Is there a priest hole at Thornbury? No one knows for sure, but there are rumors there’s one to be found—and several secret panels have been discovered at Thornbury, so it doesn’t seem terribly unlikely. On the south side of the castle, part of the outer wall extends in a U-shape that’s divided down the middle into two rooms. Curiously, one room is larger than the other, and the suspicion is that there may be a priest hole in the blocked-off space. Thornbury also has a tunnel that starts by the former dungeon (now the wine cellar), runs beneath the courtyard, and comes up by the old castle well.
Thornbury Castle is now a luxurious hotel. Castle accommodations aren’t ever inexpensive, but Thornbury’s prices are more reasonable than most. If you’ve ever dreamed of staying at a castle, I highly recommend this one. It is absolutely gorgeous inside, and you might get to stay in Chrystabel’s bedroom with the curved oriel windows like I did!
I hope you enjoyed A Secret Christmas! If you haven’t read the other three Chase Family Series: The Flowers books—which are about Chrystabel and Joseph’s daughters—the first one is Violet. Please read on for an excerpt.
And if you’ve already read The Flowers series and The Jewels series, next up is Lost in Temptation, the first of my romances featuring Regency-era descendants of the original Chase and Ashcroft characters. Please read on for an excerpt as well as more bonus material!
Always,
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MEET CHRYSTABEL & JOSEPH’S DAUGHTERS IN…
Violet
Book One of
Chase Family Series: The Flowers
The Ashcroft family motto is “Question Convention,” and eldest sister Violet agrees with the sentiment completely. For one thing, she's not planning to marry. Plain Violet is smart enough to realize any suitors would be after her large inheritance, or else interested in her beautiful younger sisters—and she'd much rather spend her time improving her mind than risking her tender heart…
After wasting six years wooing a lady who eloped with another man, Ford Chase, the handsome and eccentric Viscount Lakefield, has had it with women. Ford is passionate about his scientific pursuits and doesn't need to find love, thank you very much. When an unwelcome distraction—in the form of his six-year-old niece—is dropped in his lap, he enlists the help of an uncommonly intelligent neighbor named Violet. But Violet's surprising allure proves to be even more distracting, leading to a passion the likes of which he's never even imagined…
Read an excerpt…
England
July 15, 1673
ST. SWITHIN’S DAY. Well, it was fitting.
Viscount Lakefield stared out his carriage window at the miserable, wet landscape. According to St. Swithin’s legend, if it rained on the fifteenth of July, it would continue for forty days and nights. Normally not a man given to superstition, today Ford Chase found such nonsense plausible.
This was shaping up to be the worst day of his life.
The carriage rattled over the drawbridge and into the modest courtyard of Greystone, his older brother’s small castle. Cold raindrops pelted Ford’s head when he shoved open the door and leapt to the circular drive. Drenched gravel crunching beneath his boots, he made his way down a short, covered passageway and banged the knocker on the unassuming oak door.
Benchley cracked open the door, then slipped outside and shut it behind him. “My lord, what brings you here today?”
“I wish to speak with my brother.” Ford frowned down at the small, wiry valet. What was he doing answering the door? “Will you be letting me in?”
“I think not.” Benchley lifted his beak of a nose. “I’ll fetch Lord Greystone.” And with that, he disappeared back into the ancient castle.
Shivering, Ford stood frozen in disbelief before deciding this treatment fit in with the rest of his day. Rain dripped from his long brown hair to sprinkle on the stones at his feet. Wondering why he should need permission to enter his brother’s home, he moved to reach for the latch.
The door opened, and his brother stepped out. He looked haggard, his face a pasty gray, his green eyes and black hair dull.
“Colin? What the devil’s going on?”
“Illness. Measles, we think. Thank God you’re here.”
Ford pulled his surcoat tighter around himself. “Come again?”
“Amy is ill, along with little Hugh and the baby. And half of the servants. One of them died yesterday,” Colin added grimly.
“Died?” Ford’s gut twisted as he thought of Amy—Colin’s beautiful, raven-haired wife—and their bright four-year-old son, Hugh, and the baby, Aidan…all dead.
“It’s not so bad as all that,” Colin rushed to assure him, evidently reading the concern on his face. “The poor maid was eighty if she were a day, and the disease went straight to her lungs. I’m not expecting my family to perish.”
“At least you won’t be getting it. If you’ll remember, all four of us had it while in exile on the Continent.”
“I could hardly forget.” Appearing as though he could barely hold himself up, Colin leaned against the doorpost. “But what does that have to do with now?”
“At a Royal Society lecture, I learned one cannot fall ill with the same disease twice,” Ford explained.
“I’ve had measles more than once.”
“Not true measles, the one with the high fever. Spotted skin is a symptom of many different conditions.”
“Trust you to know something like that.” Although Colin looked relieved, his smile was bleak. “Still, the fever is savage, and Jewel has yet to suffer measles. True measles, as you put it. Will you take
