The only rose of Eden

Author: Carol Grayson
Length: 12 page(s)
Written: Oct 2012
Sales Rank: -
Views: 502

The mysterious Lord Oliver Manderley is breeder of a rare violet rose with a unique scent. This flower is very important to him and his "family” and essence of an ancient ritual. For this, another important ingredient is still missing: the innocent blood of the young orphan Eden Winslow who is going to be his bride. Manderley is already planning their marriage. Discover the last secret of the vampires!

Excerpt:
The 18th century was drawing to a close. However, here in the Scottish Highlands, time still seemed to hold its breath. Eden Winslow had been in residence at Langsley Manor with her uncle, Edward Hasting, for five years. Hastings bred noble English pedigree horses and traveled often to horse races, leaving him little time to take care of his 18 year old niece since her joining him as an orphan. For this reason, he had hired a French governess, Lou-Anne Duprey, to be her teacher and later companion. Hastings had horse in his blood and he didn’t understand young girls. He himself had never been married.

The horse breeding farm was nestled between thriving green hills, upon which mares grazed with their colts. The neighbouring estate, Manderley House, was located a few kilometres away. Oliver Manderley had mysteriously reappeared a few years earlier to claim his inheritance. The villagers whispered that he was the illegitimate son of the deceased Lord Manderley, who had lived in the East Indian colonies for many years. Even worse for the strict Catholic Scots was the fact that the present Lord never attended mass and was scarcely ever seen beyond the boundaries of his property. Any necessary errands were performed by a foreign manservant, who was not only mute, but also avoided all contact with the villagers. Of course, this type of behaviour caused rumours to circulate.

Manderley House was an oddly rambling building, which appeared to have never been fully completed. In addition, the numerous glass hothouses – in which their owner cultivated intoxicatingly fragrant roses required in perfumes and potpourris – accentuated this image. These flowers reminded one of lustrous scarlet velvet, some of them actually exceeding a dark violet in colour and almost achieving a black hue. Their sensual-sweet, warm scent was reminiscent of Patchouli and this type of rose was even named after it – the “East Indian” rose. Such roses were exceptional because they didn’t possess any thorns. Eden also loved their fragrance; however Oliver Manderley was an uncomforting presence to her, especially when he chose to appear at Langsley Manor – such as he had today – in order to purchase a new riding horse.

Strong muscles contracted beneath midnight black fur. The young stallion in the paddock galloped and snorted under the critical scrutiny of Edward Hastings and Oliver Manderley, who were appraising the quality of the animal.

About the Author

Carol Grayson
Member since: Nov 2010
Publications on XinXii:  9

English Vita for Carol Grayson:

Born in Krefeld/Germany Carol followed the literary traces of her grandfather Hardy Kickers who became known as a composer and author of regional novels in the 1940s and 1950s. Therefore, it was obvious to found at first a music publishing company which takes care of nostalgic hit treasures which are very popular in German Rhineland until today.

Presently, the author lives in Kempen on the Lower Rhine and is mainly writing Mystery and Dark Fantasy short stories and novels. But also children's stories and some crime stories are put to paper by her.
Some of her short stories have been and are published in German anthologies. Several of her stories won awards.
So far, she published several audio books with dark romance short stories. The vampire novel series “LUX AETERNA" - The adventures of the vampire Jason Dawn - is published in German only up to now and includes so far 6 volumes. Meanwhile, an exclusive marketing has been built around the Jason Dawn Saga such as the tailor-made garments, perfumes or ornaments of the characters acting in the Saga.

German/Deutsch:

Carol Grayson wurde 1960 in Deutschland geboren, wuchs aber zweisprachig auf. Sie entstammt väterlicherseits einer Künstlerfamilie, die seit Generationen im Bereich der Musik, Schriftstellerei sowie Schauspielerei tätig war.

Carol Grayson selbst lebt heute am Niederrhein und ist seit frühester Jugend dem Schreiben verbunden. 1996 veröffentlichte der Chr.-Falk Verlag ein erstes Kinderbuch von ihr.

Seit 2007 widmet sie sich hauptsächlich dem Fantasy- und Mystery-Genre. Aber auch der ein oder andere Krimi und weitere Kindergeschichten fließen aus ihrer Feder.

Unter ihrem Geburtsnamen Kickers wurden zahlreiche Kurzgeschichten, Novellen und Hörbücher veröffentlicht, bevor sie sich 2010 entschloss, unter einem Pseudonym zu schreiben.

Ihre Ebooks über die Abenteuer des Vampirs Jason Dawn erscheinen als Einzel- und Sammelbände im Club der Sinne. Diese Zusammenarbeit mit einem der wirklich seriösen Ebookverlage hat sich über Jahre bewährt.

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