Snapshot memories of our return journey to England played in my jagged thoughts. Bucharest, Budapest, Vienna, Munich, Strasbourg, Paris. I pressed my cheek against the train carriage's window and watched the world cities pass with little enthusiasm. Curious onlookers gawked at me. My placid skin and worn expression created a reason for more than a passing glance. Ever diligent, Prentiss shielded me from their penetrating stares.

We left the Orient Express in Paris, spending several nights in the city of lights. A vague sense of excitement hovered in the back of my mind. In the distant past, the French capital enthralled Mama and me. The gaiety we encountered on the Champs Elysee boosted our spirits despite our tragedy. Papa lay in his grave, and we embarked on a new adventure. Often, late at night, we lay in bed conjecturing our arrival at von Helfin Castle. Mama delighted in the opportunistic employment by a Baron would create. I wondered about my future away from Grey Friars and Prentiss Wills.

I returned to reality a much different person. My horrific experiences left me emotionally drained. Nightmares terrorized my dreamscapes, and I awoke to frightful screaming echoing through my hotel room. Fearing I would wake the other guests, I cowered beneath my blankets until the curate pounded on my door.

"Are you all right?" Prentiss asked, poking his head into the room. When I nodded, he softly closed the door and returned to his bed chamber. I wished he would come in and comfort me. Nevertheless, he refused to cross my threshold. His staunch morals would not allow his entrance into a lady's sleeping quarters.

Finally, on a fresh spring day, we crossed the channel. I breathed deeply for the first time in ages, taking the clear air into my starving lungs. The stalwart white cliffs greeted us, and I became overwhelmed at my first sight of home soil. Unexpectedly, my emotions overflowed, and I collapsed against Prentiss. Firmly, he guided me into the nearest public house and ordered brandy. I sipped it and relaxed enough to smile weakly.

"Norah, I want to make sure you are properly taken care of," Prentiss announced, reaching across the table to grasp my hands. "You are very ill and require a long rest."

I sat back against the booth bench, considering his words. My hazy mind could not grapple with their significance. I continued to feel ill and uneasy in my mind. Slowly nodding, I left my well-being in the curate's capable hands.

"I will take you to Heavenly Rest," he decided confidently. "It's a sanctuary on the coast in Devon, near Torquay. You will receive nursing care and soak in the sea air. It will do you the world of good."

"I want to go home, Prentiss," I whispered, my lips barely forming the words. "Please take me home--to Gray Friars."

"I will, but not yet." Tenderly, he stroked my cheek and then cupped my chin. "I want you to become well again. I cannot marry you until you are strong enough."

My mind reeled as I contemplated the man who rescued me. Naturally, the curate expected to marry me. Mama and Papa both planned our nuptials. I should agree, yet something pulled against my heart. Ranulf remained front and center in my mind.

However, I willingly put myself in Prentiss Wills's capable hands. He escorted me by train to Torquay and assisted in my admittance to Heavenly Rest. Peacefully, I began my convalescence. Days and weeks passed, then the months started to slide away. Suddenly, I realized the year had slipped past. I mourned Mama and Papa in my heart, but as my strength returned, I moved away from the horrors I experienced at von Helfin castle.

On my release day from Heavenly Rest, I sat on the lawn facing Tor Bay. The calm blue water looked like a sheet of glass. I breathed deeply, soaking in the slight breeze. It rippled my hair, and I absently brushed the stray strands away as I gazed across the serene view.

"Your surprise me," Prentiss stated, appearing beside me. "You're no longer a girl; you're a woman. I..." He sighed gratifyingly and took my arm. Together, we strolled along the bay front.

"I have enjoyed the rest, Prentiss," I stated, pressing my body against his side. "I feel renewed. I've moved away from von Helfin, and now, I can move forward with my life."

"I'm delighted, Norah," my companion remarked, leading me to a bench. Prentiss bent to one knee and held my hand tenderly. "Will you marry me?"

I looked down upon him anxiously. I had not expected the sudden proposal. Rising, I walked several steps past him and stopped. Prentiss followed me and gently placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Norah?" he asked. His whisper softly caressed my bent neck.

"I'm sorry, Prentiss," I whispered, barely audibly. "It's... It's too soon." Lifting my long pleated skirt above my ankles, I hurried across the dewed grass.

Following luncheon, we boarded the train for Gray Friars. My traveling companion remained pensive but did not readdress his proposal. He remained courteous and solicitous about my health.

The Right Reverend Martin Halifax greeted us at the old vicarage door. Taking my hands, he kissed me on both cheeks and invited me inside. My home looked much the same as the day Mama and I left.

"Welcome home, my dear," the vicar's wife greeted, hustling into the hallway from the kitchen. "I'm Amelia Rose. Martin and I wish to make you welcome here. You can consider this your home for as long as you wish."

"I...thank you," I muttered, glancing around the familiarly comfortable rooms. "I don't wish to inconvenience you."

"You won't trouble us in the least," my hostess pledged, patting my hand.

Despite my longing for Papa and Mama, I immediately warmed up to Martin and Amelia Rose Halifax. They made me feel completely at home.

I gathered hedge roses each morning and placed them lovingly on Papa's grave. I prayed for his soul and for Mama. They should repose together in their death slumber, I thought wistfully. In the dead of night, I had terrifying visions of Mama floating in that awful well. Her sorrow-filled eyes reproached me, accusing me of not saving her from her folly.

"Mama!" I screamed, bolting up in bed. "Mama!"

"Norah," Prentiss soothed, immediately entering my bedroom. Overwhelmed by his desire to protect me, his inhibitions disappeared. "Shh. Shh. You're okay. Everything is okay now."

"NO! NO!" I sobbed into his red-striped nightshirt.

"We cannot remain here," the curate moaned, drawing me against his chest tightly. "Listen, I've applied for a living in Cornwall. It's miles away, and we can start anew. I want you to get right away...away from all your haunting memories. We can..."

"Oh, Yes, Prentiss, yes," I answered, desperately clinging to him. Suddenly, I wanted to get away, far away. "Please take me away from here."

"You'll marry me as soon as the living comes through?" my lover asked, anxious for my assurance.

"Yes, yes." I nodded my head against his thin chest vigorously. Deliriously, I sank against the pillows, exhausted from the exertion.

Amelia Rose eagerly offered her assistance when we announced our wedding plans. Together we traveled to London. I selected yards of white organdy for my gown. Day after day, we stitched the lovely fabric in the vicarage parlor. Finally, the dress hung in my wardrobe, waiting for my nuptials.

I resigned myself to matrimony. Far from a romantic attachment, I considered it a marriage of convenience. Prentiss rarely uttered words of love and showed me scant affection. My young girl fantasies of romance and adventure dissipated. I desired amorous attention and a passionate embrace.

I never dreamed about Prentiss Wills. Instead, Ranulf frequently appeared in my nightscapes. When I closed my eyes, I saw him at the altar instead of the curate. I realized my commitments forced me to put the Baron's ward out of my mind. I could not allow the Romania interlude to shadow my new life. I turned eighteen that summer and had to put my childhood behind me.

Prentiss received his promotion and accepted the living in Cornwall finally. With the holidays fast approaching, he insisted upon a Christmas day wedding. Reluctantly, I agreed.

"I've taken the liberty of booking rooms in Bath," my fiancé announced as we finalized our plans. "It's quite convenient for our journey to Cornwall. I believe we should stay for two nights before continuing to St. Winwalloe. You do agree, my little love?"

I threw a hostile glare at Prentiss. His peevish voice suddenly irritated me. Slowly, I realized he intended to organize our lives without my input. The idea annoyed me.

"I have always dreamed of a honeymoon in Florence and Venice," I remarked through gritted teeth. "A romantic tour of Italy would suit me quite well."

"Why not combine business with pleasure, my dear?" the new vicar asked, bending to kiss my cheek lightly. I turned away swiftly. "Two days in Bath suits our needs."

"Two days," I gasped, appalled, "will certainly not suit my needs." I clenched my fists tightly by my sides

"I intend to give the New Year's sermon," Prentiss firmly stated. "Both feet forward, I always say."

I opened my mouth to protest, but my head instantly throbbed. I sank onto the settee, the room swaying around me. Although I felt physically strong, my emotions continued to grapple for stability.

"Yes, Prentiss," I answered meekly.

Nevertheless, my mind reeled against his plans. I began to doubt my decision to marry Prentiss Wills. Falling into a deep depression, I locked myself in my room. My troubled mind would not rest. I tossed and turned beneath my blankets until I finally couldn't bear it any further.

Wrapping a warm dressing gown around my shoulders, I crept from the still vicarage into the graveyard. Kneeling upon Papa's grave, I sobbed.

"Norah."

I looked up at the sound of the familiar voice. The cemetery remained silent beneath the full moon. An owl hooted, then flew away. I continued to kneel, silently praying for a solution to my dilemma.

"Norah." Again the familiar, heavily accented voice.

I glanced up again, hopefully. No one appeared. Pushing aside my imagination, I rose to shaky feet. Slowly, I made my way back to the vicarage.

"Norah," the voice whispered. "Please, Norah, don't go."

A dark figure appeared behind a mausoleum. I stared at it, trying to make it real. Then, the Baron's nephew rushed forward and wrapped his arms around me.

"Ranulf!" I exclaimed, falling into his embrace. "How? How did you get here?"

"I cannot exist without you, Norah," my Romanian lover moaned. "Save me, Norah."

"How, Ranulf, tell me how?"

In the shadow of Papa's tombstone, we renewed our acquaintance. Ranulf recounted his loneliness following my departure. He slept until the following night, waking to find his uncle dead, and the children vanished.

"I realized you staked Uncle and fled," the Baron's ward grimly declared. "You couldn't harm me, could you?"

"No, I could never harm you," I concurred, caressing his cheek softly. I narrated my flight from the castle quickly and my meeting with Prentiss, our plans, the Baron's demise, and our return to England. Ranulf listened gravely. "I...I agreed to marry Prentiss."

"I see," my lover stated, his face deathly blank.

"I'm sorry, Ranulf," I gulped. "I never expected to see you again."

Together, we clasped hands and leaned shoulder to shoulder against Papa's grave marker. Prentiss discovered me alone in the morning, curled up in Patience Mowbray's final resting place. Tenderly, he carried me into the vicarage and placed me on my bed.

"Ranulf," I murmured mournfully. "Ranulf."

My fiancé hovered over me uncertainly. Then, he placed a cooling cloth on my forehead. He sat at my bedside for a long time while I continued to mutter my lover's name. I could not recall whether I actually saw Ranulf or if he appeared in my fragmented dreams.