GLOOMY CASTLE

This is a steamy Gothic romance. Please comment nicely!

"Humph! I'll bet they call it Gloomy Castle for a reason," Catherine Hathaway snarked, trying to sound sophisticated and superior instead of young and jittery and uncertain about her future.

"Gloucester Castle is yours, Catherine dear. Only your uncle made Mr. Barrett your legal guardian until you turn twenty-one. Officially you're Steven Barrett's ward, and therefore subject to his authority."

"Oh, fudge!" Catherine couldn't believe that in modern England a girl who was completely grown up could be locked away in a castle and forced to obey the commands of a complete stranger. Steven Barrett had been a good friend of her uncle, which meant that he was probably a wheezy old man with smelly cigar breath. Catherine felt quite determined to rebel against his authority and establish her independence at the earliest opportunity. After all, she wasn't a mere babe in arms. She was nineteen years old!

"Ah, here's the evening train at last." Lady Bedwell placed her slim, bejeweled hand firmly in the small of Catherine's back, gently guiding her towards the luxurious first-class compartment Mr. Barrett had thoughtfully reserved for the two of them.

"I suppose it's better than being dragged off in handcuffs." Catherine stole a glance out the rain-streaked window, hoping to get a last look at glittering London. Instead she only caught a glimpse of her own ghostly reflection, looking gloomy and scared. But then the ghost-girl frowned, showing her true resolve.

"We must make the best of things, my dear," Lady Bedwell said cheerfully, once the two of them were safe in their compartment. A trim young man in a blue uniform was already serving dinner.

"I do wish the great Mr. Barrett could have let me stay in London," Catherine complained, carefully carving her juicy roast chicken and taking a tiny bite. There was no reason to waste good food. "I could have gone right on living in your little town house. Bedwell Manor is such a lovely place, and perfectly respectable." Catherine dabbed her lips daintily and drank a little white wine. "After all, you've been my guardian for ages. You've been like a mother to me, a real mother, ever since mama and papa died!"

"That will never change, my dear," Lady Bedwell said, smiling as elegant Catherine devoured her dinner. The slim, golden-haired girl's refined and ladylike manners didn't hide her affectionate nature, or her healthy young appetite. "I'll always be like a mother to you. But life must go on, you know. To new and exciting days!"

"To new and exciting days," Catherine echoed, raising her glass. Back at Bedwell Manor wine had been a rare treat, but evidently the mysterious Mr. Barrett of Gloomy Castle had plenty of money. Only it was really her money, and he had control over it. And her!

After dinner Lady Bedwell took out a book of spiritual devotion, a heavy black leather-bound book with a gold cross on the front. Catherine settled back in her seat, hiding a yawn with her hand. She knew that the book was a gift from the Dean of St. Paul's, a respectable clergyman who had always been very fond of Lady Bedwell. Would the two of them ever marry? Silver-haired Lady Bedwell was the only friend Catherine had in the whole world. It was only right that she should have some happiness too.

Catherine didn't want to marry. She wanted to travel and have romantic adventures and see the world. But when she closed her eyes, resting her golden curls on her guardian's fur-clad shoulder, she didn't see the glamor of Paris or the excitement of Rome.

Instead she saw a dark, gloomy castle rising out of the mist.