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Chapters (25)
  1. Table of Contents
  2. 1
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  21. About the Author
  22. About the Author
  23. Copyright
  24. About the Publisher
  25. About the Publisher

Alas, my Jessamine; we do not have much time left.

What does that mean, Oleander? Does it mean I will die?

I don’t want you to leave me, Jessamine. There is so much I have yet to tell you.

You have already told more than I can bear.

We have hardly begun. The truth of things is so cruel, so beautiful—so much more thrilling than you can imagine. Stay with me. I will reveal dark secrets you never dreamed existed. We will fly everywhere you ever longed to see. Stay. You will not be sorry.

What secrets? Oleander—I cannot see you anymore—the silver mist turns to darkness—is it the end? Oh, I am afraid! Perhaps you are right, perhaps I should stay—for my father is a murderer, and Weed has abandoned me—why should I return to them? And you, Oleander—cruel and strange as you are—you have told me only the truth… you have tried to help me, I see that now…. Oleander, I reach for you, where are you? I clutch something in the darkness, but it is only a leaf come loose in my hand—

Too late, I am afraid. Good-bye for now, lovely lady. When you are ready to meet again, come to the poison garden…. I am always there…. I will be waiting….

My eyes open. Curtains flutter in the breeze, and bright yellow sunshine floods in my bedchamber window. The light stings. Tears form, blinding me again. But not before I see Father’s face hovering above me.

He looks like an old man. A frightened, evil old man.

And Weed is nowhere to be found.

I feel my leaden body, shackled to the bed by gravity and mortality. I ache everywhere. The sheets are damp with my sweat. My joints ache, my belly is full of pain, my head throbs.

I am alive.

About the Author

About the Author

MARYROSE WOOD began writing fiction after many years performing, directing, and writing for the theater. Her novels for teen readers include WHY I LET MY HAIR GROW OUT and MY LIFE: The Musical. For younger readers she wrote THE INCORRIGIBLE CHILDREN OF ASHTON PLACE: BOOK I: The Mysterious Howling, the first book of a new series.

JANE NORTHUMBERLAND is married to the twelfth Duke of Northumberland and is mistress of Alnwick Castle, often referred to as the “Windsor of the North.” The earls and dukes of Northumberland have lived in Alnwick Castle for seven hundred years. The Duchess has spent the last fourteen years creating beautiful public gardens in the grounds of the castle and, because of her fascination with and knowledge of poisons, has created the world-famous Poison Garden. Alnwick Castle and the Alnwick Garden are the most popular tourist destinations in the north of England, attracting more than 800,000 visitors each year.

Copyright

Poison Diaries is a trademark of Poison Diaries Ltd.
Balzer + Bray is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

The Poison Diaries