 37: had at last firmly closed, leaving
Page 40 and 41: you have come like all the others -
Page 42 and 43: and she never has.” “I can see
Page 44 and 45: Chapter Nine “So let us suppose t
Page 46 and 47: At the name “Mary,” Emma’s he
Page 48 and 49: in danger. A woman you showed inter
Page 50 and 51: Chapter Ten Despite Rayley’s trep
Page 52 and 53: devised to lift water….I recogniz
Page 54 and 55: Chapter Eleven “Let me make sure
Page 56 and 57: “It would appear my leisure is to
Page 58: course I did. Was there ever any do

0945820950924859

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?