Crystal Gardens Read Free Page A

psychical senses.
    “This way, Miss Ames.” He steered her around a large bush. “Watch your step. There are a number of hazards on the grounds, including those roses.”
    The power she had glimpsed in Lucas’s aura warned her that he was probably a good deal more dangerous than anything in his strange gardens.
    Sharpy Hobson had stopped screaming, but she knew that she would hear the echoes of his last, horrified cries in her nightmares for a long time to come.

Two

     
    E vangeline perched tensely on the edge of one of the well-worn chairs in the library; the lapels of Lucas’s coat clutched at her throat. She watched him pour two glasses of brandy.
    The glary gaslight from the wall sconces revealed a massive mahogany desk, two large reading chairs and two end tables. The furnishings, along with the frayed and faded carpet and the heavy draperies that covered the windows, had gone out of fashion decades earlier. The shelves were crammed with leather-bound volumes. A variety of scientific instruments including a microscope and a telescope were scattered about the room.
    Lucas Sebastian was a mystery not only to her, but also to the people of Little Dixby. He had arrived to take up residence at Crystal Gardens three days ago and he had immediately become the source of speculation and gossip.
    She had met him for the first time yesterday in Chadwick Books,the only bookshop in town. Lucas had entered the premises shortly after she had gone through the door. He had introduced himself to her and to the proprietor, Irene Witton.
    Irene was new to the bookselling business, having purchased the shop from the widow of the previous owner a few months earlier. But she was ambitious and it was clear that she was delighted to have Lucas as a customer. There was nothing better for business than having word get around that the owner of the largest country house in the district shopped at her establishment.
    Evangeline, however, had not been able to sort out her own reactions to Lucas so neatly. Her senses had flared briefly when he walked into the shop. It had been an instinctive, intuitive response. Although he had not touched her she had sensed what she knew was a strong psychical talent. Indeed, it had been impossible to ignore the subtle shift of energy in the atmosphere. The knowledge had lifted the hair on the back of her neck. A strange mix of excitement and wariness had twisted through her.
    “It appears I am your tenant, Mr. Sebastian,” she said.
    “So you are, Miss Ames.” He smiled. “My uncle’s man of business informed me that you had rented Fern Gate Cottage for the month. He was very pleased. Evidently he has not been able to attract a tenant to the property in the past two years. I trust you are enjoying your stay here in Little Dixby?”
    It had been on the tip of her tongue to tell him that, aside from the occasional highly illicit thrill of trespassing on the grounds of the old abbey, she had never been more bored in her life. In that moment, however, she discovered that was no longer true. But she could hardly say that her perception of the pleasures of country life had done a complete about-face when he had walked through the door of Chadwick Books.
    “I find the countryside quite … invigorating,” she said instead.
    His dark brows rose a little. Something that might have been amusement glittered in his gem-green eyes. “Excellent. You will send word to the Gardens if you need anything in the way of repairs at the cottage?”
    “Yes, thank you, but I’m sure that won’t be necessary.”
    “One never knows,” Lucas said.
    He had selected some old maps and a guidebook to the local ruins, paid for his purchases and made his farewells. Evangeline and Irene had watched him walk out onto the street and disappear into the crowds of visitors that thronged Little Dixby in the summer. The town was within a three-hour train trip from London and had long been an attraction due to the remarkably well-preserved