UNLAID GHOSTS

The Savages of Falcote #3

by Ally Hastings

novella, epub

1817. An officer on half-pay, a landowner’s ward, and six weeks in the country.

The war has been over for two years, and Captain Charles Keighley is living in other people’s houses, trying not to show that he still wakes every morning feeling like he is under siege. He used to be good at looking after his soldiers when they were in danger, but Chas has no idea how to look after himself in peacetime. Having accepted an invitation to stay at Welland Park, Mr John Haxby’s estate, he simply drifts through the days, taking long walks to avoid having to be sociable. The only people there able to rouse him from his depression are Eliza, Mrs Haxby companion, and Jeremy Painswick, Haxby’s ward. But Eliza has an ulterior motive for wanting him at Welland Park, and Painswick is obviously wary of him.

Since he arrived ten years ago as an orphan, Jem has been at odds with John Haxby. Now old Mr Haxby has died and John himself has become his guardian, and there is nothing Jem can do until he receives his inheritance on his next birthday. He just hides in the library and hopes that Haxby and his friends will forget that he is there. But Captain Keighley is different from the others, and Jem knows he has to be very careful or he will make a terrible mistake.

When Jem rebuffs him, Chas knows he should keep his distance. But there is something else going on at Welland Park, and it won’t be put right unless Jem allows Chas to help. If they want to defy John Haxby, they will have to do it together.

Unlaid Ghosts is an M/M regency novella set two years after the events of Unwritten Rules and Unexpected Fortune, and can be read as a standalone.