Ashton Park

Murray Pura

Description

For fans of the hugely popular Downton Abbey series, comes this equally enthralling story of the Danforth family of Ashton Park.Among the green hills and trees of Lancashire, only a few miles from the sea, lies the beautiful and ancient estate of Ashton Park.The year is 1916. The First World War has engulfed Europe and Sir William's and Lady Elizabeth's three sons are all in uniform-and their four daughters are involved in various pursuits of the heart and soul.As the head of a strong Church of England family for generations, Sir William insists the Danforth estate hold morning devotions that include both family and staff. However, he is also an MP and away at Westminster in London whenever Parliament is sitting. During his long absences, Lady Elizabeth discreetly spends time in the company of the head cook of the manor, Mrs. Longstaff, who is her best friend and confidante. This friendship includes visits to a small Baptist church in Liverpool that exposes Lady Elizabeth to a less formal approach to Christian worship and preaching than she is used to and which she comes to enjoy.Readers will follow Ashton Park's charming upstairs/downstairs characters through the perils of war and the affairs of the heart with relish-and with an eye to the sequel coming in Fall 2013.Book One in The Danforths of Lancashire series

Sujets

• Historical romance

Informations

• Publié par: Harvest House Publishers
• Date de parution: 01 janvier 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780736952866
• Langue: English

Extrait

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS
EUGENE, OREGON
All Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
Cover by Garborg Design Works, Savage, Minnesota
Cover photos Chris Garborg; iStockphoto / Delius
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to events or locales, is entirely coincidental.
ASHTON PARK
Book 1 of The Danforths of Lancashire series
Copyright 2013 by Murray Pura
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Pura, Murray
Ashton Park / Murray Pura.
p. cm.-(The Danforths of Lancashire; bk. 1)
ISBN 978-0-7369-5285-9 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-0-7369-5286-6 (eBook)
1. Aristocracy (social classes)-England-History-20th century-Fiction. 2. Social classes-England-History-20th century-Fiction. 3. World War, 1914-1918-England-Fiction. 4. Baptists-England-Fiction. 5. Lancashire (England)-Fiction 6. Domestic fiction. I. Title.
PR9199.4.P87A88 2013
813 .6-dc23
2012026144
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other-except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
For my sister June, who taught me my letters, with all my love.
T HE C HARACTERS

Sir William Danforth -husband to Lady Elizabeth, father, Member of Parliament (MP), and master of Ashton Park estate
Lady Elizabeth Danforth -wife to Sir William and mother to the seven Danforth children
Sir Arthur -Lady Elizabeth s father
Lady Grace -Sir William s mother

Aunt Holly -Sir William s younger sister

Edward Danforth -eldest son, Royal Navy
Kipp Danforth -son, Royal Air Force
Robbie Danforth -youngest son, British Army
Emma (Danforth) Sweet -eldest daughter and wife of Reverend Jeremiah Sweet
Catherine (Danforth) Moore -daughter and wife of Albert Moore
Elizabeth (Libby) Danforth -daughter

Victoria Danforth -youngest daughter

Mr. and Mrs. Seabrooke -managers of the household staff
Tavy -butler
Mrs. Longstaff -head cook
Norah Cole -maid
Harrison -groundskeeper
Todd Turpin -assistant groundskeeper
Skitt -assistant groundskeeper and sheepherder
Ben Whitecross -groom and coach driver

Tanner Buchanan -groundskeeper at Danforth hunting lodge in Scotland

Lord Francis Scarborough -wealthy aristocrat
Lady Madeleine Scarborough -his wife
Lady Caroline Scarborough -daughter of Lord and Lady Scarborough
Reverend Jeremiah Sweet -Anglican minister, husband to Emma
Albert Moore -husband of Catherine and manager of Danforth shipyards in Belfast
Michael Woodhaven IV -American pilot from wealthy family
Charlotte Squire -maid
Christelle Cevennes -waitress at caf in France

Shannon Dungarvan -young woman from Dublin

Pilots of Kipp Danforth s squadron in France
Bobby Scott
Kent Wales
Ian Hannam
Teddy Irving

Gladstone and Wellington -the Danforth German shepherds
Contents
The Characters
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
About Murray Pura
Acknowledgments
About the Publisher
1
1916
April 1916
Go, girl, go!
Victoria Danforth leaned into her horse s neck as it broke out of the forest and drove toward the sea cliff at full gallop.
Come on, Robin! The man is gaining!
A green ribbon flew from Victoria s head and her long auburn hair burst loose. She struck the sorrel s flanks with the heels of her black leather boots.
Give me more, my girl, just a bit more!
The shining sea drew closer and closer. A wind that carried the bite of salt water stung Victoria s nostrils. Face flushed by the wild ride, eyes glittering like a cat s, she cried out a final time.
All you ve got, my beauty!
And then she hauled back on the reins, turned the mare s head to the left, sprang from the saddle, and hit the ground boots-first with a shout. The horse dug in all its hooves and tossed up mud and stone and grass. The cliff edge was only a few yards away when she stopped.
Good, girl, that was lovely, that was grand! Victoria stroked the animal s neck and mane. Both horse and rider were panting. What a gorgeous view! I ll never tire of it.
The brisk ocean breeze pushed back the auburn hair from Victoria s face, bringing its deep red color out to the light, then turning it over and bringing back its rich browns. It plucked at her forest green riding coat, her white blouse, and the green silk scarf at her throat. The scarf brought out the emerald fire in her eyes.
Miss Victoria, came a man s voice.
She had closed her eyes to better dream of sailing on a ship across the Atlantic to America or Canada. There is land no white man has ever seen, her brother Edward the naval officer had told her once. Mountains where no man or woman has ever placed a foot. Animals that are the stuff of dreams.
Miss Victoria. The voice was more insistent.
Mmm?
If ye want to be there to greet your father, we must head back. Even though he s using the coach he ll still be at the manor house inside a quarter hour. The train would have arrived at Lime Street Station in Liverpool well over an hour ago.
Victoria shook her head and laughed. Old Todd Turpin, my highwayman, you are so particular about clocks and minutes. Is that because your great-great-grandfather s blood runs in your veins and you know where every coach is on any road at any given minute?
Todd, a short and slender man of sixty with a flat tweed cap who sat astride a black gelding, flushed. I m not related to Dick Turpin. I told ye that before.
Just as your mate Brendan Cook is not related to the famous sea captain who also met an untimely end. Though Captain Cook was eaten, while Dick Turpin was merely hanged.
Sure, your mother Lady Elizabeth shouldn t like to hear ye talking like this.
Well, she s not here, is she? Or are you her spy as well as my guardian?
Todd s face flushed a deeper red. I m no spy neither.
Victoria gave him a sudden savage glare. Let us hope not, Old Todd Turpin, or I should have to challenge you to a duel. And you know how quick I am with a blade. Seeing the startled look that sprang onto his face she laughed again, tossing her hair. Oh, Todd, when will you ever get to know who I am? I wouldn t hurt a finger on your hand. You ve served our family since I was eleven, after all.
Well, but ye are not eleven anymore, are ye, Miss?
Victoria swept up into her saddle, her long hair falling about her shoulders as she adjusted her black riding skirt and leather boots. I may be eighteen but the eleven-year-old is still in there. Race you to Ashton Park.
She leaned forward and whistled softly in her mare s ear. The horse bolted forward, away from the sea cliff and down the path leading back into the forest of tall ash trees. Todd rolled his eyes and muttered, Ah, dear Lord, and dug his heels into his gelding s sides, urging it after the mare. He knew he would never catch Victoria but at least he could keep her in sight.
The soaring ash trees, some two hundred feet high and hundreds of years old, flashed past on either side of Victoria as she and Robin hurtled along the track. She meant to get altogether out of sight of Todd Turpin, who, she was certain, reported to her mother all her goings-on, despite his protests to the contrary. Bending over the mare s neck, she took a different path and galloped full out over a trail she could have ridden with her eyes closed. It was a shortcut she was certain Todd had never used.
Sure enough, she erupted from the ash trees five minutes before a worried Todd emerged flustered from the main road through the grove. He saw her riding her mare slowly over the large green lawn that surrounded the manor house and called out to her.
Ye little devil! Ye ought not to do that, Miss Victoria!
Victoria smiled. Do what, Old Todd Turpin? Outrace you?
Do some kind of witchcraft or spell or whatever it is ye did to vanish from the road and get here ahead of me!
Oh, I assure you I am still a good Christian girl, Todd, and all four of Robin s hooves were planted firmly on the ground. We may have taken flight but we were never in the clouds. You just don t know the ash grove like I do. Perhaps you don t have a highwayman s blood in your veins after all.
She rode Robin toward the great house with its stone walls and towering brick chimneys and hundreds of windows. Ivy grew green and lush over the entire back of the manor, the oldest part, completed in 1688. The newer wings, dating from the mid-1700s, were clear of growth and the stone shone, in some parts, a soft gray like pigeons, in other parts, a warm honey color, and in still other places, a ruby red that made her think of strawberries. She urged her mare onto the scores of flagstones that rimmed the house, and the horse s hooves clicked and clacked as Victoria guided her to the front of the ancient and sturdy manor. There were a hundred and sixteen rooms and Victoria had been into most of them at least twice, including the ones her mother had locked up tight.
A cluster of starlings burst from the trees and darted over her head, making the horse rear, nearly throwing her off. Shhh, my lovely, she said, quieting the mare, tugging slightly on the reins. It s all right. She stared after the birds as they raced for the far corner of the manor.
Now what was that all about? Do you