With This Curse: A Novel of Victorian Romantic Suspense
Page 31
His wife gave him a laughing look. “I thought I was the superstitious one, George! I had no idea you harbored such ideas. Shall you tell our child bedtime stories of monsters and dark magic?”
Atticus was more thoughtful in his response. “Gravesend has seen its share of sorrow and tragedy,” he said soberly. “Perhaps more than other houses; perhaps not. But it has also seen much joy.” He pressed my hand. “What do you think, Clara?”
Taken aback, I could not produce an answer at once. Gravesend had seen me in my moments of greatest happiness—and had been enmeshed in my times of greatest sorrow. When I forced myself to think back, however, the times since my return that I had felt most ill at ease, most certain of some watchful, portentous presence, were the occasions that I now knew when Richard had been hiding nearby and observing me. Not the house at all, nor some malign supernatural presence, just my senses detecting something that had not fully revealed itself and filling in the gaps with my own remembered dread and misery.
Nothing else that had happened—not my dismissal, nor my mother’s death—needed a supernatural explanation. Disasters that had befallen earlier Blackwoods, while sometimes harrowing, could simply have been the vagaries of life. As frightening as the idea of the curse had been, I could see now that it had also offered reassurance: a conviction that some intention or design had lain beneath the sorrows of my life.
And indeed, if there had been some otherworldly force at work, who was to say that it was for ill? I had lost Richard, yes, as well as the comfort of believing he had loved me. In his place, however, I had gained a man infinitely his superior… and at a time in my life when I was more receptive to his sterling qualities than I would have been as an impetuous, heedless girl.
“Since we’ve been talking of new beginnings, I think Gravesend deserves one as well,” I announced. “The best possible future for the place is for a crowd of children to fill it with their energy and innocence—and chase all the old shadows and superstitions away.”
That moved Atticus to embrace me again, to renewed laughing protestations from the others. When finally we started back to the house, the soft dusk was overtaking the gardens, and birds were singing the drowsy song of twilight. Our shadows stretched before us over the green velvet lawn… but the era of shadows at Gravesend had come to a close.
The End
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Clara’s adventures continue!
Don’t miss the sequel to With This Curse,
Cursed Once More!
She went in search of her past… and found danger in the present.
Former seamstress Clara Blackwood seems to have found happiness at last. Having defied the Gravesend Curse, she is a blissfully married baroness and mistress of a grand estate. But now a mysterious summons shatters her contented life.
Clara grew up believing that her mother’s family had disowned them. But the grandmother Clara never knew is now entreating her to visit Thurnley Hall, the family seat in Yorkshire. The old lady is on her deathbed and anxious to disclose vital family secrets before it’s too late—for Clara’s unborn child may be cursed with a horrible fate.
Accompanied by her devoted husband, Atticus, Clara arrives at Thurnley to find intrigue brewing. Her boorish uncle, Horace Burleigh, is greedy for her wealth and desperate to protect the family’s mysteries. Superstitious fear of Atticus torments the hulking Romanian servant, Grigore, and even the soft-spoken young ward, Victor Lynch, may have secret motives for getting close to Clara and her husband.
When her grandmother dies under suspicious circumstances, Clara feels compelled to investigate. And when Atticus vanishes mysteriously, she must draw on all her strength and determination to find him before his time runs out… before her life can be cursed once more.
Discussion Questions for With This Curse
1. How does Clara change after being dismissed from her position as chambermaid at Gravesend? How does she change as a result of her marriage to Atticus? Compared to her position at the start of chapter one, in what ways has Clara grown and matured by the end of the novel?
2. Atticus is nicknamed for the mythological figure Atlas, a Titan who was condemned by Zeus to hold up the world or the heavens. In what ways does this nickname suit Atticus? Is the association negative, positive, or both? Why?
3. Clara comes to realize that she has romanticized Richard in her memories of him. In what ways are her memories of Richard inaccurate, idealized, or warped by her own predilections and wishes? What makes her realize that her memories of Richard differ from the reality? What does Clara gain by recognizing that her memories were inaccurate?
4. The past plays a large role in the story, especially Clara’s and Atticus’s past. In what ways are Clara and Atticus trapped in the past? When do their memories and past experiences interfere with their lives—including their life together—in the story’s present? By the end of the novel, have they freed themselves from the past or learned to move beyond it? How?
5. Genevieve’s arrival at Gravesend is a catalyst in some ways. What happens as a result of her presence? What response does Clara have to her? Lord Telford? In what ways does knowing Genevieve bring Clara greater understanding of herself and of Atticus? What might Genevieve represent in Clara’s eyes?
6. In Victorian England, unmarried women faced severely limited life choices, and few ways were open to them to support themselves. How do we see this manifested in the novel? What are the different options available to Clara when she finds that she is losing her job with Sybil Ingram? Is her decision to marry Atticus understandable?
7. Class distinctions were very much in force in Victorian England. How do they come into play in the story? In what ways are they harmful or damaging? Is the boundary line between master and servant ever breached in the story, and, if so, what are the consequences?
8. Parenthood is an important motif in the story. What examples do we see of good parenting and bad parenting? To what extent do the characters’ parents shape them? Would you describe Clara’s mother as a good parent? Lord Telford? Will Clara and Atticus be good parents?
9. Clara’s perspective on life—particularly life at Gravesend—is shaped in part by her experience as a chambermaid. What insight does this experience give her that is not present in other characters? In what ways do Clara’s years in service give her an advantage in her life as Atticus’s wife, and in what ways are they a disadvantage?
10. Clara reflects at one point that secrets can be “poisonous.” What are some of the most significant secrets that the characters in the story keep? What are the consequences of these secrets, both when they are kept and when they are revealed? How might the story have been different if all of these secrets had been revealed immediately?
More Victorian romantic suspense by Amanda DeWees
Follow the adventures of actress Sybil Ingram, Clara’s former employer, in
Nocturne for a Widow!
Widowed on her wedding night! Sybil Ingram is at a crossroads. Once she was the toast of the London stage, but now that she’s 28 years old—very well, nearly 30—her draw isn’t what it used to be, and her theater troupe is foundering. When her trusted mentor asks her to take the blame for his financial misdeeds, Sybil sees no choice but to retire from the life she loves and move to America to marry New York City hotel magnate Alcott Lammle. But her path to happiness is cut short when Lammle dies suddenly—and in financial ruin.
Widowed, nearly penniless, and unable to return to England, the determined diva sets out to stake a claim on Brooke House, a Gothic revival manor in the wilds of the Hudson River Valley. She soon finds, however, that a ghostly presence wants her gone. Even worse, her claim is challenged by the most insolent, temperam
ental, maddeningly gorgeous man she’s ever met: Roderick Brooke, a former violin maestro whose career ended in a dark scandal.
Soon it’s a battle of wills as Sybil matches wits—and trades barbs—with Roderick, finding herself increasingly drawn to him despite her growing suspicion that there is a connection between him and the entity that haunts Brooke House. But an even greater threat arises in the form of the mysterious and powerful queen of local society, Mrs. Lavinia Dove. For reasons that Sybil can’t imagine, Mrs. Dove is determined to oust Sybil from her sphere… and the lengths to which she will go are chilling indeed.
Winner of the 2012 RONE Award in mystery:
Sea of Secrets
Can she save him from the darkness in his soul... or will it destroy them both?
After her brother is killed in the Crimean War, innocent young Oriel Pembroke finds herself alone in the world. Disowned by the cruel father who has always despised her, she has nowhere to turn until she is taken under the wing of a glamorous relative she never knew: the former Duchess of Ellsworth, who has scandalized society by remarrying soon after her first husband’s death. At the opulent seaside estate of Ellsmere, Oriel thinks she has found a safe haven—but the darkly handsome young duke, Herron, believes otherwise. Haunted by the death of his father, he suspects that Ellsmere is sheltering a murderer.
Even as Oriel falls in love with the duke, she begins to fear that his grief and suspicion are turning to madness. When dangerous accidents start to befall both Herron and Oriel, however, she realizes that someone may be trying to stop them from discovering the truth about the past. And when someone from her past comes back into her life, she learns that he may hold the answer to the most horrifying secret of all…
Learn about these and other books at amandadewees.com.
Acknowledgments
Tremendous thanks go to all of my writing friends and groups, but especially to Lisa Blackwell, Lesley and Maurice Cobbs, Jeanna Cornett, and Susan Goggins (Raven Hart) for their encouragement, enthusiasm, insight, and detailed feedback and suggestions.
And my sincere thanks go to all the readers who have embraced Sea of Secrets and proven that there is still great love for the traditional gothic romance genre.
About the Author
Atlanta-based author Amanda DeWees received her PhD in English literature from the University of Georgia and wrote her dissertation on 19th-century vampire literature—the perfect training, although she didn’t know it at the time, for writing Victorian gothic romance novels. Amanda’s books include Sea of Secrets, winner of the 2012 RONE award in mystery, and the Ash Grove Chronicles, a young adult paranormal romance series set in modern-day North Carolina. Besides writing, Amanda’s passions include theater, classic film, Ioan Gruffudd, costume design, and the preservation of apostrophes in their natural habitat. Visit her at amandadewees.com for book extras and other delightful diversions.
Books by Amanda DeWees
Cursed Once More
Nocturne for a Widow
Sea of Secrets
With This Curse
The Ash Grove Chronicles:
The Shadow and the Rose
Casting Shadows
Among the Shadows
Copyright Notice
With This Curse
Text and discussion questions copyright © 2014 Amanda DeWees
All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or distributed in any printed or electronic form without the prior express written permission of the author.
If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Cover design by James T. Egan of Bookfly Design
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Table of Contents
Prologue
Cornwall, 1846
Chapter One
London, 1873
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Epilogue
Clara’s adventures continue!
Discussion Questions for With This Curse
More Victorian romantic suspense by Amanda DeWees
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Books by Amanda DeWees
Copyright Notice