Stealing Heaven by Kimberly Cates

Author:Kimberly Cates [Cates, Kimberly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nineteenth Century, Victorian
Publisher: Pocket Books
Published: 1995-05-02T06:16:41+00:00

Rathcannon's gardens were a wonderland, every blossom and vine, every statue and path woven to delight a little princess. Norah wandered through the flower-spangled beauty, running her fingertips over child-sized benches and sculptures fashioned to intrigue the imagination.

A stunning Pegasus spread stone wings in flight, his magnificent equine head tossing, his eyes fixed upon the heavens. Three unobtrusive stone steps led up to where a celestial saddle spanned the mythical creature's broad back. Fading scuff marks, not worn away by rain or time, made Norah wonder how many times a far younger Cassandra had clambered up upon the delightful beast to go off adventuring.

A dragon with deliciously sharp teeth peeked about a flowering hedge, its fierce stone claws extended as if to devour any child who dared challenge its wrath.

At the far end of the garden, an orangery filled the air with citrus smells, and Norah knew instinctively that it had been put there because a girl with golden curls had a penchant for the sour sweetness of the fruit.

Her throat tightened with the knowledge that Aidan had crafted this garden in a desperate effort to make his daughter want to remain a child forever. To build a world for just the two of them—father and daughter, walled off from hurt and pain and betrayal. Safe from the madness Delia Kane had spun about them both.

There was no real room for anyone else in this ancient castle, no room for anyone else in their hearts. She had been a fool to believe otherwise, even for such a brief moment in time.

Norah rounded a shrub and discovered an elegant stone chair very like a queen's throne situated beneath the quiet shade of an arch of roses. She sank down into it, exhausted, drained, more confused than ever before.

She had barely finished her vows when Aidan had made it clear that she was still an outsider. He had offered her protection when she desperately wanted acceptance. He had offered her passion when her soul had craved love. His wedding gift to her had not been some cherished family heirloom or even words of love, far more precious than any gems could be. Rather, his gift had been heartache, more savage than any Norah had ever felt before. Now he was somewhere in the castle, attempting to reason with his daughter, a quest he had made certain Norah knew she was not welcome to participate in.

She plucked the white rose from her hair, her fingers tearing the delicate petals, her throat aching. Tears splashed her fingers, tears she would never let Aidan or Cassandra see. Tears for something that never really was, would never really be.

"Miss Linton?" the respectful query echoed along the path. Calvy, the footman she had come to like so much, was heading toward her.

She scrubbed at her cheeks with the backs of her hands and climbed to her feet, hurrying over to a patch of shade she hoped would hide the reddened state of her eyes. Who had sent him to find her? she wondered.

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