The Neglected Wife: Now Watch the Grove Roar

where I lay on a couch in the less-used part of the house. Evelyn, he reported, was resting after i

ou can think about are your old

e' s "magic," of trying to keep i

sneered. "Now you' d rather see her die than sh

y' s pact was about protection, not hoarding. It

" he continued, his voice rising. "Evelyn will be a Beaumont

t the tree, but my entire heritage,

rch' s wounds was a constant throb within me. My hair was now st

er of defia

d to whisper, each word an effort. "The pa

erstitions. They mean nothing aga

scarred bark burning behind my eyelids. The once

g weight on my chest, a hollowne

it were my own. Each fallen branch, each pi

fering, a chilling

. Not for the Beaumonts. The land itself would not forgive this. Black smoke from