A Terrible Beauty by TASHA ALEXANDER Read Free Book Online Page A

“Hard to say. Difficult to rely on the old gods.”
    â€œAre you all right?” I asked. He looked tired and drawn and lacked all of his usual spark.
    â€œI despise her—obviously—but I miss her, too. We did have good times, you know.”
    I scowled. “You had good times when she wasn’t trying to murder you. I know you have many shortcomings, Jeremy, but not so many that you deserve such a fate. Someday, you will meet your match, and she will erase forever any warm memories you have of Amity Wells.”
    â€œI assure you I never look back on the time with fondness, only with shame. I wonder that I could have been such a fool.”
    â€œLove can keep us from seeing even obvious truths,” I said. “And Amity had a knack for keeping her true nature hidden.”
    â€œI am well cured of her now.” Smoke curled from his lips. “And what about you? Here we are, in the most sacred of ancient spaces, and you have not seen your dead husband even once, have you?”
    I laughed. “No, I have not.”
    â€œSounds to me like he’s a rather lazy ghost, put off by the notion of climbing mountains. I’d say you’re well rid of him, Em.”

 
    Philip
    Munich, 1891
    The telegram to Hargreaves, which Ashton had sent requesting an immediate response, did not garner the reply he had wished. His friend’s butler wired to say that his master, currently working abroad, would not receive the message until he returned to England. The butler had no way of reaching him.
    â€œThe time has come to stop being a coward,” Ashton said, accepting the strong beer Reiner pushed across the table to him. Ashton adored the city’s beer gardens, with their heavy steins and hearty food; the Augustiner-Keller in Arnulfstrasse had become their second home in Munich. “We must go to London. I cannot bear to be away from Kallista a moment longer. You will adore her the moment you see her. She is a vision of loveliness and feminine perfection.”
    â€œHer father must be a scholar to have chosen such a name,” Reiner said.
    â€œâ€˜Emily’ is her given name. I alone call her Kallista, as I find it a far more appropriate moniker.”
    â€œâ€˜Kallista.’ Most beautiful. She sounds more like a dream than reality,” Reiner said, a grin on his face. “Are you sure she is not a creation of your fever?”
    â€œIf so, I would never want to be well again.”
    The next day, they boarded a train for Paris, where they tarried for a fortnight, Ashton’s anxiety at seeing his wife growing as he came closer to England. Eventually, he could delay no longer. He comforted himself with the knowledge that even if she had lost her love for him, she was still legally his wife. He was confident he could win back her affections once they were living together again. Before setting foot on the train that would speed them to Calais, he combed jewelry stores until he found the perfect gift for his bride: a brooch depicting a single rose, exquisitely carved from ivory. For their wedding, he had given her a similar piece, an elaborate profusion of flowers rather than a solitary stem. This second gift would mark the new beginning of their life together.
    No part of Ashton’s journey had been easy, but he determined to be undaunted by this final leg. The channel tossed the ferry with such vehemence that hardly a passenger on board was not sick the entire trip to Dover, but Ashton stood on the deck, despite the warnings from crew members that he would be safer inside. Had he not already proved himself a survivor? He clenched the rail and strained his eyes, desperate for that first glance of the White Cliffs. When at last he stepped onto English soil, he collapsed on the ground and wept. He was home.

 
    4
    Delphi proved as mesmerizing as ever, worth far more than the half day Baedeker’s suggests devoting to it. I could have spent weeks