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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

It was the first time Beatrice could ever remember him interrupting her. His eyes flicked towards her in the soft purple light. ‘Be careful what you ask me next. Yes, I held him responsible. It all happened so quickly. One moment Ben was there beside me, the next …’ He looked away from Beatrice then. ‘No one should have to die like that. No one. It could just as easily have been me who fell in and Ben who survived, but that day still changed my life forever, changed me forever. No person could witness such violence and remain unaltered. I will be marked by it until the day I die. If you feel you must know the details of what happened next – what actions I felt justified in taking – and why a man like Johnston has had cause to hear my name and be unwilling to cross me, then certainly I will tell you. I only urge you to consider whether these are things you truly want to know.’

Beatrice was silent for several minutes after he spoke. Her heart ached for him. To lose a person you cared about in such a senseless, ghastly way was beyond her comprehension. It suddenly seemed to her that she had no right to judge James for anything he did, or did not, do in such a situation. How could she possibly know how she might have reacted herself?

‘I will not p-pry,’ she finally said. ‘It is y-your own b-​business. But wh-whatever h-happened, I am s-sorry.’

James nodded, and that was an end to it. They never discussed the subject again. He looked up at the forest shining above them now and said, ‘It’s likely to be a difficult voyage, I’m afraid. I hope it will be worth it in the end and that you’ll create something beautiful back at Half Moon House. I want to believe that life is more than something nasty, brutish and short. That it can be something magical, wonderful and precious instead.’

‘It c-can,’ Beatrice replied. ‘I’ve s-seen it. And I w-will c-create it again.’

The truth was that she felt more determined than ever before.

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Part Three

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

November 1838

That year boasted a summer of gardens. It seemed you could not move for learning of another grand opening. Rosa attended several of them. She had no idea whether they were anything to do with the Spider Queen, but either way she meant to keep an eye on any potential competitors. Of course it was not possible to visit every garden – some were too far away or, indeed, not even in the same country.