He paused every now and again to look at family portraits, and admire ancient artefacts, as he traversed the long passageway. The light filtered through the multi coloured glass of the huge oriel window making the gallery that led to the stairs a magical place.
The ceiling of the great hall was painted blue and everywhere he looked there were gold stars twinkling down at him. Here the ceiling was double height at least and he stood at the head of the staircase looking upwards.
He was startled by the sudden shout from below. 'Take care, my lord, there's danger behind you.'
He had no time to reply as at that precise moment a massive battleaxe flew from the wall. He threw himself backwards and the lethal object landed blade first inches from his feet.
Without that warning he would have been dead.
He had never seen anything like it. The axe hadn't fallen from the hooks, something had removed it and thrown it at his head. His heart was pounding. Cold sweat trickled between his shoulder blades.
Then he heard halting footsteps and Eloise arrived in the gallery. She was ashen, as shocked as he at his near demise. He scrambled to his feet.
Only then did he notice she was lame. It bothered him not one jot, but he was puzzled this information had not been given to him.
He walked quickly towards her so she did not have to move herself. He held out his hands and without hesitation she took them. They were not white and silky-smooth, but tanned, slightly rough and remarkably strong for a young lady.
'If you had not called out, Eloise, I would be singing with the angels now. I take it the resident spectres are not delighted to have me here.'
Her eyes widened and her fingers tightened around his. 'They are not, my lord…'
'No, my name is Garrick. We are to be married soon and I wish us to be friends before that happens.'
Her smile made her lovely face even more beautiful – she had the most spectacular green eyes. He counted himself a fortunate man to be marrying her.
'Garrick, they don't want me to leave here and intend to murder you in order to stop our nuptials. They are the ghosts of the murdered monks who lived here hundreds of years ago. Unfortunately, I am able to communicate with them and they consider me their property.'
'I have already encountered them in my apartment. I am supposed to be meeting your grandmother, but we need to talk first. Let us return to my sitting room. There can be no objection to you being there alone with me as we're already betrothed.'
He pulled her hand through his arm and she made no objection. Her gait was more even when she could lean on him for support.
'How did you come to be injured, my dear?'
She told him briefly about the accident that had taken her parents from her and almost her own life. 'The physician did not set the bones correctly and that is why I limp so badly and have constant pain.' She looked at him and there were tears in her eyes. 'I should not have said that – I am making more fuss than is necessary.'
'I broke my leg when I was a stripling and our personal physician did an excellent job of setting it. If you're prepared to undergo an hour or two of excruciating pain I believe he might be able to straighten your leg…'
'Are you telling me you think I would no longer be a cripple?'
'You are no more a cripple than I am, Eloise. You will not refer to yourself in such derogatory terms again.' He frowned but she saw through him. Her eyes sparkled and something inside him changed.
'I see how it is to be, sir, you wish me to be a subservient wife and follow your every command to the letter.'
With his free hand he raised hers to his lips and kissed her knuckles. He was delighted to see her cheeks flush at his action. 'Indeed I do, sweetheart. I can see we're going to deal famously together now you understand the situation.'
Her laughter made his pulse unexpectedly skip a beat. His sitting room was empty and he led her to the chaise longue that stood in front of the roaring fire. 'We shall sit here together and further our acquaintance.'
*
Eloise was never flustered but something about this charming gentleman made her feel most unsettled. He had almost been beheaded by one of the monks and had taken it in his stride. Her limp appeared to be a mere bagatelle to him and the sick dread she had carried inside since she had been told about her forthcoming marriage began to dissipate.
'To return to the subject of my leg. I gather from what you said that the surgeon will be obliged to break my leg in order to reset it – do I have that right?'
'I need to say something to you first before you even consider the suggestion. I don't want you to do this for me because I am not in any way perturbed by your lack of mobility. You must only do it for yourself. If you think the acute pain would be worth it, then I shall set things in motion. I would certainly think twice about undergoing such a procedure myself so will think none the worse of you if you decline.'
His kindness endeared him to her. 'I would endure any amount of agony in order to be whole again, to be able to run, to negotiate staircases without pain…'
He said something most impolite and she could not hold back her giggle. He raised an eyebrow and she laughed out loud. 'You must not use such language in front of my grandmama. She will have a fit of the vapours.'
'I beg your pardon, unforgivable behaviour on my part. I shall endeavour to keep my expletives to myself in future. I was upset that you had been forced to come upstairs on my behalf.'
'Fiddlesticks to that! I do what I must and try not to let my infirmity rule my life. Now, we must talk about the monks.'
'I had no notion members of the spirit world could move objects in that way. Every wall is festooned with weapons and dangerous items, I believe I had better borrow the shield that hangs beneath the window and walk about with it above my head in future.'
'How can you make light of it? Until today I thought these ghosts my friends. I sympathised with them being trapped halfway between this world and the next by some quirk of fate. Now I know them to be dangerous and far from benign.'
He stretched out his long, booted legs to the flames and smiled at her. 'I take it that the entire household is aware the Priory is haunted?'
'Of course they are, but no one talks about it, especially my grandparents. When I moved into the downstairs chambers, the ones that in their original form were once occupied by these monks, they ceased to wander about the place causing upset and hysteria to the staff. No one else is able to communicate with them in the way that I do.'
'Can't you tell them to remain in your chambers?'
'I can send them away from my presence and they have no alternative but to go. I'd no idea they would then decide to reoccupy this part of the Priory.' She reached into a hidden pocket in the side of her skirt and withdrew a large gold crucifix. 'Here, you must wear this at all times of the day and night. I believe it will protect you.'
He held out his hand and she dropped the cross and chain into it. 'My valet, Foster, suggested I have garlic in my pocket. I much prefer your alternative.'
'Allow me to fasten it around your neck. If you put it in your pocket you might well forget to wear it at night.' She leaned forward. 'All the staff have one about their person somewhere.'
He sat up; her eyes followed the passage of his legs as he moved them. The anatomy of a gentleman had never interested her before but for some inexplicable reason she could not keep back her laugh and he looked at her with interest.
'What are you finding so amusing?'
Scalding colour flooded her cheeks and she couldn't look at him. She swallowed her embarrassment and raised her head. 'I have never spent time alone with any gentleman, let alone someone as personable as you.'
'And you find this funny?' His query was soft, a strange expression in his eyes.
She wished the floor would open up and swallow her and that she had never started this conversation. No – she would not be coy about this. In less than three weeks she would be his wife.
She swallowed the l
ump in her throat. 'What I found funny is the fact that I was admiring the length of your legs and could not think why I should be interested – then I remembered that…that…' She was incapable of finishing his sentence.
'That when we're married everything will change between us. There's something you need to know, sweetheart, we shall have a second marriage service once we join the earl at Penston Hall. I shall consider that the start of our life together.'
For a moment she didn't take his meaning then a wave of relief flooded through her. She had no clear idea what took place in the marriage bed as her grandmother had made no attempt to explain. What Polly had told her sounded so extraordinary she'd dismissed it. The longer she had to come to terms with what she must do with him the happier she would be.
'When do you intend that we depart for your home?'
'At the end of January, no sooner than that. As you are aware my grandfather will not survive for many more months so we must be back before he becomes too unwell.'
Her eyes filled. 'I should like to stay until my own grandfather dies. I fear that might well be quite soon. Grandmama and I pretend we're not aware of his failing health, we do not discuss it even between ourselves, but one only has to look at him to know he cannot live for many more weeks.'
Her misery at the thought she would lose her much loved grandparent welled up. She was trying to push back the sobs, to maintain an outward calm, when he scooped her up and pulled her onto his lap.
'Cry as much as you want to, little one, I'm here to take care of you and your grandmother now.'
*
As Eloise shivered and sobbed in his arms Garrick rubbed her back and murmured words of encouragement and comfort. He thanked the Almighty that he hadn't found himself a bride as then he would never have met this extraordinary girl.
She was strong, courageous, intelligent and could talk to ghosts. The way she had mentioned this, as if it was of no more import than being able to play a hand of Whist, astonished him. If she hadn't been lame she would have been presented last year and already betrothed to someone else. That didn't bear thinking of.
They might only have met each other an hour ago but already he thought of her as his to protect. He passed her his handkerchief and eventually she blew her nose noisily, mopped her eyes and relaxed in his embrace.
'I was dreading meeting you, Garrick, but you've surprised me. Instead of being an unmitigated disaster for both of us I believe our grandparents have done us a favour.' She twisted and smiled trustingly up at him. 'I believe I must remove myself from your lap. I cannot fathom how I came to be here in the first place.'
Reluctantly he lifted her and placed her a safe distance from him. She was a stunningly beautiful girl and he was going to find it difficult keeping to his promise to remain from her bed for the first weeks of their marriage.
'You needed comfort and it's my role to provide it. The next few weeks are going to be difficult for both of us as we're going to lose someone we hold dear. If we support each other in our grief we will survive and recover quicker.'
'You're right and I thank you for allowing me to cry all over your fresh shirt. Grandpapa is determined to have the house decorated. He insists it's to celebrate our wedding but I think he wants something to occupy his final weeks and distract us from his deteriorating health.'
'I've never seen things done in the old-fashioned way and am looking forward to gathering greenery and so on. You must involve your grandmother too, things must be so much harder for her.'
They were carefully avoiding the far more difficult conversation that they must have. Talking about ghosts was not something he had expected to be doing.
After a further ten minutes of inconsequential chit-chat she sighed. 'I know, we must come to some decision with regards to the brothers.'
'Brothers? Oh, I take it you're referring to the ghostly monks.'
'I am, of course, and despite the fact they have no corporeal body they've already demonstrated they can cause real harm.'
'Presumably you have a family priest – can he not exorcise them?'
'The subject has never been discussed. After I took residence in their wing they no longer haunted the main part of the Priory. That was three years ago. When I achieved my fourteenth year I was deemed old enough to set up my own household somewhere that didn't require me to hobble up several flights of stairs.'
'Then when you leave will the ghosts no longer be able to haunt this place? Do you know what arrangements your grandfather has made for the estate?'
'Everything is left to me – which means on my marriage to you it will be your responsibility. If we have more than one son there will be something for all of them to inherit. I don't know if you were told but I also have a substantial annuity that remains in my control.'
She waited expectantly for his reaction to this extraordinary announcement.
'I'm glad that you'll be financially independent. I cannot imagine you would enjoy asking me for permission every time you wished to purchase something for yourself.'
Her delightful laughter warmed him as it had before. 'You don't fully understand what I've told you. I'm independently wealthy – my income is in the region of five thousand pounds a year. I'm not talking about pin money.'
'God's teeth! Indeed, you are not. Why did Sir Thomas think you needed a private income?'
'Kindly moderate your language, my lord, I do not enjoy hearing such things.' Her words were strict but her eyes danced.
He nodded. 'For a second time I beg your pardon for my intemperate outburst. But you are yet to answer my question, madam.'
'The money is not from him but from my mother. She inherited this fund from her mother and it is passed from daughter to daughter. I shall leave it to any daughter that I have.'
This was the second reference she'd made to children. The thought of what must take place before any arrived made him bitterly regret his vow to not consummate the marriage until after the second ceremony had taken place in front of his grandfather.
'And if we have more than one daughter?'
'Then, my lord, it will be divided between them. This also is a family tradition.'
Once more the conversation had wandered from the subject that must be addressed. It would be better to discuss the ghosts and take his mind off bedroom sport.
'Eloise, I have yet to make the acquaintance of your grandmother and she must be appalled by my lack of manners. That said, we need to come to some decision about how I'm to avoid being impaled by an ancient sword or struck on the head by a claymore.'
'I can think of only one solution, Garrick. They'll not harm me, so you must remain constantly at my side whilst you're here. I'll move into the adjoining bedchamber today – I care not what rules of etiquette we break – that way I can be sure they won't hurt you.'
'You'll only do this if you agree that I can carry you up and down the stairs. No, my love, do not frown at me. I know, because you told me so, how much pain it gives you to climb them.' He waited until she nodded before continuing. 'I cannot see your grandparents agreeing to such a breach of protocol. How will you explain your wish to move into my apartment three weeks before our nuptials?'
'Fiddlesticks to that! They will both be so delighted we've taken to each other that they'll not object.'
He rose smoothly to his feet and lifted her to hers. 'I'll agree not to use improper language if you desist from your ridiculous fiddlesticks expression.'
She tilted her head to one side and placed a fingertip on her lips in a parody of a silly debutante. 'La, my lord, I shall have to give that weighty matter due consideration. If I cannot fiddlesticks then what should I do instead?'
Chapter Four
'You are an original – Miss Granville – and I can see I'm going to be run ragged by you. I assume the connecting bedchamber is already prepared for your use?'
'Your assumptions are correct, my lord, and I can see I'm going to be married to a gentleman with sharp wits and a ready understanding.'<
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Laughing together they headed for the gallery. A brush of cold wind ruffled her hair and immediately she moved closer to him and he put his arm around her waist.
'I felt that too. Can you see them? Are they speaking to you?'
'Now that you mention it, I can neither see nor hear them. I believe they can only materialise when in the old part of the building where I live.'
His rich, deep chuckle was an attractive sound. 'Isn't this part of the Priory hundreds of years old?'
'It is, but recent compared to the part that the monks used to dwell in.' Having his support meant she could almost walk without limping and certainly without pain.
As they reached the gallery he put his other arm underneath her knees and continued to stride forward as if carrying nothing heavier than a bag of feathers. She might be slender but certainly was no lightweight.
'I'm beginning to think that having a husband of your size is an excellent choice. I'll expect you to carry me about the place whenever I require it, sir, as it obviously causes you no difficulty. Imagine if you'd been a short, stout gentleman. What a disaster that would have been for me!'
He lowered his head and whispered in her ear. 'I enjoy carrying you, sweetheart, and cannot wait until I can transport you to my bed.'
Her blush travelled from her toes to her crown and she could think of nothing sensible to say in reply. How could they be so close after so short a space of time? Three days ago, she'd never heard of him and now she was halfway to finding him a most desirable partner.
Several times on their descent she was aware they were being accompanied by the ghosts but nothing untoward took place and they arrived safely in the great hall.
'Look at that, the battleaxe has already been replaced.'
'I think the damage to the floorboards in the gallery might take longer to remove.'
'Please put me down now, I can walk almost normally if you keep your arm around my waist so I can lean my weight on you.'
He did as she asked. She'd never been in such close proximity to anyone before, let alone to a gentleman who was almost a stranger.
Christmas Ghosts at the Priory Page 3