Lavender Blue by Sandra Heath

Author:Sandra Heath [Heath, Sandra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Regency Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Belgrave House
Published: 2003-09-09T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Corinna was still asleep in the early evening when the carriage reached the quiet, almost bewitchingly beautiful countryside near Cathness. It was a secret corner of England, a sun-soaked vale of rich soil, ample streams, long summers, and mellow winters, nestling between the Cotswold Hills to the east and the slopes of the Forest of Dean to the west.

Here was a pastoral haven where the late summer hedgerows were sweet with honeysuckle and lush with juicy blackberries. Wild hops and clematis festooned the roadside, and myriad orange-red rose hips shone in the golden light of evening. The cider and perry orchards were fruitful, the sheep were contented in lush pastures, and the red-brown cattle—mostly the rare and almost extinct Old Gloucester breed—were plump and glossy in the meadows. It was all so tranquil and timeless that Anthea likened it to an arcadian masterpiece by one of the world’s greatest artists.

Even the harvest scenes impressed as more picturesque and delightful than in other places, and although Anthea did not hear any further alien prayers to Demeter, there was nevertheless an ancient, somehow mystical atmosphere. Was it that the wheat was more golden and the farms more prosperous? That the warm air was more shimmering and the people more merry?

Whatever it was, the mood was almost unearthly, and it was made more entrancing by the sound of singing and music that came from virtually every field. Had the distant sweetness of Pan’s pipes carried on the balmy breeze, Anthea would hardly have been surprised.

The shadows were growing long as the first outlying cottages of Cathness came into view. The last time Lady Letitia had seen the cottages was in 1795, when her parents had taken her home by force in order to end her love affair with Huw. By cruel chance, it had been a sunny August evening then, too, with harvest time all around. Lady Letitia braced herself for more memories.

Cathness had existed long before its first recorded charter of 1070, and it seemed to be part of the land itself, rather than put there by the hand of man. There were buildings from every period, and some were so rambling, low, and venerable that even Lady Letitia, very much in control of herself, was forced to declare they must number among the oldest in the entire kingdom. Every property seemed to be in good repair, which spoke well of Jovian as a landlord.

Anthea was apprehensive as the carriage drove down the long high street. When would something happen? Would danger be lurking in the shadows of the next alley or lane? Or lying in wait at the Cross Foxes Inn, where the landlord, Obed Dennis, was part of the darkness that was Sir Erebus Lethe? So many secret fears coursed through her that she felt quite sick with nerves as Longton drew up outside the inn.

The Cross Foxes stood about halfway down the street, not far from the town pump, and displayed a colorful sign of two running foxes, red and beautifully painted, set in a diagonal cross on a background of vibrant yellow.

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