Dear Readers,
It’s been a year since the events described in the following letter I received, but given the season in which we find ourselves (when barriers between this world and the next are thin), I am sharing this interesting story now.
Dear Mr. Clemons,
A most intriguing story came to me from a serving girl, after some little encouraging on my part, for she was mortally afraid of not keeping a promise to a person of very great consequence. This girl is known to me from the parish which my husband used to serve, and where I still have many acquaintances and correspondents.
What she told me came to me in fits and stutters, but I shall smooth them out as best I can.
On the morning of All Hallow’s Eve, a young lady appeared on the doorstep of the serving girl’s mistress’s home requesting an interview with the mistress’s grandmother, who resided there. This stranger commenced to make her business known, but before she could proceed, that person I referred to as of very great consequence rushed in—no less than a nobleman of great rank! He does not reside in the old abbey he owns near the village but was merely visiting the property, as he has only just inherited his title. Nor was he acquainted with the young lady visitor! She had been given refuge in his great house the night before after a coaching accident.
Your readers can imagine the shock caused by the appearance of a nobleman in the humble cottage of a rural outpost. Even more startling was the story that unfolded from the lips of the young lady and him.
Rumors of hauntings in the nearby abbey had abounded for generations. A lady roams the halls looking for a diamond lost when an earlier lord, her brother murdered her, and a quite ghastly monk has been seen on the grounds, etc., etc.
It appears that the rumors of ghosts might be true! For both the young lady and the d… nobleman admitted to seeing something.
Both parties were certainly influenced by something supernatural, though perhaps it was only Cupid’s arrow? For during the tale, his grace actually reached for the lady’s hand!
Of the ghosts, I know little more, but if you have kept track of the announcements of marriages you will know the outcome of this “haunted” romance!
Your faithful correspondent,
Mrs. A. P.
The Duke, the Diamond, and the Ghastly Ghoul
by Alina K. Field
A friend’s dare and a family legend draw the Duke of Hattingly to Wotton Abbey for an All Hallows’ Eve gathering. He’s determined to prove there are no ghosts haunting his ancestral home, and that the story of a missing diamond is a hum. But then the uninvited Miss Carys Llangrove appears on his doorstep seeking shelter and awakening the spirits who lead the duke and the lady to the most precious treasure of all.
“The Duke, the Diamond, and the Ghastly Ghoul”, can be found in Moonlight Madness, a Bluestocking Belles Collection.
Available now! https://books2read.com/u/4Dwnjr
About the Author:
USA Today bestselling author Alina K. Field earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and German literature but prefers the much happier world of romance fiction. Her roots are in the Midwestern U.S., but after six very, very, very cold years in Chicago, she moved to Southern California. Now widowed, and with the kids grown, she recently transplanted from Orange County to a desert community. The nest is empty except for a sweet, feisty chihuahua and grandkids who frequently need looking after and visit often.
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