My Lady's Choosing: An Interactive Romance Novel(93)

The End





“We must go, my love!” you cry to the groaning Lord Craven. He rolls off you, throws on a robe, and accompanies you to locate the source of the banging.

Before you find it, however, you hear Master Alexander scream as if pursued by the hounds of hell. You turn to Craven, your eyes wide in horror, and you both race to the child’s aid. As you round the corner, you find yourselves faced with something far more frightening than any hellhound.

Alexander is cowering in the corner, clutching a stuffed toy, tears of fright streaming down his young face. In front of him—glowing with the unearthly light of hellfire—is his mother!

The apparition turns to you with dead black eyes, her lovely mouth arrested in a terrifying rictus grin. “You have taken my place!” hisses the ghoul. “But not for long! I shall take you! I shall take you all! Back with me…to hell!”

“No, you bloody well won’t!” cries a reassuringly broad Yorkshire voice. There, barreling down the hall with a cross around her neck and a bible in her only hand, is Mrs. Butts.

“Out the way, love!” she cries to you. While you and Craven stare, gobsmacked, Mrs. Butts raises the Good Book high above her head. “Don’t worry, loves, I’ve done this before! How do you think I lost my arm and earned these scars?”

The phantom Lady Craven starts floating toward you, uttering strange guttural noises that belong to no human language, death dancing in her eyes.

“Get out, demon!” screams Mrs. Butts as she flicks holy water from a canister hanging at her hip. “The power of Christ—” Suddenly she is silenced, thrown across the room with a wave of the creature’s hand.

While Mrs. Butts groans from a corner, the ghost laughs in triumph before turning on Lord Craven. “My love!” she hisses. “My dear husband! You will come with me! You will suffer for all eternity, too!”

You throw yourself in front of him. “Not while I’m here!” You grab Mrs. Butt’s bible and cross and thrust them at the ghost of Lady Craven. “You will have to take me! Take me instead and leave this family, for I love them and there is not a thing I would not do to protect them!”

The specter reaches for you, but as she does, her hand starts to melt. “What is this?” she shrieks. “What is happening?!” A beam of white light bursts through her and fills the room, illuminating her many portraits in eerie blue fire before they crumble into dust.

The ghost of Lady Blanche Craven roils and twists in agony. “No! This cannot be!” Nevertheless, the light consumes her, exploding her spectral form into nothing. In her place lies a single red rose.

Alexander runs to you, and you and Lord Craven embrace him tightly, united as one loving family. “You saved us, miss!” he cries.

“I-I don’t understand,” you whisper into his hair as his father’s powerful arms encircle the two of you.

“I do, love,” says Mrs. Butts, pulling herself up to seated. “You were willing to sacrifice yourself because you love them. True love can conquer anything, including wicked lost souls from the depths who would destroy us. ’Tis the most powerful thing in th’ world.”

The sun rises, filling the room with pure, heaven-sent light. It is as if the deadly fever that consumed Hopesend has finally broken, and there is hope for life…and perhaps love. You turn to Lord Craven, astounded. His green eyes are clouded with tears and pure passion. He kisses you ferociously, as if you were not only his love but also his salvation.

“Oh, my darling!” he cries. “You are not only my love, but also my salvation. You have rescued me entirely.”

“Are you going to be my new mama?” Alexander asks sweetly. Lord Craven looks at you with hope in his eyes.

“Of course, darling. Of course!”

And so begins the start of your new life as lady of the manor. You rechristen it Hopesbeginning.

The End





You raise a hand to Ollie’s face, tenderly yet regretfully. He looks down, knowing what you are about to say.

“I’m sorry, Ollie my darling,” you whisper. “But our time has passed. I think that in your deepest heart, you know it is true.” Ollie looks up at you, tears shining in his eyes.

“And, I daresay, you love another?” He nods toward Mac, who is skulking silently at the other side of the entrance hall, looking like a massive, bekilted oak tree plagued with melancholy. You know not what to say. Ollie smiles wryly.

“He is a lucky man. Have a care, my darling. Be well.”

“You, too,” you say. He nods, and you see him to the door. He mounts his horse and rides off into the sunset, presumably to be the hero of his own thrilling series of books.

You look after him wistfully. Your chapter with Ollie may be closed, but the story of the rest of your life is only just beginning. You walk back into the house and into the arms of Mac—your hulking, ginger paramour slash fellow orphan educator. He looks at you with love in his eyes.

“Are ye mine then, my love?” he says. “Will ye stay with me…for now and for all time?”





Well, will you?

If you opt for a tough but meaningful life helping orphans while having thrillingly adventuresome sex with a rugged Scotsman for the rest of your days, turn to this page.