The End
Epilogue
Louisa awoke in the near darkness. She could feel him beside her warm and quiet, his breathing deep and regular. He was still hers, her partner and her friend. Together they had traveled the world, solving real life mysteries that inspired Louisa’s novels. Luc had a drive and a hunger to see justice done and whenever he could make a difference he got them involved. Her old publisher had welcomed her back enthusiastically and Louisa continued to write thrilling mysteries. Zhi’s story of her escape to America and the hardships she endured became The Dragon’s Diamonds and was followed by The Mystery of the Badlands Bootlegger, Captives of the Sullivan Gang and The Missing Gun Moll.
She brushed his hair from his face and kissed his forehead as gently as the flutter of a butterfly wing and slipped from the bed. No matter where they traveled or what adventures they shared, they always returned home to her beloved cottage near Stavewood. And through the years the desire to write her mother’s story had persisted. She wrapped her robe over her naked body and tiptoed from the bedroom.
Darkness lay over the landscape, the candles in the windows had burned down into their crystal bases and the fire glowed a warm red of fading embers. Louisa took an apple from the bowl of fruit and bit into it. She smiled. Her best writing always happened in the quiet of the night.
Rebecca’s story, the way she lived and loved, her passion for life, all came rushing into Louisa’s mind. She remembered Corissa and Jude, the Weintraubs and Sam and Bernadette. All of their choices made perfect sense to her. Louisa put down the remains of the apple.
She set her typewriter onto the table in the cottage kitchen and opened the hard case. She lit a lantern, turned the wick up to a soft glow and rolled in the first blank sheet of paper. Louisa began to type quickly and the words poured out of her. Now she knew exactly how to tell it all. Louisa typed:
Stavewood
A novel by Louisa Almquist
Chapter One
Another stitch dropped…
Dear Reader,
If you enjoyedThe Secret of Stavewood I would be very thankful if you would post a positive review online. Your support is invaluable and I read all reviews. Your opinion will help me to continue to write other books. To leave a review, please visit the page for this book at Amazon. Select “Write a customer review”.
Thank you so much for your support!
Sincerely,
Nanette
Coming Soon!
Selective Service
Write to me, darling, of home. Of everything of home. I need to find the peace of it and to hear its soft whisper above the din of war.
Your loving Thomas
Doctor Thomas Confrey puts pen to paper while on the battlefields of Europe in the summer of 1918. He has been drafted by his country to fight and to heal amid the devastation of a war that history will show does not end all wars.
His young wife, Clara, writes to him of home, of her everyday experiences and she waits for his return.
In this, the ninth novel by Nanette Kinslow, we come to know the Confreys through their correspondence and the love that endures.
Books by Nanette Kinslow
Stavewood
South of Stavewood
Home to Stavewood
The Secret of Stavewood
Sweet New England
Ill Repute
Pie Crust Promise
The Matter with Margaret
The Secret of Stavewood (Stavewood Saga Book 4) Page 24