A Loving Spirit by Amanda Mccabe Read Free Book Online Page A

control. He wanted to absorb all her laughter and wonder into himself.
    Even to believe in spirits and fairies, perhaps?
    Then she looked back at him with her rich, dark eyes. "The sea is beautiful, is it not?" she said, looking at him with a rather puzzled air.
    "Oh, yes," he murmured hoarsely. "Very beautiful."
    Her eyes widened, as if startled, and he suddenly realized he was gaping at her like a moonstruck schoolboy. A small frown formed on her brow, and his longings of only a moment before vanished like so much mist on the water. He was recalled to himself, to where they were, to who they were.
    "There are underground tunnels near here," he said, grasping for something, anything, to talk about. Anything that did not involve how lovely her eyes were. "They are said to have been used by pirates long ago, but they are mostly blocked up now to discourage smuggling. Except for one."
    "Pirates! How very intriguing," she said. She looked away from him, breaking the last vestiges of the strange spell. "I should like to see them."
    "There is not much to see. The one that is still open is just used for storage. Local fishermen keep their boats there."
    "I should still like to see it, and imagine the pirates that used to shelter there. I am sure Aunt Chat and Antoinette would like to see it, too."
    "Maybe we could all have a picnic near there, one day soon," Phillip said. He found himself grasping at the excuse to spend more time with this strange, intriguing woman. Even leaving his books yet again for a picnic by the sea.
    She smiled at him, quite as if they were almost friends. "Yes. I would enjoy that very much. We would enjoy that."

 
     
     
    Chapter 9

     
    Cassie was awakened in the middle of the night by the unmistakable tingling sensation of someone staring at her. She opened her eyes—and promptly gave a shriek. Quick as a flash, she scrambled up against the pillows.
    "Hello," said the woman who perched on the edge of the bed. "I am sorry I frightened you."
    Cassie pulled the sheet up to her chin and stared over it at the woman. She appeared quite solid: a real person, with long blond ringlets and a blue satin gown in the style of the Restoration. Only a faint, white glow around the edges betrayed her as something not quite human.
    Cassie recognized her face from the portraits. "You—you are Louisa, aren't you?" she managed to stammer out. She wasn't exactly sure how one should address a ghost. Should she have called her Lady Royce?
    But Louisa didn't seem to mind the informality of being addressed by her given name. She just nodded, and lounged back on her elbow. "I am! I saw all of you in my tower today and thought I ought to introduce myself. I truly did not mean to scare you."
    Cassie lowered the sheet slowly. "You did not scare me. I was simply startled. It is not every day a ghost comes and sits on my bed."
    Louisa laughed, a rather strange, echoing sound. "Then I did not mean to startle you. I just wanted to talk."
    "Then you don't mind that we were in your tower?"
    "Mind? Certainly not. It makes a nice change from having only old Sir Belvedere to talk to."
    Cassie relaxed back against the pillows. It was beginning to feel almost normal to converse with a slightly glowing, long-dead person. "Who is Sir Belvedere?"
    "He lives here, too. He was a knight who served the first Earl of Royce, in the fourteenth century. He was killed when the castle was being built, so he has been here for a very long time. Much longer than me."
    "Killed? How?"
    "He tripped on some building materials and fell from the tower. He never talks about it, not in all the years I have known him. He was wearing his silly armor at the time. Truth to tell, he can be a bit of a bore, but he is better company than none. It has been rather quiet around here for a long time."
    There was a clanking noise from the corridor. Cassie startled and looked toward the door. "What was that?"
    "Oh, that was just Sir Belvedere. He is hovering about in the