The Rose Master Read Online Free PDF Page B

hunchbacked, their bare arms stretched in supplication.
    Stop that , I told myself. They are just ordinary trees .
    “Do you think we can get back on the coach now? I would hate to arrive like this at the manor.” He looked at me as if he’d never seen me before. His mouth hung loose, an empty basket of bones and teeth. He took a deep breath and blinked.
    “Oh, miss, I’m sorry, did you say something?”
    I repeated my question and he eyed the horses.
    “I doubt it, miss. These horses have never been outside Lord Grey’s grounds, so they are frightened. Rightly so.”
    “They’ve never left the grounds? But surely your master has to run errands or the like.”
    He shook his head. “No, miss, we are pretty isolated.”
    I was starting to see that. The air was much cooler between the trees that fringed the road. Why would anyone choose to live here? Especially with the wealth Lord Grey apparently had? It made little sense.
    The smell of roses lingered in the air, playing with the chilled breezes, floating toward and away from us as it chose. I had grown almost used to it.
    Without fanfare, we maneuvered through an exhausted-looking, thick pair of trees and rounded on Rosewood Manor. My breath hitched in my lungs. The size of the place! It had at least four wings, chiseled columns, and a stone facade that was as frightening as it was sturdy. Yet nothing looked taken care of. Everything had a sheen of neglect that changed what could have been a beautiful place into a disquieting image that loomed before me as we walked.
    And then, there were the roses. There’s never been a more appropriate name for a place than the name which crowned that manor. On either side, almost leading us, were rose bushes, their red flowers pooling petals on the snow like drops of blood. Underneath every window on the still distant house, I could spot more roses, all red and large. All perfectly timed and blooming in fragrant defiance of winter.
    We stepped onto the final path which led straight to the front door and my knees buckled under the cloak of perfume that enveloped me. I hadn’t realized how affected I’d been. My head spun as if I’d had too much wine.
    Mr. Keery gripped my arm to keep me upright.
    “Welcome to Rosewood Manor,” he said.

    SIX
    They must have known we were arriving that day, and yet no one was at the door to receive us. I stood on the steps leading up to the entrance, trying to brush the winter off my clothes, unsure what I should do. I saw Mr. Keery grab the coach’s reins and start pulling the horses toward where I assumed the stables lay.
    “Wait, sir, what am I supposed to do?”
    He looked at me with the same shaken eyes. “Why, miss, go in.”
    “Just go in? Through the front door?” The thought of stepping onto what I was certain would be spotless, gleaming floors sent my heart pounding. My shoes were so crusted over in muddied snow they could have kept walking on their own. My father’s face would have paled in horror at my even considering such a thing.
    Mr. Keery sniffed. “We don’t stand on too much ceremony here. Just go in. I’m sure there’ll be someone in the kitchen.” He turned and dragged his feet down a side path.
    Bloody hell. I glanced around, but there was no one. It seemed I had no choice. Taking a deep breath, I broke every rule I’d ever been taught. I gripped the freezing doorknob and opened the door. The glare off the snow behind me made it difficult to see inside. I had to blink and wait as my eyes decided to get back to work. They cleared by slow degrees, revealing a strange room. It was large and almost empty, with only a chandelier that looked like a bouquet of dead branches, and a couple of the meanest-looking wooden benches I’d ever seen. Highly unusual furnishings for the day and age, when everything tended to be swaddled in silks and damasks, with ornaments teetering on crowded side tables.
    And the cold. I turned to make sure I’d closed the door behind me