The Secret of Willow Castle - A Historical Gothic Romance Novel by Nathaniel Burns Page A
Authors: Nathaniel Burns
Ads: Link
Angela, wondering how one who looked so serene could lose her mind and take her own life.
“ Did they ever find the jewels?” I asked.
“ No,” Mervyn said. “They never reappeared. My uncle thought the whole story was some drunken fantasy that Carvell concocted to cover up the fact that he had either lost the jewels or sold them. We have a few pieces that belong the family, but they’re kept in a vault in our bank in London. You should ask Montague about them, they should be yours now. Nothing so resplendent as a huge emerald, but there’s a nice little opal pendant that I remember my aunt wearing.”
“ Were you close to her too?”
“ Not especially. She died before I came to live here, so I only saw her on visits. Sadly she fell victim to the same carriage accident that claimed my parents, they were all travelling together.” His slight smile never wavered, but for a moment I thought it was tinged with sadness.
“ I am sorry,” I said softly. “I did not mean to bring up painful memories.”
“ Nothing to be sorry for,” he said bracingly. “You weren’t to know, and it was a perfectly reasonable question. I suppose it’s all part of the curse.”
“ Curse?”
“ Ha, yes – ever since Lady Angela’s death, there’s supposedly been a curse on Chastain brides. They don’t enjoy particularly long lives, and the beautiful ones die by their own hand so the Devil can claim them for his own in revenge for being cheated of Angela in that card game. You’d best hope it’s not true, my dear cousin – with a face like yours, he’ll be after you in a heartbeat!”
He laughed, and I attempted to join in, but a slow shiver was creeping its way up my spine. I tried to keep my voice as light and amused as possible as I asked “You don’t think it’s true, do you?”
“What? No. Certainly not. It’s true that there have been some members of the family who have died young and that some of them have been attractive women, but there has always been an explanation. Illness, childbed, unfortunate accidents – all the same things that afflict all normal, uncursed families. As far as I know there were a couple of ladies who were suicides, but whether they were particularly attractive, I don’t know. It’s always easy to remember people as more beautiful than they were, especially when it fits in with a dramatic story.”
At that moment the door creaked open, cutting our conversation short. Mervyn leapt to his feet and in a moment was on the other side of the room, idly browsing the shelves, and I immediately concentrated on the book in my lap. As Mama entered, having risen from her nap, I took a moment to wonder why Mervyn and I had reacted as if we had been caught out in some clandestine activity when all we had been doing was talking. Then I saw Mama sweep the room with her disapproving gaze, unhappy to see that I was unchaperoned in the same room as a man, and I knew. I realised how little my life had changed, even though I was now married. I wondered for a second whether I would ever be free to do as I pleased and talk with whoever I wished, but I dismissed the thought. We had a home and security. That was more important than anything else, and I knew I must not allow myself to get caught up in romantic notions as if I were a fictional heroine in a modern novel. I gazed down at the face of Lady Angela and promised myself that whatever happened, my fate would at least be happier than hers.
5 Mervyn
O
ver the following weeks, as the Castle was deluged with almost incessant thundery rain, I found my head full of strange fancies inspired by Mervyn’s story. As I roamed the halls I jumped at every shadow, wondering whether I had perhaps caught a glimpse of the shade of poor Lady Angela. Every time I heard my solitary footsteps echoing in the flagstoned passageways, I thought I heard her delicate gait pattering beside me, behind me, disappearing round corners ahead of me. And every time I
“ Did they ever find the jewels?” I asked.
“ No,” Mervyn said. “They never reappeared. My uncle thought the whole story was some drunken fantasy that Carvell concocted to cover up the fact that he had either lost the jewels or sold them. We have a few pieces that belong the family, but they’re kept in a vault in our bank in London. You should ask Montague about them, they should be yours now. Nothing so resplendent as a huge emerald, but there’s a nice little opal pendant that I remember my aunt wearing.”
“ Were you close to her too?”
“ Not especially. She died before I came to live here, so I only saw her on visits. Sadly she fell victim to the same carriage accident that claimed my parents, they were all travelling together.” His slight smile never wavered, but for a moment I thought it was tinged with sadness.
“ I am sorry,” I said softly. “I did not mean to bring up painful memories.”
“ Nothing to be sorry for,” he said bracingly. “You weren’t to know, and it was a perfectly reasonable question. I suppose it’s all part of the curse.”
“ Curse?”
“ Ha, yes – ever since Lady Angela’s death, there’s supposedly been a curse on Chastain brides. They don’t enjoy particularly long lives, and the beautiful ones die by their own hand so the Devil can claim them for his own in revenge for being cheated of Angela in that card game. You’d best hope it’s not true, my dear cousin – with a face like yours, he’ll be after you in a heartbeat!”
He laughed, and I attempted to join in, but a slow shiver was creeping its way up my spine. I tried to keep my voice as light and amused as possible as I asked “You don’t think it’s true, do you?”
“What? No. Certainly not. It’s true that there have been some members of the family who have died young and that some of them have been attractive women, but there has always been an explanation. Illness, childbed, unfortunate accidents – all the same things that afflict all normal, uncursed families. As far as I know there were a couple of ladies who were suicides, but whether they were particularly attractive, I don’t know. It’s always easy to remember people as more beautiful than they were, especially when it fits in with a dramatic story.”
At that moment the door creaked open, cutting our conversation short. Mervyn leapt to his feet and in a moment was on the other side of the room, idly browsing the shelves, and I immediately concentrated on the book in my lap. As Mama entered, having risen from her nap, I took a moment to wonder why Mervyn and I had reacted as if we had been caught out in some clandestine activity when all we had been doing was talking. Then I saw Mama sweep the room with her disapproving gaze, unhappy to see that I was unchaperoned in the same room as a man, and I knew. I realised how little my life had changed, even though I was now married. I wondered for a second whether I would ever be free to do as I pleased and talk with whoever I wished, but I dismissed the thought. We had a home and security. That was more important than anything else, and I knew I must not allow myself to get caught up in romantic notions as if I were a fictional heroine in a modern novel. I gazed down at the face of Lady Angela and promised myself that whatever happened, my fate would at least be happier than hers.
5 Mervyn
O
ver the following weeks, as the Castle was deluged with almost incessant thundery rain, I found my head full of strange fancies inspired by Mervyn’s story. As I roamed the halls I jumped at every shadow, wondering whether I had perhaps caught a glimpse of the shade of poor Lady Angela. Every time I heard my solitary footsteps echoing in the flagstoned passageways, I thought I heard her delicate gait pattering beside me, behind me, disappearing round corners ahead of me. And every time I
Similar Books
