Out Of The Shadows E-Book

H. Johnson-Mack

• Herausgeber: WS
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Serie: Family Drama
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 177

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

Elise and Alec move to Shadwell, a historic estate, where Alec pursues his dream of creating a Tudor-style garden. They discover old drawings from Alec's cousins, Bec and Bella, sparking their passion for restoration. While adjusting to their new life, Elise faces challenges of idleness and the eerie atmosphere of Shadwell. Tensions rise with the mysterious behaviour of Bella, who has a fragile health condition. As Elise delves into Shadwell’s history, she learns about the lives of its past inhabitants, drawing parallels between their struggles and her own. The story weaves past and present, exploring themes of resilience and the haunting echoes of history.

Leseprobe

OUT OF THE SHADOWS

Author: H. Johnson-Mack

Illustrator: Kirk Houston

Bridal Home

1586

It was dark in the carriage. Charity tried to quell the trembling of her gloved hands by threading them together in her lap.

She risked a glance at her companion. His long legs were unable to achieve full stretch in the confines of the coach but he only let them touch hers when unavoidable.

Though it was hard to tell in the shadows, she knew Nicholas Beaumont’s gaze would be kind, if lost in thought.

Their meetings before their marriage had been tentative and yet not without hope.

Charity knew she was lucky in being wed to someone fairly young and personable. The fact that his manner was reserved was a benefit, her mama had assured her.

“He is a considerate man, dear, from a fine family. He is skilled, too, in negotiating the tricky religious waters we have been cast into thanks to our monarchs.

“You will do well with him, I believe. Do not be fearful.”

She was, though. Terribly.

“Are you awake?” Nicholas’s deep voice broke the silence.

The continuous click-clack, click-clack of horses’ hooves and coach wheels had begun to slow. Charity swallowed again as the implication of that sunk in.

She must soon face her new life and all that came with it.

“Aye,” she murmured. “I am awake.”

The coach drew to a shuddering halt.

“Courage,” a whispered voice said.

She wasn’t sure if it came from Nicholas or an inner entity trying to offer her solace.

The coach door opened. A lamp’s light flared to guide her steps to the ground.

Skirts clutched in quivering fists, Charity had her first view of the beautiful yellow stone manor which was her new home.

Shadwell Court

As they rounded the corner of the long country lane and drove up between hedgerowed fields Elise Freith strained for a glimpse of the manor that could soon be where she’d be living.

She’d seen pictures, of course, but nothing would compare actually to seeing Shadwell Court in all its glory.

She stole a glance at Alec. Her fiancé’s conker-coloured hair was unruly, as usual.

Are you as nervous as I am? she wondered.

No, of course not. This whole thing had been his idea, prompted by an invitation from the Sinclair extended family newsletter which was circulated every Christmas.

That, and the change in her own circumstances, had sent Alec’s dreams into overdrive, resulting in this trip today to see whether they could start a new life in part of an old manor in central England.

“Still with me, Liss?”

Elise patted his leg.

“Just a few butterflies.”

He took his eyes from the road briefly to look over and smile. The butterflies in her stomach now were of a different kind.

How had Elise been so lucky as to have a guy like Alec Sinclair fall in love with her? She still had to pinch herself, even after over two years together.

“Take a breath,” he said. “We’re here.”

They drove through a set of curlicued metal gates on to a winding driveway, at the end of which stood Shadwell Court.

The Tudor building was constructed of yellow stone with black gables, latticed windows and tall chimney-stacks.

It had had extensions on two sides, typical of the period, but the central E-block had been demolished, leaving the courtyard a paved rectangle open on the fourth side.

The gabled mini-roofs peppering the two-storey manor house made it look as though miniature homes had been squeezed together, hugging each other.

The wonky middle section into which they could be moving was a worry. Would it mean the upstairs tilted, too?

Alec eased the car to a stop.

“It’s something, isn’t it?”

“Oh, yes! Your stories and the pictures didn’t do it justice.”

“Whether it’s our chance at a wonderful future or a washout remains to be seen.”

Elise reached for his hand.

“Let’s get inside and find out, shall we?”

Sisters

Alec knew Shadwell and its current owners well. He’d come often as a child, especially at Christmas, along with his cousins who’d inherited the property through their grandmother, his great-aunt.

They had kept in touch and he had responded to the cousins’ invitation to visit Shadwell again, with a view to renting out one of the wings.

There was also an offer for him to recreate the original Elizabethan garden. It could tie in with Alec’s long-term ambition of owning a garden-design company.

He hurried round the side of the car to open Elise’s door. Threading his fingers through hers, he led the way round to the back of the manor.

“Oh, Alec!”

Elise took in the grounds. There was a flat, empty terrace and shrubbery behind the house, meadowland sloping away to a stream and a large pool some way off.

“Is this the garden you’d redesign? What a space! It could be amazing!”

Alec nodded.

“It’s got potential. Nothing’s set in stone yet, though. This has to work for all of us.”

The gleam in her eyes dimmed. Now that her parents had closed the family furniture store and relocated up north, she had to find another job and a place for her and Alec. If not here, then where?

Alec saw her expression.

“It is impressive. Let’s go meet the girls.”

He led the way to the arched rear door. Before he could rap on the dark studded wood it was dragged open and Bella Lysle, his youngest cousin, was there, all long blonde hair and even longer legs.

“Alec! You’re early!”

Next second he was engulfed in her slender arms. Elise noticed he held himself aloof as if fearful he might break her.

Was it because she was so slender, or due to her recent bout of illness? Alec had said she had had to leave her job in order to recover from it.

“Hey, Bella. It’s good to see you.”

“You, too! I’ve been so excited since Bec told me you’d agreed to come and live here.”

“That’s not exactly . . .”

“Oh, this must be Elise!”

Bella pushed past him to fall upon Elise.

“It’s lovely to meet you. What a pretty coat! The dove grey brings out your eyes.”

“Thank you,” Elise murmured, slightly startled by all this enthusiasm.

Bella turned back to Alec.

“Bec’s out at the barn. We didn’t expect you yet. Shall I go fetch her? She’ll be cross she wasn’t here to welcome you.”

Alec shot Elise a reassuring look then reached for Bella’s arm.

“Let’s go find her together.”

“No need, I’m here.”

Elise turned to the young woman now framed in the back doorway. Rebecca Lysle was fiery sun to her sister’s ethereal moon, her hair a darker blonde where Bella’s was more that of a Disney princess.

Her figure filled her scarlet sweater and trousers snugly and Elise felt suddenly uncomfortable as Alec’s face lit like a candle flaring into flame.

“Sorry we’re early, Bec. Blame the traffic.”

She laughed and gave him a quick hug.

“Don’t be daft, it’s great to see you. Why are we standing in the doorway? Come through and let’s get the kettle on.”

She encompassed everyone in her smile, though Elise fancied it dimmed slightly when it passed her way.

That was silly, she told herself. Why would someone she’d just met have any feelings one way or another about her?

She followed as Bella, taking the lead, tripped along past tantalisingly closed doors to what opened out into the old manor’s main entrance.

“We’ve a fabulous buffet lunch for you guys, ordered in especially!”

“How lovely,” Elise responded.

Alec reached back to take her hand and draw her to walk beside him. She felt better.

“You shouldn’t have gone to any trouble just for us.”

Bec’s laugh was wry.

“You’ve never tasted our cooking!”

Elise barely heard, having walked into the entrance hall. Its cream walls, interspersed with timberwork, gave the high space a lightness that was enhanced by the central staircase of dark mahogany with dramatic carved dragons topping each newel post.

Slightly uneven flagstones under her feet increased the sense of the past, the whispers of former voices and souls who’d once stood in this space.

She blinked, feeling the mists of what had felt like time itself recede and fade.

“Overwhelming, isn’t it?”

Bec was watching her. Her smile was wry.

“And pretty draughty when the wind’s in the west!”

Elise swallowed.

“It’s breathtaking! I could almost imagine myself back in time, hearing the echoes of past feet.”

Bec rolled her eyes.

“You sound like my sister. Bella’s obsessed with the history of this old pile – though she’s less enthused when it comes to dealing with the practical everyday of the twenty-first century!”

“Hey!”

Bella launched a brocaded cushion from the bench seat by the wall at her sister.

Bec caught it neatly.

“I’m right here, you know! It’s true, though,” she confessed with a rueful grin. “I am obsessed. Perhaps it’s down to my name, Arbella.”

Elise blinked, bewildered.

“Like Arbella Stuart. She was a strong contender for the English throne back in the days of Elizabeth and James the First.

“I’ve always been fascinated by history so Shadwell, to me, is the gift that keeps on giving! Poor Bec has her work cut out, especially now I’m home all the time.”

“Yes, I’m sorry, Bella.” Alec’s voice softened. “We heard you’d been unwell. How are you now?”

“Much better, aren’t I, Bec? Shadwell has been my salvation, giving me plenty to occupy myself with.

“We have big plans for the site, did she tell you? Including holding events like Renaissance Fayres and weddings that should, hopefully, keep this place afloat.

“There’s a lot of administration for such things, of course, and plenty to learn, though that’s part of the fun when you’re into past times as much as me!

“Your part of the project, Alec, would be the gardens. They’ve been totally neglected, haven’t they, Bec?”

Bec did not reply immediately.

“It must have been hard deciding how to continue with all this after losing your mother,” Alec said gently.

Bella shrugged.

“It’s a challenge but a fabulous one, trying to save it. And now we’ll have you to help us!”

Elise caught the hesitant look Alec threw her way but before she could respond, Bec was scolding her sister.

“Nothing’s decided, Bell, as well you know.”

Bella smiled sweetly back at her. Then, rising, she crossed to hold out a hand for both their guests.

“Of course. Still, the least we can do is show them the part of the house that could be theirs if they do choose to come.”

Chasing Dreams

Elise found her hand clasped tightly in Bella’s as they veered right. Passing through a worn, stepped doorway with a heavy lion’s-head door handle, they entered a long, half-panelled room.

Latticed windows were dressed with heavy curtains. A fireplace, modernised, with a graceful glass vase of dried rose and teasels in its hearth, sat on the opposite wall.

Bella beamed at Elise’s little sigh.

“Lovely, isn’t it? This is the original main parlour. It gets loads of light in the afternoon and evening. That makes a difference on winter days like these and you can see the garden all along this side.

“You’ll enjoy, no doubt, being able to see what you create coming to life day by day, Alec.”

He nodded, his features taking on a boyish look as he began to talk of plans for what he could create outside. There was mention of a Tudor knot garden, ornamentation and a tunnelled arbour walk leading into it.

Elise thought it all sounded lovely.

“A rose bower, of course, with modern licence on planting so we can have flowers for longer than just summer.

“If there’s room, somewhere for kitchen garden plants, even a fruit orchard. I could substitute espaliers or dwarf trees . . .”

He broke off, smiling sheepishly.

“I’m rambling, aren’t I?”

Bec laughed.

“Yes, but you’re forgiven. Bella has high hopes for this recreation of yours so it’s good you have such passion for it.

“It sounds pretty intensive, though. Will you manage that and another job?”

Alec nodded.

“The design business will come in time with Shadwell, hopefully, acting as a showcase. It makes sense that its garden will be my main project in my spare time.”

Elise smiled at the way enthusiasm for his project lit him up, then she gazed around.

She couldn’t explain what had been whirling through her since she’d stepped into this old house. That it was having a huge effect was undeniable.

She’d heard about places that seemed to speak of what the walls had seen and sheltered, the lives and deaths of those who’d dwelt there in the past.

She’d never really understood nor believed in the notion, not having experienced anything like that. Until now.

A hand on her wrist made her start and look up into Bella’s features. Her slanted eyes were like those of a languid cat.

“You feel it, too, don’t you?”

The words were whispered.

“The history of this house is fascinating.” Bella had raised her voice and Elise wondered why until Alec’s hand fell on her shoulder.

“Since I’ve been at home I’ve started researching its past. It’s so interesting that, sometimes, I could get lost in it.”

“She often does.” Bec’s voice was sharp and disapproving as she marched past to adjust a drooping curtain at one window.

“Alec, you know you’re welcome here and we will offer you an affordable rent while you help with the garden redesign.

“We don’t want to force you into anything, though. It has to be your choice. Why don’t we leave you to look around? Come on, Bell.”

Taking a firm hold of her sister’s arm, she tugged her from the room, sending a rueful look Alec’s way.

Elise waited until they were gone then, tilting her head over one shoulder, sought out Alec’s eyes. What she saw there made her melt a little.

“Have I told you lately that I love you?” he murmured in the off-key tone he always had when he attempted to sing.

This was their song. It was the first one they’d danced close to, and it affected

Elise every time he voiced the words.

“One of the things I love most is that I can always read your thoughts.”

Elise drew his arm a little further around her waist.

“What are they telling you here and now?”

“That you’re intrigued yet wary. It’s perfectly understandable, given that you would be leaving behind all that’s familiar for a chance for me to follow my dreams in a place that’s hardly conventional.

“My cousins, too, can be rather intense when you’re not used to them.”

“Fair enough, but who wants conventional? Where’s the adventure in that?”

Elise swivelled so that she was still in Alec’s arms but now facing him.

“I’d love to help you chase your dreams.”

“Yours, too.”

She swallowed.

“I don’t have any dreams.”

He frowned and took her hand.

“Then we need to find you some.”

New Mistress

1586

Charity’s hands smoothed down the folds of the gown she’d been laced into by her maid. She caught a flash of ruby red from the betrothal ring Nicholas had given her the day he’d brought her to Shadwell.

It raised a smile to her lips and a flush to her face that Nan caught, interpreted correctly and giggled.

“My lord was a lag-a-bed this morn, eh, my lady?”

Charity told Nan to hush, but her scold lacked any sting. In a household otherwise devoid of feminine companionship, Nan’s humour was a godsend.

Her husband was adhering to his promise to be patient and take things at her own pace, and she was very grateful. Still, she was a wife now, lady of a busy working manor with responsibilities.

She’d been saved from having to suffer an initiation with her in-laws due to Nicholas’s closest living relative, his widowed sister Phyllis Thornton, being resident at Shadwell.

This meant, though, that Charity was effectively ousting the woman who’d been performing the role for the last two years.

However keen Nicholas was to see them sisters in more than just name, Phyllis did not seem the type to relinquish anything to anyone, particularly a younger woman with little more than a healthy dowry to recommend her.

“Trust in Phyllis,” Nicholas had advised on their first meeting. “She will show you the way of things here, how to run the household. You will have no need to miss your mother with a new sister to keep you company.”

Charity’s smile had slipped when she met the cold grey eyes surveying her from recently lowered hood to slippered toe.

Whatever hopes she may have harboured it was clear that friendship was the furthest thing from this woman’s mind.

Nevertheless, she’d forced the smile back into her features as she bobbed a respectful curtsey.

“I will be glad of your counsel and your guidance as I settle in at Shadwell.”

Phyllis had raised her chin as if something noxious had floated near her nostrils.

“The Court is operated on a tight schedule that we are sure you will wish to continue.”

Before Charity could respond a child of around four had rushed from one of the passages branching off from the hall to fling himself at Phyllis’s dark skirts.

His mother had bent to touch his dark

copper curls almost reverently.

“I was hiding, Uncle,” he’d declared defiantly. “Joan could not find me!”

“Clever lad,” Nicholas had praised him. “Now, Richard, greet your new aunt Charity with your best courtly bow.”

As the boy had offered an awkward obeisance Charity had realised with a sinking heart that here was the reason why her welcome from Nicholas’s sister was as chilly as the winter’s day without.

Whilst Nicholas remained unmarried, with no heir of his own or other close family, Phyllis’s son no doubt stood next in line to inherit all the Beaumont wealth upon his death. With Charity’s arrival, Richard’s place was uncertain.

* * * *

Other than a husband who was not only patient but capable of understanding her every mood, the main thing she enjoyed in this new life was the manor.

Apart from the house, with its new mullioned windows that should help with winter draughts, Shadwell’s prosperity lay in its lands.

Nicholas showed her around fertile acres, copses and parkland as well as a pleasure garden, new laid as his wedding gift to her.

As in her own home, the stables were her favourite place. Loving horses and donkeys as she did, she found their quarters a haven.

Nicholas had some fine beasts including a gorgeous grey mare named Cloud that was the perfect size and stamina for her.

The one thing Charity could be grateful to Phyllis for was her command of those serving the household. It was beyond her own timid manner to order people about.

“It will get easier in time,” Nicholas had said reassuringly when she expressed difficulties with this side of her duties.

For now all she could manage was a smile and nod at those serving at Shadwell.

In the stables, though, the animals somehow brought the humans closer together. Charity could relax enough to share some conversation with the grooms who cared for them, particularly old John who told her tales of Nicholas as a boy.

It was clear the master was a favourite with the long-serving retainers and it made her want to get to know him better herself.

There was no denying she found him attractive but there was a barrier beyond her shyness, preventing her from making that long step.

Riding Mishap

1586

“Do you ride this morn, my lady?” John Groom’s voice broke into her thoughts.

She started, then smiled at him.

“I wasn’t planning to,” she said with a pointed glance at her attire.

He followed her gaze and nodded.

“’Tis just that I saw my lord leaving the park and wondered if you’d come for your horse so’s you could join him.”

Charity considered.

“I will. This gown will do for side-saddle.”

“Take care,” the groom cautioned as he led out Cloud for her to mount. “The ground is slippery in places underhoof.”

Once free of the confines of the Court Charity smiled as she rode across the park in search of her husband. The morning’s bright sun seemed a herald of things to come, for her marriage at least.

She had dreamed of becoming a wife, having a home and a family of her own. Though the Court’s set-up was not unusual the presence of a domineering woman like Phyllis not only dampened her spirits but stopped her feeling like its mistress.

Perhaps Nicholas was right and this would change in time. She feared, though, that this could only come as the result of an unpleasant battle of wills.

She gripped the reins tighter and tapped Cloud’s flank, the resultant spurt of speed raising her spirits.