by Kirsty Ferry
She was the happiest she had ever been in her entire life.
‘It’s a little late to wonder about that now,’ she said, her voice wobbling. ‘But you have saved my life tonight and to answer your question – yes. I am well. I am very well indeed. I do not think I have ever been better.’
‘That is the most perfect answer.’ And with a great yell of delight, knowing they were alone on that ribbon of moonlit road, Ben dug his heels into Blaze’s flanks and they sped off towards their future.
Elodie drew away and stared at Alex.
‘Paris!’ they both said together.
‘The French cousin who inherited the title,’ breathed Elodie. ‘And Georgiana’s lover was called Benjamin Aldrich! You’re related to Highwayman Ben. Alex! How romantic! No wonder your family is horse mad.’
‘Related to a thief, and to a murderess who committed accidental matricide?’ asked Alex wryly. ‘God, you have to love family. But you, my love. You have no right to talk, anyway.’ His eyes sparked in that way he had. ‘I did a bit of digging through that genealogy paperwork. Georgiana’s mother was originally called Jane Markwell.’
‘And?’
‘I do believe your grandmother was a Markle from the village, before she married the good Mr Bright, a groom in the Hartsford stables?’
‘Yes. So I ask again. And?’
‘They’re the same name.’
‘No, they’re not. Markwell and Markle are different.’
‘In Suffolk, over many years, Markwell has evolved into Markle. Your family has been in Suffolk for God knows how many generations. So. Who’s to say you’re not related to Georgiana, through her mother’s side? That would explain the resemblance, wouldn’t it?’
‘It would indeed! How exciting!’ Elodie laughed. ‘My word. But you still have the best genes – a thief who looked outstanding in black. Speaking of which, come here. Come here, Highwayman Alex.’
He came to her willingly; but instead of moving into his arms, she caught his hands in hers, and moved them to her stomach. She held them there, flat against a tummy that was a little rounder and a little harder than it had been a few weeks ago. She looked up at him, a smile twitching at the corners of her mouth, waiting for him to understand.
Alex stared at her, speechless as he processed the information. ‘Oh, Elodie!’ he said as it sunk in. He looked down at his hands. The two sets of hands formed a little heart shape on her midriff and he leaned down as if to see it better. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Not one hundred percent. But maybe eighty percent I am. Okay. Ninety-eight percent. Or ninety-nine. One hundred. Yes.’ She laughed and shook her head helplessly. ‘Yes. Yes, I’m sure!’ It was no longer possible to zip up any of her jeans, and she was only about eight weeks along by her reckoning. It had, she knew, been the night she destroyed Lucy’s letter. And she knew that her Grandmother Markle had been a twin … the possibilities were exciting.
Then she looked up and realised with a childish thrill that snowflakes were beginning to drift past. It was going to be the most perfect Christmas. With that thought warmly in her mind like the scent of pine trees and the mulled-wine fragrances all around them, she raised her head and kissed her husband.
And the snowflakes began to fall faster, like whispers, and they settled around them and on them like angels’ kisses.
* THE END *
We’d love to hear how you enjoyed Watch For Me By Moonlight. Please leave a review where you purchased this ebook. Reviews on retail sites really do help the author. Thank you!
Find out about the author and her novels next including a preview of Watch for Me by Candlelight.
Thank You
Thank you so much for reading, and hopefully enjoying, this novel – the first instalment in the Hartsford Mysteries Series. I hope you enjoyed meeting a new cast of characters and also enjoyed spotting the links to the Rossetti Mysteries Series. I hope you’ll grow to love Hartsford and its inhabitants as much as I do.
Authors need to know they are doing the right thing and keeping their readers happy; because without people like yourselves, a novel like this is just a collection of words on a page. So it would be wonderful if you could find a moment just to write a quick review on the retail site where you purchased this ebook, Goodreads or any one of the other reviewing websites to let me know that you enjoyed the book. Thank you once again, and do feel free to contact me at any time on Facebook, Twitter, through my website or through my lovely publishers Choc Lit.
Thanks again, and much love to you all,
Kirsty
xx
Read about Kirsty and her novels next ...
About the Author
Kirsty Ferry is from the North East of England and lives there with her husband and son. She won the English Heritage/Belsay Hall National Creative Writing competition in 2009 and has had articles and short stories published in various magazines. Her work also appears in several anthologies, incorporating such diverse themes as vampires, crime, angels and more.
Kirsty loves writing ghostly mysteries and interweaving fact and fiction. The research is almost as much fun as writing the book itself, and if she can add a wonderful setting and a dollop of history, that’s even better.
Her day job involves sharing a building with an eclectic collection of ghosts, which can often prove rather interesting.
For more information on Kirsty visit:
www.twitter.com/kirsty_ferry
www.facebook.com/Kirsty.Ferry.Author
Continue to read to find out more about Kirsty’s novels including a preview of her next book in the series,
More Choc Lit
From Kirsty Ferry
Watch for Me by Candlelight
Kirsty Ferry
Book 2 in the Hartsford Mysteries series
“The stars are aligning and it’s time again …”
Working at the Folk Museum in Hartsford village means that Kate Howard is surrounded by all sorts of unusual vintage items. Of course she has her favourites; particularly the Victorian ice skates with a name – ‘CAT’ – mysteriously painted on the sides.
But what Kate doesn’t realise is how much she has in common with Catriona Aphrodite Tredegar, the original owner of the skates, or how their lives will become strangely entwined. All Kate knows is that as soon as she bumps into farrier Theo Kent, things start getting weird: there’s the vivid, disconcerting visions and then of course the overwhelming sense that she’s met Theo before …
Read a preview here ...
Or purchase from your eBook provider. Visit www.choc-lit.com for more details.
Some Veil Did Fall
Kirsty Ferry
Book 1 in the Rossetti Mysteries series
What if you recalled memories from a life that wasn’t yours, from a life before …?
When Becky steps into Jonathon Nelson’s atmospheric photography studio in Whitby, she is simply a freelance journalist in search of a story. But as soon as she puts on the beautiful Victorian dress and poses for a photograph, she becomes somebody quite different …
From that moment on, Becky is overcome with visions and flashbacks from a life that isn’t her own – some disturbing and filled with fear.
As she and Jon begin to unravel the tragic mystery behind her strange experiences, the natural affinity they have for each other continues to grow and leads them to question … have they met somewhere before? Perhaps not in this life but in another?
Purchase from your eBook provider or visit www.choc-lit.com for more details.
The Girl in the Painting
Kirsty Ferry
Book 2 in the Rossetti Mysteries series
What if you thought you knew a secret that could change history?
Whilst standing engrossed in her favourite Pre-Raphaelite painting – Millais’s Ophelia – Cori catches the eye of Tate gallery worker, Simon, who is immediately struck by her resemblance to the red-haired beauty in the famous artwork.
The attraction is mutual,
but Cori has other things on her mind. She has recently acquired the diary of Daisy, a Victorian woman with a shocking secret. As Cori reads, it soon becomes apparent that Daisy will stop at nothing to be heard, even outside of the pages of her diary …
Will Simon stick around when life becomes increasingly spooky for Cori, as she moves ever closer to uncovering the truth about Daisy’s connection to the girl in her favourite painting?
Purchase from your eBook provider or visit www.choc-lit.com for more details.
The Girl in the Photograph
Book 3 in the Rossetti Mysteries series
What if the past was trying to teach you a lesson?
Staying alone in the shadow of an abandoned manor house in Yorkshire would be madness to some, but art enthusiast Lissy de Luca can’t wait. Lissy has her reasons for seeking isolation, and she wants to study the Staithes Group – an artists’ commune active at the turn of the twentieth century.
Lissy is fascinated by the imposing Sea Scarr Hall – but the deeper she delves, the stranger things get. A lonely figure patrols the cove at night, whilst a hidden painting leads to a chilling realisation. And then there’s the photograph of the girl; so beautiful she could be a mermaid … and so familiar.
As Lissy further immerses herself, she comes to an eerie conclusion. The occupants of Sea Scarr Hall are long gone, but they have a message for her – and they’re going to make sure she gets it.
Purchase from your eBook provider or visit www.choc-lit.com for more details.
A Little Bit of Christmas Magic
Book 4 in the Rossetti Mysteries series
Any wish can be granted with a little bit of Christmas magic …
As a wedding planner at Carrick Park Hotel Ailsa McCormack has devoted herself to making sure couples get their perfect day, but just occasionally that comes at a price – in this case, organising a Christmas Day wedding at the expense of her own Christmas.
Not that Ailsa minds. There’s something very special about Carrick Park during the festive season and she’s always been fascinated by the past occupants of the place; particularly the beautiful and tragic Ella Carrick, whose striking portrait still hangs at the top of the stairs.
And then an encounter with a tall, handsome and strangely familiar man in the drawing room on Christmas Eve sets off a chain of events that transforms Ailsa’s lonely Christmas into a far more magical occasion than she could have ever imagined …
Purchase from your eBook provider or visit www.choc-lit.com for more details.
Every Witch Way
Time for a Halloween road trip …
Nessa hates her full name – Agnes – which she inherited from her great-great grandmother – but is that all she inherited? Because rumour had it that Great-Great Granny Agnes was a witch, and a few unusual things have been happening to Nessa recently …
First, there’s the strange book she finds in her local coffee shop, and then the invite from her next-door neighbour Ewan Grainger to accompany him on a rather supernatural research trip. What ensues is a Halloween journey through Scotland in a yellow camper van (accompanied by a big black cat called Schubert), a mystical encounter in an ancient forest and maybe just a touch of magic!
Purchase from your eBook provider or visit www.choc-lit.com for more details.
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Read a preview of Watch for Me by Candlelight next …
Preview
Watch for Me by Candlelight
by Kirsty Ferry
Prologue
Her foot was twisted at an unnatural angle and she had a deep cut on her forehead. He prayed it wouldn’t scar – she was too beautiful to be scarred like that. She was too wild and adventurous, too perfect for this world she lived in, but she couldn’t leave it like this – she couldn’t.
‘I’ll get you to the cottage,’ he told her, ‘I’ll look after you. Only please wake up, please wake up. I can’t bear it if—’
A bark from behind him, his dog running in mad circles in the snow.
‘I know, I know. We’ll get her warmed up. She’ll be well in no time. No time at all.’
His heart pounded and his breath came in little puffs of air as he hurried back to the cottages.
He had to believe that all would be well or else …
Chapter One
The streets of Hartsford village were always at their best this early in the morning. Kate Howard stepped out of her front door and headed away from the Folk Museum, a long, low building made up of a row of old stone cottages. She was the museum manager and also lived upstairs, in a flat made up of a couple of attics knocked together.
If she headed towards the bakery, she’d just be in time to get a batch of fresh rolls, still warm from the oven. Then she could fill one with hot, sizzling bacon for her breakfast.
She walked along the old streets, with Hartsford Hall a backdrop to the Suffolk village which took its name from the stately home. As she turned a corner, lost in her thoughts and anticipating the smell of bread that always greeted her when she entered the bakery, she walked straight into someone. A man clutching a paper bag printed with the name of the bakery. He’d obviously had the same idea as her, and quickly put his hand out to steady her as she barged into him.
‘Oh! I’m so sorry!’ Kate blushed and side-stepped him.
He smiled down at her, his dark eyes flashing with mischief. ‘That’s okay. My breakfast is safe, that’s the main thing.’
Kate laughed. ‘Definitely. There’s not usually many people around at this time in the morning. Again, I’m so sorry. I must still be half asleep.’
‘I know that feeling well. Have a good day, anyway!’ His smile widened for a moment, and he paused, looking as if he was about to say something else; then he nodded and walked away.
Kate stared after him – he wasn’t local; his accent told her that, and she would have known him had he lived in the village. Still, there was something oddly familiar about the way he strode along the main street and disappeared around a corner. Something about the set of his shoulders, and the way his light-brown, sun-streaked hair was tousled and a little too long, that had her wanting to call after him and ask where they’d met before.
She definitely seemed to know him – her body told her that with a little fizz of excitement or recognition, as if she’d seen him quite recently, or maybe not – perhaps it was a long time ago? She waited another moment, then shook her head. How strange.
Then she turned back towards the bakery, and continued on her way, still feeling the gentle touch of his hand on her arm.
Later that morning, the front door of the museum slammed open. Kate, her fingers poised over the keyboard of her computer in the reception area, found herself staring at her best friend, Cassie Aldrich. The museum wasn’t due to open for about half an hour, but
unfortunately, Cassie knew Kate kept the door unlocked from the moment she set foot in the place. And obviously, Kate was never late.
‘I’ve got to get something vintage for the weekend!’ Cassie was bright red in the face and clearly panicking.
‘Vintage as in …?’ Kate asked, amused. ‘Clothing? Wine? Motor vehicle? And which weekend are we talking about? It’s Friday already. Or is it the very special weekend you’ve been working towards for Elodie?’ Cassie’s brother Alex – the current Earl of Hartsford – and sister-in-law Elodie owned the Hall. Cassie was organising a Living History weekend for them, to take place in August. It was currently the very beginning of June.
‘Yes. That weekend. And a vehicle. Yes. I think a vehicle might describe it.’ Cassie threw herself onto one of the old church pews in the entrance and sighed dramatically. ‘Goodness knows why I took this on.’
Kate smiled at her friend. They’d had this conversation before. ‘You had a moment of weakness and volunteered to help Elodie. You’re just too nice. Cuppa?’ She swung her legs around and jumped off the stool.
‘You’re such a doll. Thank you. Tea would be marvellous.’
‘A doll? In what respect?’
Cassie shrugged. ‘Well, you know. As in kind. Nice. Sweet. Sorry.’ She leaned forward and tucked her chin in her hands. ‘I’m living and breathing this flipping Country House Party Weekend and some of it is rubbing off on me.’
‘Oh, you’re getting there.’ Kate dipped her head so Cassie didn’t see her smiling. The whole village had heard about Cassie’s trials and tribulations. By all accounts she hadn’t done very much actual organising yet. It was usually Elodie’s task, but as Elodie was heavily pregnant with twins it hadn’t quite panned out the way it normally would. So Cassie had decided she would help out.
From what Kate understood, Cassie was beginning to realise organising an event on that scale wasn’t quite as simple as she’d thought it would be.