Yesterday's Promise

by Chaikin, Linda Lee

• ISBN13: 9780307458759
• ISBN10: 030745875X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-02-16
• Publisher: WaterBrook

Summary

BY THE AUTHOR OF THE BEST-SELLING SILK SERIESOVER 150,000 COPIES IN PRINT! He fought to seek his fortune. Would he lose a greater treasure: the love he left behind? As the son of the squire of Grimston Way, aristocrat Rogan Chantry has fought hard to win his independence from Sir Julien Bley and the British South Africa Company. Now, his pursuit of a mysterious deposit of gold, marked on a map willed to him by his murdered uncle, Henry Chantry, is challenged by a new complication: the impending British colonization of South Africa. Can Sir Rogan find the gold in the midst of escalating tensions among the native tribesmen, the missionaries sent to win them, and the new colonists? Meanwhile, Evy Varley, the woman Rogan loves back in England, is headed for a brave yet dangerous confrontation with Henry's killerbut at what price? With so much against Rogan and Evy, a reunion seems improbable, if not impossible. Can yesterday's promise hold them faithful to the hope of future freedom and a victorious love?

Author Biography

Linda Lee Chaikin has written numerous best-selling and award-winning books and series, including the Silk series (Heart of India Trilogy), A Day to Remember series, The Empire Builders, Royal Pavilion Trilogy, Arabian Winds Trilogy, The Buccaneers Trilogy, and For Whom the Stars Shine, a finalist for the prestigious Christy Award. Chaikin also is the author of Tomorrow’s Treasure, book one in the East of the Sun series.

Excerpts

CHAPTER ONE

Grimston Way, England

31 October 1898

On the perimeter of the village green, a thick stand of ancient trees with
half-clad branches trembled in the rising wind. Dark clouds obscured
the cheerful face of the sun, and like a harbinger of events to come, a
thunderhead cloaked the afternoon sky.

The first smattering of rain dribbled down branches to a crisp carpet
of burnt-orange leaves. Though the countryside seemed draped with
a fall gloominess, laughter still danced on the wind from children who
joined hands and skipped in a large circle while singing “London Bridge
Is Falling Down” and giggling as they dropped to the damp grass.

A tall white cross graced the village green near the twelfth-century
rectory of St. Graves Parish. Below the cross some of the village girls
were adding last-minute touches to the outdoor fall decorations. Chains
of red pomegranates, yellow gourds, and dried cornhusks, plus bundles
of tied grasses and bunched leaves gave a warm touch of color to the festive
gathering. This was October 31, Allhallows Eve, the yearly celebration
recalling brave Christian heroes and heroines of the past who had
faithfully labored for Christ. The outdoor activities in Grimston Way
would end at eventide with the lighting of candles, a chapel service, and
a friendly supper inside the parish hall.

Evy Varley, who had grown up as the niece of the now deceased
Vicar Edmund Havering and his wife, Grace, emerged from the ancient
gnarled oak trees, where she had been gathering dried lacy moss hanging
from ghostly branches. She was quite accustomed to the church holidays,
spring fetes, and summer bake sales, for she’d been reared to
become a vicar’s wife, but Providence, so it seemed to her, had intervened,
and she’d been blessed to study music. She had recently graduated
from Parkridge Music Academy in London and, by means of a loan
from Rogan Chantry, had opened a small music school here in her
home village.

As she paused to take in the view of the village green, however, she
now felt strangely alienated, as though she were an outsider looking
through a window at a nostalgic scene. Had she been affected by the sudden
gloominess? Perhaps it was the odd restive spirit she had sensed for
the past few days that seemed hidden in the shadow of her subconscious.

The sensation intensified to the point that Evy turned away from
the singing children and looked toward the fast darkening Grimston
Woods. She suddenly remembered an incident in her girlhood—the
day when a stranger had stood watching her from these very trees. The
man had appeared kindly back then, even sad when he spoke to her, but
she now experienced less benign emotions as the dark memory clouded
her mind. There was nothing she could describe as out of the ordinary,
yet she remained conscious of an inexplicable unease.

She turned away and quickened her steps back toward the village
green, seeking the children’s laughter and their innocent faces as they
prepared for the evening’s festivities. Perhaps her wary mood was due to
the season. September had been unseasonably warm and cheery, but the
inevitable cold October weather had finally arrived.

Ahead, Evy heard grave voices coming from behind some old hemlock
bushes. She recognized the voices of the twin Hooper sisters, Mary
and Beth, who were students in her piano class. The two schoolgirls
emerged from the bushes carrying wicker baskets filled with dried
lavender and lemon grass, and their pretty blue calico skirts flared in the
chilling breeze that sent leaves scattering about their feet.

They both wore spectacles and had corn-colored hair that was
braided and looped. The only noticeable difference between them was
that Mary wore a red-and-whit

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Excerpted from Yesterday's Promise by Linda Lee Chaikin
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.