Sandra Heath Read Online Free PDF

through the wall, out onto the terrace, I suppose. They called each other Jane and Kit, and were dressed in the clothes from the time of Queen Anne.” Henrietta toyed with her fan. “Charlotte, the lady looked so like me that it was like seeing myself in fancy dress! And—and the gentleman was the very image of...”
    “Yes?” Charlotte prompted curiously.
    “He was a perfect likeness of Marcus Fitzpaine.”
    Charlotte’s face was a study, and then she laughed again. “I think you’ve sampled too much punch.”
    “I’m far from being in my cups.”
    “A little fresh air on the terrace is in order, I think. Ghosts indeed. Whatever next?”
    The footman returned with the towel, and as Henrietta mopped the splashes of champagne on her skirt, Charlotte instructed him to bring two warm cloaks. He hurried away again, and she eyed Henrietta. “I must say, for someone who has just claimed to see ghosts, you do not seem all that rattled; indeed I am more rattled than you, and I didn’t see anything.”
    “Perhaps it’s because as a child I saw so many phantoms of one sort or another.”
    “You did?”
    Henrietta nodded. “Yes, but I quickly discovered that if I said anything I could only expect censure, if not downright punishment, so I learned to keep quiet on the subject.” She folded the towel slowly. “I confess I thought it was simply a childhood thing, because until tonight I hadn’t seen anything since school.”
    Her matter-of-fact attitude was bewildering to Charlotte, who suddenly realized there was a side of her oldest friend she had never dreamed existed. She gave an uncomfortable laugh and looked away. For Henrietta, it was a horridly familiar reaction, and she wished she’d had the presence of mind not to respond at all when she’d seen the wraiths. It was too late now, however, so the best she could do was brush the incident aside. “Oh, well, perhaps I was a little liberal with the punch, so maybe some fresh air is advisable,” she said lightly, although the terrace was precisely where she believed the apparitions to have gone.
    That was indeed where the startled ghosts were now to be found. Lanterns cast a soft light over everything, and a fine layer of snow had settled, but for the moment only a few flakes drifted on the motionless air. It was incredibly cold, but they felt nothing as they recovered from the shock of having been seen. Jane glanced back at the wall through which they’d emerged. “That was quite dreadful. I thought we would always be invisible and able to do as we pleased without detection, but she saw and heard us quite clearly!”
    “Well, since there are truly psychic people, I suppose it was always possible that one day something like this would happen.”
    Jane glanced heavenward. “And since we haven’t been immediately returned to limbo until the next suitable winter, I can only presume we haven’t fallen foul of the rules,” she said.
    “I should hope not. After all, it wasn’t our fault Henrietta saw us,” Kit replied.
    Jane sighed. “This makes things very difficult if she is to be one of our lovers, but in the absence of anyone else—”
    “It isn’t beyond our capabilities to keep out of sight,” Kit reminded her. “There is always a convenient wall or cupboard.”
    “I suppose so.” Jane sighed. She became aware of the gentle splash of the waves at the foot of the cliffs. It was a sound that made her put a nervous hand to her throat. “Oh, I do hate the sea, for I cannot forget the Goodwins....”
    “Beloved, we are on terra firma now,” Kit replied reassuringly.
    “I know, but I just can’t help it.”
    He kissed her forehead tenderly, and for a moment she pressed lovingly to him, but then drew back sharply as a bark carried from the open doorway into the cloisters. “Rowley!” she cried, expecting to see the spaniel bounding toward them, but he didn’t come. “Rowley?” she called. Another bark was the only response.
    Kit put a gentle