Ghosts of Winters Past by Parker Christy Graham

Author:Parker, Christy Graham [Parker, Christy Graham]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Clean Reads
Published: 2012-10-29T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Five

The next day he was still smiling. Though it had been Emma’s idea to keep their alignment a secret until Christmas Eve, he found he rather liked sharing a secret with her. The day before, while taking the tree back to the carriages, every time their eyes met, it was as if only the two of them existed. She would smile, then blush, and eventually go back to talking with Bess.

He was in his father’s office — his office, he reminded himself — going through his father’s correspondence. His passing had been sudden, but he had been an organized man, and neither Henry nor his steward had run into any difficulty picking up the business of managing the numerous estates.

He wasn’t exactly sure what he was looking for; there was just the unrelenting feeling there was something he needed to find. Standing up and running fingers through his hair, he looked around the room. The files had all been looked over and all the drawers gone through. That left the bookcases. He could have moaned at the prospect.

The bookcases were two massively made affairs. It would take him days, if not weeks, to give them proper attention. And what sort of sense would it make to spend so much time looking for something that might not exist?

He ran his eyes over the books, looking for anything out of place. Nothing. Then something on the bottom shelf caught his attention. Shakespeare? From what he remembered of his father, he didn’t seem to be the Shakespearean type. Henry took a copy of Romeo and Juliet from the shelf and let out a self-satisfied shout when a bundle of papers fell out of it.

He took the bundle to the desk. The late afternoon light gave just enough light to read by, but it wouldn’t last long. He unwrapped the papers and discovered they were a stack of letters dated years before his birth. From the handwriting, he assumed them to be penned by a woman. When he looked to the bottom, he had a shock.

They weren’t from his mother.

He tilted the first letter toward the light in order to read better. It was a love letter. Signed by a Rachel. One by one, he went through the letters. He felt vaguely as if he were spying on something he ought not to be, but he found he couldn’t stop.

It wasn’t until he saw Lord Gallent mentioned that he realized how he knew the woman writing the letters. Lady Gallent. Emma’s mother.

He lost track of time, but he didn’t look up until he’d read every letter. By the time he finished, he had a reasonably good idea of what had happened, even though by reading the letters, he only had half the story.

The shadows lengthened and the room grew dark. This, he decided, threw everything into an entirely new light. He wondered if Emma had spoken to her father yet because he knew, with absolute certainty, who had intercepted his letters. Knew why his father had sent him away.

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