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Chapters (44)
  1. Table of Contents
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Chapter One
  6. Chapter Two
  7. Chapter Three
  8. Chapter Four
  9. Chapter Five
  10. Chapter Six
  11. Chapter Seven
  12. Chapter Eight
  13. Chapter Nine
  14. Chapter Ten
  15. Chapter Eleven
  16. Chapter Twelve
  17. Chapter Thirteen
  18. Chapter Fourteen
  19. Chapter Fifteen
  20. Chapter Sixteen
  21. Chapter Seventeen
  22. Chapter Eighteen
  23. Chapter Nineteen
  24. Chapter Twenty
  25. Chapter Twenty-One
  26. Chapter Twenty-Two
  27. Chapter Twenty-Three
  28. Chapter Twenty-Four
  29. Chapter Twenty-Five
  30. Chapter Twenty-Six
  31. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  32. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  33. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  34. Chapter Thirty
  35. Chapter Thirty-One
  36. Chapter Thirty-Two
  37. Chapter Thirty-Three
  38. Chapter Thirty-Four
  39. Chapter Thirty-Five
  40. Chapter Thirty-Six
  41. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  42. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  43. A word about the author...
  44. Thank you for purchasing this publication of The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

Philomena hardly registered the contents of the room, though, for the source of the strange light caught her attention. She tilted her head backwards and gazed, entranced, for the ceiling was perfectly round and constructed, as far as she could tell, completely of glass. Through the glass, the sky glowed with the light of a thousand stars like fireflies. They lit the winter night and illuminated the room with a ghostly glow that outshone the light from the lantern.

Transfixed, her purpose forgotten, Philomena drank in the beauty of the night sky. She had seen star configurations in Samuel’s books, and she recognised one or two. There was the hunter, with three stars for a belt, and nearby, the plough, leading the way to the North Star. Philomena felt dizzy and a little faint. This was beyond anything she had expected.

Her legs gave way and she dropped onto a stool. What had she found? Was the room some strange chamber where secret societies carried out dreadful deeds? Indeed, there were levers and hooks against one of the walls; she could not imagine what use they could possibly have. She shuddered, her head full of fancies of capture and torment. For a few moments, imagination took over. Common sense, though, was not far behind.

This was foolish. There was nothing here to frighten anyone. Philomena stood up. The room was just another puzzle. The time had come to forget her fears and solve it. She picked up the wooden box from the table in the centre of the room and turned it around, peering at every surface. She spotted a wooden disc to one side. She twisted it and it unscrewed without resistance. A glass lens shimmered in the silvery light from the sky. So that was it: a camera.

How could she have been such a ninny? She was in no danger. The mystery solved and her confidence returned, Philomena stepped across the room to investigate a vast iron handle. It shifted at her touch. Levers whispered and a wooden ceiling glided across, inch by inch, hiding the night sky. Now, only her lantern penetrated the dark of the strange room. She waited for her eyes to adjust to the gloom.

“What do you mean by this?”

Philomena leaped in the air and turned, terrified. Lord Thatcham, tall and menacing, glowered at her from the doorway, his eyes ablaze with fury.

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

Hugh bit back an explosion of anger. Of all places, this woman had chosen to invade his precious sanctuary, the one place he expected to find tranquillity. Philomena gasped and stumbled, colliding with the nearest table. A pile of precious books teetered a moment and three heavy volumes crashed to the floor, spines splayed and pages creased.