Page 24 of A Ghost of a Chance

“Yes?” she asked eagerly.

“Do you know the former owners of this house—the Jewells?”

She looked taken aback. “Er, I’m afraid not.”

“Ah. Indeed. I thought I heard a rather convincing tragedy about them. And you mentioned a ...ghost?”

The housekeeper looked around and lowered her voice to a conspiring tone. “This house is haunted—especially this very room.”

Rafe lifted his brows. “Truly?”

“Every year on All Hallows’ Eve, one can hear the pianoforte playing—even though the room is empty.”

“A musical ghost?” Rafe sounded amused.

“People say they have also seen a phantom of a young woman floating about the house, the grounds, and gliding through the hothouse. Others have said they’ve seen her in the nearby hills.”

“How curious,” Osanne said. “I thought no one besides you had ever seen me.”

“Interesting,” Rafe said to them both.

The housekeeper curtsied. “I should return to my duties. Good evening, sir.” She left, closing the door behind herself.

Staring at the door, Rafe mused, “That housekeeper had the most unusual shade of hair.”

“Did she?” Osanne asked.

“Do you not think so?”

“I cannot say. I do not see colors anymore.”

“No colors?” He tilted his head.

“None. I see light and shadow, but no color at all.”

He frowned. “How dreary. I cannot imagine a world of gray.”

“At least I can hear music.”

Even colorless, Rafe remained the most handsome man of her acquaintance.

During their return stroll to Madding Hollow, a wind gusted, blowing Rafe’s hair and shaking the branches of the bare trees. Rafe put his hands into the pockets of his greatcoat and bent his head against the chill.

“Did you finish your quest?” Osanne asked him.

“My quest?”

“To visit all your former comrades-at-arms.”

His mouth turned up at the corners. “I hadn’t thought of it in such noble terms as a quest, but to answer your question, I visited several this past year. I’ve not yet paid a visit to all of them. It may take me some time.”

“Do you enjoy traveling about the countryside?”

“I thought it appropriate to see more of the country I fought so hard to protect from Napoleon.” He turned pensive and his footsteps slowed. “It’s also good to have a bit of solitude, and to escape certain demands.”

“What demands, may I ask?”

“My family are trying too hard to make me feel welcome—there’s never a moment’s peace. And my mother wishes to match me with any number of her friends’ daughters, so there is an endless parade of giggling ingenues barely out of the schoolroom. And then the not-so-subtle nudges toward Ben’s sister, Kitty.”