Is quenched by a true reckoning
* * *
He plays a mournful ballad of blame
Shaking the manor with his ire
His cry for justice is like a flame
Scorching all with unholy fire.
* * *
Alone, alone in his manor of sadness
Bloody Thom does howl, trapped by rage
Alone, he curses the village in his madness
Until love’s seasons free them from their cage.
“By discovering the truth about Thomas and Rose, that they were lovers, not enemies, I thought we had laid his spirit to rest,” Xenia said somberly.
“There remains much we do not know.” Thinking of the dream she’d had of Thomas and Rosalinda, trapped in their sanctuary of stone as fire raged around them, Gigi shivered. “For instance, we don’t know who murdered him and why and what became of Rosalinda.”
“Until then, I think Bloody Thom will continue to have a hand in our misfortune,” Letty said. “Chuddums will not find peace until he does.”
“Perhaps we can help him find absolution.” Xenia gnawed on her lip. “Solving the hoax of his sightings shed light on the real Thomas and Rosalinda. We discovered Rosalinda wasn’t a witch who cursed him but a beautiful young traveling woman. In my dreams, she and Thomas were lovers, a fact Wally later confirmed through his recollections of them as a young boy. And since those facts came to light, things have improved. Personally, I was lucky enough to marry the man of my dreams?—”
“Ethan was equally lucky to have found you,” Gigi cut in. “My brother was a curmudgeon until you came along.”
“He and I are both fortunate.” Xenia blushed. “And Chuddums seems to have benefited as well. Since we chased that nasty gang of Corrigans out of the village, the economy is improving, and people have hope again.”
“You’re right.” Gigi brightened. “Perhaps these drawbacks at the spa are merely signs.”
Letty’s forehead pleated. “Signs of what?”
“Signs that we need to discover the rest of Thomas and Rosalinda’s story. Perhaps Bloody Thom is causing trouble because he wants us to dig deeper—to find out the truth about what happened to him and Rosalinda. Once we do, we may free him from his rage, and he will leave the village alone.”
“Ethan and I fell in love during autumn,” Xenia murmured.
Gigi tilted her head. “Beg pardon?”
“I was just thinking about the phrase love’s seasons,” Xenia explained. “What if it literally refers to a season when a couple, who has parallels to Thomas and Rosalinda, falls in love?”
“That is an interesting theory,” Letty said.
“There are four seasons, which may mean four couples need to fall in love to lift the curse.” Xenia turned twinkling brown eyes to Gigi. “With winter in full swing, I wonder whose turn it will be to find their soulmate?”
Chapter Seventeen
“Where have you brought me? May I look now?”
“Not yet, duchess. Keep your hands over your eyes. I want this to be a surprise.”
As he led her to his lodgings, Conrad hid a smile at Gigi’s sigh of impatience. He’d picked her up again, and this time he’d parked himself beneath the tree outside her bedchamber in case she required assistance. She didn’t. She’d descended the tree as gracefully as if it were a grand staircase. In the process, she’d treated him to a view that would provide fodder for his fantasies in the years to come.
On the ride over, she’d asked about the cut on his cheek, and he’d had to tell her about being run off the road. Her concern had warmed him, but he didn’t want to spend the precious hours they had together talking about the darker side of life. He’d been weaned on pain, violence, and retribution. Tonight, with her, he had an appetite for finer things. Thus, he’d chalked the incident up to a mere accident.
