GRACE'S SECRETS Grace Charlotte yelled after her Where have you been Grace stopped and took a deep breath but she could feel her chest tightening Who gave you the lilies She reached for the asthma puffer in her jacket pocket Charlotte followed Grace's gaze to the huge bunch of lilies on the hall table Ah sorry about that Dr Guda dropped them off I asked one of the cleaners to take them to the coachhouse for the McLeans but she obviously hasn't got around to it yet I'll take them down in a sec She focused her attention back on Grace Well she said in a sharp voice why are you late this time You know I'm quickly beginning to regret our agreement about you being home schooled here Honestly you're running wild always late and not Grace froze Not what she said in a small voice She turned to face her mother but she couldn't raise her eyes further than the waistline of her deep blue Victorian day dress It was Grace's favourite because it matched her mother's blue eyes and its fabric shimmered and sparkled 4
CHAPTER ONE as she moved Her mother said that it was shot with gold and the phrase always made Grace laugh Not keeping your end of the bargain Charlotte's lips closed into a tight thin line I'm doing everything I agreed to before we changed countries Mum Grace finally lifted her eyes to meet her mother's I promised to stay on top of my school work from my tutor and my chores and you promised that I would never have to go back to a real school again My homework's always done on time Okay I'm a bit late sometimes to greet the guests and stuff but I hav en’t missed anything yet in the whole three months we've been here have I Charlotte lifted her dress and petticoats and leapt up the stairs closing the gap between them You need to be ready and down here at least half an hour before the first batch of carriages arrive to help me We've talked about this Grace And where's the mobile phone I gave you Do you even have it with you I've rung you twice in the last fifteen minutes 5
GRACE'S SECRETS Grace's shoulders slumped I'm sorry Mum I forgot it again It's upstairs in my room and I didn't mean to be late not really It's just that I well I was in Bell and Snowman's Christmas Shoppe that's just opened Mum you should see in there There are huge antique rocking horses and proper marching nutcracker soldiers a real sleigh and so many decorations They're all so different to the ones we have back home and then before I knew it the steam train pulled in and I realised just how long I'd been in there Charlotte softened Even she was getting caught up in the excitement of experiencing their first cold snowy Christmas and winter You certainly aren't like your friends at your old school Their mobile phones were just about glued to their hands You don't seem to be interest ed in yours at all Grace's mouth went dry at the mention of her old school Scenes of her last days there flashed before her eyes and her cheeks burned They're not my friends anymore remember Tears pricked her eyes and she wiped at 6
CHAPTER ONE them in frustration I'm glad I won't have to see them again after what they did Not even when we fly back home to Australia for holidays next year Not ever Her mother pulled her into a hug Ah my gorgeous Gracie girl she said as she pushed a stray curl behind Grace's ear What happened in Australia was awful but that's all behind you now Here give me Coco and you get going It's nearly three o'clock and the four day weekend is about to begin You've got five minutes to get dressed and be back down here to greet our first lot of guests in the throne room Coco made little whimpering noises as Grace tried to hand him over He's certainly fallen in love with you in the eight weeks we've had him Grace Oh go on take him to your room and leave him there for the welcome party Just make sure there's nothing on the floor for him to chew Upstairs Grace stepped into her suite closed the door behind her and sighed The most unexpected part of this new place was her rooms at the end of the hall in one of 7
