1837 (The Haunting of Hadlow House Book 5) by Amy Cross

Author:Amy Cross [Cross, Amy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blackwych Books Ltd
Published: 2023-08-10T16:00:00+00:00

***

As soon as he reached the back door, Thomas saw that a small fire was burning over on the far side of the garden, while Celeste was sitting on the step with her back to the house.

“Is anything the matter?” he asked, as Sophie stopped next to him.

After a few seconds, realizing that his wife was evidently not in the mood to reply, Thomas walked over and stopped next to her. He looked down at her face for a moment and saw a strange faraway look in her eyes, and then he looked at the bonfire in the distance.

“This house is too old,” Celeste said through gritted teeth. “Some of the furniture that was left here seemed horribly out of place, so I saw fit to get rid of it. I hope you don't mind.”

“I do not,” he replied, “although I would have thought that we could talk about that first.”

“I just wanted to get on with it,” she told him, her voice sounding strangely calm and devoid of emotion. “There's something about this house that I don't like, it's as if the past is lingering in all the rooms and corridors. I suppose I might very well be wrong, but I wanted to try to make a fresh start. If we rid ourselves of a few old chairs and tables that have been sitting around, we might...”

Her voice trailed off, and after a moment she looked up at him.

“It's just a thought,” she added. “You're probably right, it might be a dreadful mistake, but I just don't think that we can let the past control us like that. If we don't break free now, then will we ever?”

“You raise a good point,” Thomas murmured, “but I think that in future we should perhaps discuss these things.”

“What's the point?” Celeste asked, turning and glancing up at him with an expression of disdain.

“As the head of the household -”

“Oh, please,” she spat back at him, “since when have you been the head of anything?”

He hesitated, keen to remind her that he was still her husband and that this meant he was in charge of all decisions, but he knew deep down that she was merely attempting to start an argument, in which case he supposed that he should instead keep his mouth shut. He knew that arguments with his wife were always hopeless causes, that she enjoyed the conflict for its own sake and that she had little interest in logic. Instead of being drawn into the situation, therefore, he made a point of simply looking across the garden and watching as the bonfire continued. In that instant, he spotted the chairs of a rather nice old chair from the reading room, one that he had mentioned several times that he liked a great deal. He bristled slightly, fully aware that the chair's presence on the bonfire was a provocation.

“I should retire to the office,” he said, “and -”

“Yes,” she snapped, “retire to the office, why don't you?”

“Indeed.”

He turned to go back inside.

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