The Mammoth Book of Irish Romance by Trisha Telep EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
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- Authors: Trisha Telep
- Language: English
- Genre: Romantic Erotica
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The Blue Pebble
Shirley Kennedy
England – 1814
Passengers on the Royal Mail coach to London were surprised when the
coach came to a jangling stop on the road not far from the town of
Shrewsbury. No houses around. Only a winding driveway could be seen
leading up through a heavy growth of trees to an immense Tudor-style
mansion that nestled atop a low hill.
“This here’s Chatfield Court, miss,” the coachman shouted. “I’ll toss
your luggage down.”
“Thank you kindly, sir.”
While the pretty young woman in her twenties climbed from the coach,
the other passengers looked at each other askance. Surely the girl should not
have to carry that large portmanteau up the hill by herself. One of the
gentlemen passengers stuck his head out the window and called up, “I say,
coachman, can’t you take her up the driveway to the entrance? We don’t
mind the extra time.”
“Can’t do it, sir. Against the rules.”
“That’s quite all right,” the young woman assured him in a rich Irish
brogue. She squared her shoulders. “This isn’t the first heavy load I’ve
carried in my life. I’ll be fine.” She picked up the battered portmanteau,
smiled, waved a quick goodbye and started trudging up the hill.
The coach started up again, the remaining passengers making clicking
noises and shaking their heads. That they were concerned about a passenger
they’d known only hours was surprising. She had not uttered more than a
few pleasantries, only briefly mentioning she’d been a schoolteacher in
Ireland, as had her mother who had recently passed away.
Mostly she sat
silently gazing out the window; yet despite the paucity of her words, they
all recognized an agreeable quality about her and wished her well.
“I liked that girl,” one gentlemen said. “Don’t know exactly why, but she
had a certain . . . I guess you could say, serenity about her.”
“More than that. It was like a special aura that surrounded her,” one of
the ladies chimed in. “It was almost as if I felt calmer in her presence.”
“She had a magical quality,” said another.
The gentleman laughed. “Magic? Well, I don’t know as I’d go that far.”
The lady nodded emphatically. “Magic. I felt it. I don’t know what it was,
but that girl had a special gift which we all felt, and don’t you tell me
otherwise.”
Halfway up the driveway, Evleen O’Fallon had to stop and catch her breath.
The heat of the summer day, plus the weight of the heavy portmanteau had
done her in. As she rested and wiped her brow, she looked up the hill
towards the dark stone mansion called Chatfield Court.
“I’m sure you will like it,” her mother had said on her deathbed. “Lord
Beaumont assured me you would.”
Mother’s gone. A tear rolled down Evleen’s cheek. I miss her so. What
will I do without her?
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