Page 2 of Once Upon a Midnight Dreary
She held out a hand to her.“There she is, my lovely girl.”
Marigold grasped her hand in hers and noticed how fragile she felt.
“When the director told me you were here, I thought it was a cruel joke,” she said with a half laugh.She released her hand and motioned to a similar chair opposite her.“Have a seat.”
“The director said you insisted on seeing me.”
She nodded.“I did.But aren’t you supposed to be in school?”
Marigold glanced down at her hands folded in her lap to keep the truth from showing on her face.She had no intention of telling her aunt she’d skipped classes to come.
“Ah, so you are.What will your mother say?”
Her head snapped up as her heart rammed hard in her chest.“You aren’t going to tell her, are you?”
“No, dearest.It will be our secret.What are you doing here?”
“I had to see how you were.I overheard Mom talking to you on the phone.”
“I see.She didn’t tell you I was here?”
“No.”Marigold twisted her hands together in her lap.She glanced around the courtyard.“Whatisthis place, auntie?It smells…old.It looks ancient.Like something out of a storybook.”
She chuckled.“It’s an old sanctuary for people like me who have been away from home too long.Don’t you worry.I’ll be good as new soon enough.”
Marigold drew her brows together in question.“What do you mean, away from home?Isn’t your home near ours?”
A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.“Home is where memories are created and stories are told.”
Marigold relaxed, leaning back on the thick cushion of the chair.“Are you going to tell me a story, then?”
“If you have time and are in the mood,” she said with a grin.
Excitement edged through her.“I’m always in the mood for one of your stories, auntie.What’s this one about?”
Thoughtfulness creased her features as she decided what to tell her.“How about one about a haunted estate, where nothing is as it seems?A woman who inherits that estate and a brooding man who guards the manor with a secret as heavy as stone.”
“That sounds intriguing,” Marigold said.
“There’s also a raven that whispers and watches, its wings tied to a centuries-old curse.”
“Anotherstory about a curse?”
“Oh, yes.There aremanystories about curses.”
A shiver raced up her spine.Marigold tugged her coat closer.“That seems fitting for this time of year.”
“Very well, then.Once upon a time, there was a beautiful heiress named Victoria who moved into a crumbling manor…”
Chapter 1
Theletterarrivedonblack-edged stationery at half-past nine during breakfast on a too-bright day for mourning.
Victoria Ravenwood stared down at the unfamiliar wax seal stamped with the sigil of a bird in flight.A raven, from the looks of it.A slanting, looping hand had scrawled her name across the front in black ink.
Miss Victoria Ravenwood
Care of Mr.Hubert Pembroke, Crown Hollow, Rothbridge
