Her arm was released, and she was suddenly before a man, though she could not see him clearly.

No, her mind cried out. No, please.

Her veil was raised, and she faced the man to whom she would be wed.

His eyes met hers, and he smiled, turning her blood cold.

Edith jerked awake with a panicked gasp, though she was not entirely sure she’d been asleep. She dabbed the back of her hand to her brow, wet her lips, and rose from the couch.

“Charlotte, lass, if yer no’ needing me, I think I must be off. I’ll call upon you tomorrow.”

Charlotte nodded even as she nestled further into the confines of the couch. “Forgive me for not bidding you farewell.”

“Of course,” Edith murmured with a smile her friend would not see.

Edith turned from the room and quietly gathered her things from the maid while her carriage was brought round.

She could not keep doing this, she thought as she loaded herself into the carriage. She could not live trapped in her memories and unable to move in her present, only to fear the future.

She would not.

Edith closed her eyes and leaned back roughly against the worn seats of the barely usable carriage. Something would have to change, and it would have to change now.

Or it never would.

About the Author

Rebecca Connolly has been creating stories since she was young, and there are home videos to prove it. She started writing them down in elementary school and has never looked back. She lives in Ohio, spends every spare moment away from her day job absorbed in her writing, and is a hot cocoa junkie.

COMING SOON

The Spinster Chronicles

Book Six

“A spinster by any other name.”

by

REBECCA CONNOLLY