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Back The Winter Garden Save as PDF
Chapters (54)
  1. COVER
  2. About the Author
  3. ALSO BY ALEXANDRA BELL
  4. DEDICATION
  5. Prologue
  6. Part One
  7. CHAPTER ONE
  8. CHAPTER TWO
  9. CHAPTER THREE
  10. CHAPTER FOUR
  11. CHAPTER FIVE
  12. CHAPTER SIX
  13. CHAPTER SEVEN
  14. Part Two
  15. CHAPTER EIGHT
  16. CHAPTER NINE
  17. CHAPTER TEN
  18. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  19. CHAPTER TWELVE
  20. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  21. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  22. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  23. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  24. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  25. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  26. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  31. Part Three
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  35. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  36. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  37. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  45. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  46. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  47. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  48. CHAPTER FORTY
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  53. Acknowledgements
  54. THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

She walked out of the room without looking back. A few moments later Beatrice heard the crunch of her carriage wheels upon the gravel. She realised her hands were clenched so tightly that her nails dug into her palms. Why did Rosa, of all people, have to receive an invitation? Beatrice was dismayed at the blow to their friendship, but she was suddenly also afraid of how many other gardens she might be competing against. She had assumed her win was assured, but now she felt the first stirrings of doubt. Her eyes went back to the painting, but the tiger was looking at the girl once again, as though it had never changed the direction of its gaze at all.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

At sea – April 1838

The trees had disliked being loaded onto the ship, and as Beatrice had stood on the dockside in Shanghai and watched it happen, she had wondered whether she was making a mistake after all. Trees were not meant to be cooped up inside a box. These ones thirsted for snow, and ice, and cool, silver moonlight.

But it had been too late to turn back. The arrangements had all been made, the trees had been carefully dug up and potted in large containers. It had taken a large team of strong men to move Beatrice’s forest all the way to the docks and into the ship’s hold. She couldn’t very well call it off after that – she’d have looked like a fool. The idea of people laughing behind her back haunted her. Besides which, she needed that wish.

They’d been at sea for two weeks, but there were still months to go, and they would be required to change ship several times along the way. It was hard not to feel despair. The journey would use up precious time and there was no guarantee the beautiful trees would survive the trip. They would die, it would be Beatrice’s fault and all of this would be for nothing.

Despite her original objections, she was glad that James was with her. It was reassuring to have someone to share the burden with. They both spent a great deal of time in the hold with the trees, as there was no way of getting them up on deck for fresh air and moonlight. Fortunately James had brought a galaxy orchid with him, and the flower nourished the trees with its speckled starlight.