Black Rainbow

by Barbara Michaels

Overview

New York Times–Bestselling Author: “Sprightly gothic-romance-suspense . . . an especially dandy final twist.” —Kirkus Reviews

Megan O’Neill sees it hanging in the sky above the towers of Grayhaven Manor—a beautiful yet sinister black rainbow, a warning to the estate’s new governess to stay away. She is tempted to pick up her sodden, clinging skirts and flee into the rainy night. Yet the warmth and kindness of the Mandeville family, owners of the local cotton mill, banish her fears—and her hypnotic obsession for her handsome, mysterious new employer, Edmund, blinds her to the darkness within.

But desire always has its price. And the shocking secrets enclosed in Grayhaven’s walls threaten to pull Megan into the terrifying shadows, never to emerge again . . .

Praise for Barbara Michaels

“A favorite of suspense fans.” —Publishers Weekly

“A consummate storyteller.” —Mary Higgins Clark

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061842405
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	08/18/2023
Series:	The Someone in the House Series , #1
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	336,723
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Elizabeth Peters (writing as Barbara Michaels) was born and brought up in Illinois and earned her Ph.D. in Egyptology from the University of Chicago's famed Oriental Institute. Peters was named Grandmaster at the inaugural Anthony Awards in 1986, Grandmaster by the Mystery Writers of America at the Edgar® Awards in 1998, and given The Lifetime Achievement Award at Malice Domestic in 2003. She lives in an historic farmhouse in western Maryland.

Read an Excerpt

Black Rainbow Chapter One

Scientists assert that it is a wholly natural phenomenon-child of storm cloud and full moon, as its bright sister of day is the offspring of sunlight and rain.

Megan was not superstitious, but when she reached the top of the ridge and saw the black rainbow framing the huddled towers of Grayhaven Manor, her first impulse was to pick up her wet, clinging skirts and retreat at full speed back down the slope she had so laboriously ascended.

The rainsquall that had drenched her during her walk passed as quickly as it had come, and as the weary girl paused to rest, the full moon burst free of the clouds. The rainbow's hues ranged from palest silver-gray to a black deeper than the moonlit vault of the sky-an ominous portent for a traveler whose destination was the old house under that sinister arc.

It lay in a little cup of hills, whose slopes must be green and pleasant by daylight. The moon robbed them of color, as it did all other objects in view; the trees were sable plumes, the lawns pale as snow, the little stream a silver ribbon. The scene had an eerie beauty, but Megan found herself wishing she had not beguiled her weeks of enforced idleness by reading so many of the Gothic romances then in fashion, with their abundance of specters, vampires, and haunted castles. Not that she had had much choice; her landlady's small library consisted entirely of such volumes, and she had not had the money to join a circulating library.

At first glance the ancient walls and towers of Grayhaven appeared to be a perfect setting for one of Mrs. Radcliffe's tales of imperiled maidens and Black Monks. Subsequent glances gave quite a different impression. Sheltered by the enclosing hills, the house clung to the earth like a curled-up cat, blinking yellow windows of eyes in smug content. The suggestion of warmth and light in those amber squares was most welcome to a wet and weary traveler.

Still Megan lingered, tempted to rest awhile before proceeding. They had told her at the station that it was only four miles to the house. The distance had seemed at least twice that long. She had eaten nothing since breakfast, and her wet skirts felt heavy as lead. The ground was damp, and she shivered in the sharp breeze that had arisen to scatter the clouds. The moon rode high above the last wrack of the storm, a silver ball rolling up an invisible path across the sky-chariot of the goddess Diana, virgin huntress of the Romans.

Megan was better educated than most of her class, she knew her Latin and even a little Greek; but she had not learned of pagan gods from the nuns who had provided her formal schooling. Her father had been half a pagan himself; from his tales ...

Black Rainbow. Copyright © by Barbara Michaels. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.