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

corridor. He thinks it is improper for him to enter a lady's chamber, but he is just as curious as I am."
    There was another clanking sound.
    "If he does not cease doing that, he will wake the whole household," Louisa said, but she did not really seem terribly concerned by the prospect.
    "Perhaps I could meet him later," Cassie said hopefully. She thought it would be quite interesting to see a ghost in armor.
    Louisa gave her a secretive little smile. "Perhaps."
    "Is he the only other ghost in residence here?"
    "At the moment, yes. There have been others, but they come and go. The only other people who have stayed as long as Sir Belvedere and myself were Lady Lettice and Angelo. We have not seen them for several years, though, so we think they must have moved across."
    "Moved across?"
    "That is when the ghosts leave to go on to the next plane, a place I have not seen yet. I don't know why some of us get trapped here and some move on right away. It's a mystery."
    "But if there are so many of you, why do the people living in the castle never see you?"
    "Oh, they do sometimes!" She laughed lightly. "You see, though, there is one great advantage to being a ghost, once you learn the trick of it, and that is that we can be visible or invisible as we choose. Just as I choose to be visible to you right now."
    Cassie thought that must be quite an advantage. "And you choose to be invisible to Lord Royce?"
    Louisa shrugged. "It makes it more fun that way."
    "So you and this Sir Belvedere have been the only ones here for a long time, except for Lady Lettice and this—Angelo?" Cassie had heard about Lady Lettice, but never of any Angelo. "Who is, or was, he?"
    Before Louisa could answer, the door connecting Cassie's room to Antoinette's opened, and Antoinette stood there, holding a candle and a bunch of herbs. She looked every bit the Yaumumi priestess her mother had been, in a flowing red dressing gown, with her thick, waving black hair falling over her shoulders.
    "I thought I heard voices." She held up the bundle in her hand, eyeing Louisa carefully. "I brought herbs, in case there were evil spirits to be sent away. But I see they won't be needed."
    Louisa laughed, obviously quite pleased to be suspected of being an evil spirit.
    "Indeed not," Cassie said. "Louisa isn't the least bit evil. Come and meet her. She has been telling me the most interesting things."
    Antoinette tucked the herbs away in the pocket of her robe and hurried over to sit down on the bed across from Louisa. She placed her candle on the bedside table, and its golden glow made Louisa appear slightly more transparent.
    "How do you do," said Antoinette.
    "So you are the one with all the spells and potions," Louisa said, her eyes wide with wonder. "Sir Belvedere thinks you might be able to find what became of Lady Lettice for us."
    There was more clanking and knocking from the corridor.
    "That is Sir Belvedere," Cassie explained. "He thinks it is improper for him to come in here."
    "Very polite of him," Antoinette answered. She tapped one long finger thoughtfully on her chin. "I could certainly try to summon up Lady Lettice for you, if you would like to see her again. It would be an interesting challenge."
    Louisa leaned forward eagerly. "Sir Belvedere and I would help you. Oh, it would be so nice to have some excitement here again! I end up playing chess in the East Tower with Sir Belvedere every night, and he cheats horribly."
    "Vile slander!" a voice cried in the corridor.
    "It is an incantation I have never tried before," Antoinette warned.
    "But I have every faith in your powers, dear Antoinette," Cassie said with a thrill of excitement and apprehension at the thought of a new incantation.
    "We would have to try it this Friday, when the moon is in the right phase."
    "Could we invite Lady Royce and Aunt Chat?" Cassie said. "I am sure they would not want to miss it."
    Antoinette gave her a sly little smile. "And Lord Royce, too? Perhaps we could make a believer of