Upon re-entering the statuary garden, for one awful moment, she thought that she’d stepped into the wrong garden. The aspect appeared so alarming, so different, that a swell of terror rose up in her throat. But then her cooler mind prevailed. She’d stepped back into her slippers on the other side of the hedgerow, and therefore, where else could she be but in the statuary garden? I’m in the statuary garden. It’s my husband’s garden. It’s my garden. She repeated these thoughts to herself like a mantra as she crept up the walkway, stealthily making her way toward the villa. As she passed the statue of a maiden pouring a vase of water into a basin filled with stone frogs, she stopped and stared. When she first passed by this statue on her way out to the ocean, the statue appeared a shade of alabaster-white, but as she gazed at it now, it shone a dusky shade of pink. Perhaps the mist? Did the mist cause the statue’s surface to change color? Slivers of vapor curled in her consciousness as the fog wafted through the garden. Tendrils of mist swirled around the statue’s face, the color heightened, then turned the color of flesh. In the next moment, the stone frogs at the statue’s feet turned a deep shade of green, then ribbeted deep in their throats. One or two of them grew animated, then ribbeted and hopped out of the fountain, leaping up the gravel walkway. “What’s happening here?” She asked, her heart pounding hard. “You must leave this place,” a soft, musical voice spoke in her ear. “Who spoke?” She cried out, whirling around. She saw nothing. She stood alone in the statue garden. “He wants this child, a son. If you can produce a living male heir, you may survive,” the same soft voice lilted. The statue, it spoke to her. As Evangeline gazed in wonder, the statue maiden turned her head to stare sightlessly at Evangeline with her milky-white eyes. The maiden’s alabaster skin, transformed, now fully the color of flesh. Evangeline reached forward, recoiling even as she did it, knowing that the marble statue would feel like warm flesh to the touch. She brushed her fingers across the statue’s arm and shuddered. It felt soft and moist. The statue stared at her with its eerie, sightless eyes. “Heed my words, dear Evangeline. You do not want to suffer the same fate that my sisters and I suffered.” “What fate is that?” Evangeline’s voice quavered. The statue tilted her head in the direction of the other statues standing in various poses in the garden and nodded. “Our husband does not value girls. Do not give him a girl child. Make sure that the child you carry is a male heir. Only then may you survive.” “That cannot be,” Evangeline said. “I am carrying a girl child, I’m certain of it. And Paul loves the babe in my belly. He will be happy with a girl.” “Heed my words,” the statue repeated. “Oh dear God,” Evangeline murmured. She raised her hand to her mouth and hot tears filled her eyes. “Go now,” the statue told her. “You are forbidden in this garden. You will suffer serious consequences if you are discovered here.” “But this is my garden,” Evangeline cried. “My husband Paul made a present of it to me.” “Others are here,” the statue spoke in an ominous voice, “and they know of your whereabouts. They are greatly displeased.” At that moment, the statue of Diana, Goddess of the Hunt, transformed into flesh and Diana pointed her arrow directly at Evangeline’s heart. “You must leave now,” Diana said, “before you are killed. You must escape now.” “You will die,” the first maiden said, as swirls of fog covered her body. In the next moment, the fog lifted and the statue shimmered back into its marble state. Evangeline reached forward. The arm she touched felt icy cold and hard as stone. She looked over at Diana. She too had frozen into place, but in her new position, with her arrow pointed at Evangeline.
Category:Fairy Tale & Mythology, Fantasy, Historical, Pure Erotica
Length: Novel Class
MSRP/List Price: $6.00
Our Cover Price: $3.99
Available Format: eBook
Description: Paul Rumsfeld, a lonely, rich, widower, seeks Evangeline’s hand in marriage. He is her first real marital prospect, as the entire village considers her damaged goods. Rumors abound about the way Evangeline and her sister Rose Red, serviced the Black Bear who resided at their hearth during one particularly hard, bitter winter. Evangeline did no such thing, but no man pays her court. She accepts Paul’s offer to marry him, while trying to ignore the vile gossipmongers’ talk in the village that Paul’s last four wives died under bizarre—and troubling—circumstances. Is Paul a Bluebeard, or is he an innocent man? Evangeline trusts her husband implicitly, but the rumors are hard to ignore.
They marry and she travels with him to his marvelous villa on the sea. Once there, she is introduced to the household servants, including the grim and reproving Mathilda. Mathilda is a formidable opponent, and it takes all of Evangeline’s guile and resources to outmaneuver the imperious maidservant. Evangeline soon finds herself with child, and with the support of the midwife, she begins to exert her will. Out with the restricting corsets and stays! Evangeline has no desire to confine her body to the dictates of fashion. She wants her baby to be healthy and strong, and the only way to do that is to ensure her own comfort. Mathilda is horrified, but cannot bend Evangeline to her will.
At the same time, Evangeline is attempting to breach the citadel that is her husband’s broken heart. Paul honestly cannot say how it has come to pass that he is the widower of four deceased wives, each one expiring under odd and distressing circumstances. As a result, he has locked down his heart to any further intimacy. He is half-convinced that Evangeline shall also die, and it would be unbearable if he were to allow her into his heart.
To My Readers: As a child, I loved the Grimm Brothers’ fairytale of the two beautiful sisters, Snow White and Rose Red, who rescue Black Bear from a certain death during one bitterly cold winter. If you’ve already read Rose Red and Black Bear, then you know the fate of Rose Red, but do you know what happens to the other sister, whom I have renamed Evangeline? Evangeline has a completely different journey from her sister, as she travels with her new husband to his villa by the sea. There are dangers waiting for her, and it will take every shred of her will and inner strength to overcome the evil waiting for her in every corner and shadow.
About the Author: Gwen Williams finds it terribly ironic—one of her father’s favorite words—that she is taking a story she loved as a child and transforming it into an erotic journey. And, sadly, she wrote this story about the two sisters, Evangeline and Rose Red, while grieving over her father’s death. There is much love and loss in the story, and Gwen believes her father would find it fitting, even if he couldn’t quite bring himself to read her writing!
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