

When It Rained at Hembry Castle
Meredith Allard · Completed · 104.9k Words
Introduction
Chapter 1
A Funeral at Hembry
T
he mourners lined the village roads as far as the castle, their umbrellas pointed like black wreaths at the crying sky. There were hundreds of them, from the village of Hembry, from across the county of Berkshire, from London 60 miles away. They bowed their heads, tipped their hats, or curtsied as the hearse passed on its way toward the church, the black-draped driver keeping his four black stallions with their glossy fake tails moving in time to the slow-falling rain. The onlookers tried to see through those at the front, the shorter on their toes, straining their necks, while fathers held their children on their shoulders to see the white lilies on the polished oak casket. There were few dry eyes as the body of the 8th Earl of Staton passed. The women hid their sorrow behind their handkerchiefs while the men insisted they weren’t crying, it was rain on their faces, after all.
The escort to the church was a well-orchestrated affair. Ten men acted as pages, four were feathermen, and two mutes in black gowns and silk hatbands acted out the family’s sorrow in a lugubrious pantomime. The family’s carriage jerked up and down, up and down over the mud-slicked road while the mourners trailed behind, following the 8th Earl on his final journey. As though the heavens had their fill of tears to shed that day, the closer to the church the mourners came, the harder the rain fell. The onlookers struggled to protect themselves from the warm June splashes until, in the space of a breath, the sky cleared and the sun peeked pink beneath the parting clouds. The air was heavy, you could hold it in your hands like warm dough, and the mourners dabbed with handkerchiefs at perspiring foreheads.
The mourners of a mind to converse remarked on the size of the crowd. It was rare that the death of a peer touched the lives of so many. Normally, when one died, people shrugged, muttering how it was too bad Lord Whatshisname or Lady Soandso had passed on, but you know how it goes. When you get to be that old you have it coming. The Earl of Staton had died in residence in his country seat at Hembry Castle, so some public display of grief was to be expected, and there were always those who turned out with expectations of pocketing whatever alms the family saw fit to bestow. But the 8th Earl of Staton prompted more than shrugging and greed for alms. Everyone knew the Earl as a good man, a compassionate man, and they mourned him. Many had already paid their respects by filing past as the coffin lay in state at the castle. They had all been there—the dignitaries, the aristocrats, the neighbors, the farmers, the tenants, the villagers, the tradesmen—but they came out again for the Earl’s funeral. There are few truly good men in the world, and when one passes he should be acknowledged.
The hearse neared the church on a grassy hill dotted with yellow wildflowers and white budding bushes. The church itself was sun-bleached stone, its castle-like bell tower looming over the family. The stallions stopped, straining against their reins as though the slow pace had left them with energy to spare. The onlookers bowed their heads, praying for the eternal safekeeping of their beloved Earl, while the pallbearers lifted the coffin and carried the Earl inside. The onlookers waited in silence a respectful distance away while the family attended the church service. In time, the family reemerged with the white-robed, solemn-faced vicar.
Those lucky enough to get a view closest to the proceedings saw the eldest son, last week Richard Meriwether, today Richard, 9th Earl of Staton, as he passed the wrought iron gate to the crypt. He was only eight-and-forty, the new Earl, his long face handsome in an elegant way, his slim figure youthful and wiry, his chestnut curls peeking from under his black silk top hat and hiding the half-moon scar near his left temple. Every villager in Hembry could tell you how, when he was a boy, the Earl of Staton as is had fallen into the river when he tried to learn to swim. He lost his balance, slipped under the water, and nearly drowned as he cut the skin close to his left eye on a knife-like rock, leaving that half-moon scar still visible four decades later. There was no sign of the frightened boy that day, however. The new Earl of Staton looked fine in his close-fitting black mourning suit, his frock coat buttoned to his chin, his top hat his only protection against the wet. There was something in the new Earl’s eyes, some misgiving, perhaps, and the onlookers pressed forward for a closer look. Normally, there would be a whisper or two about the new Earl’s unmarried state, especially at his age, but on this solemn day the gossips let it rest.
As the family made its way to the cemetery gates, children and a few of the shorter adults elbowed their way closer for a view of the 8th Earl’s widow, Agatha, Countess of Staton, who was hidden in black by a billowing dress and a heavy veil which left her featureless, like a storm cloud floating toward the gravestones. Necks strained higher when other members of the family appeared. The 8th Earl and his Countess had been unusually lucky since all three of their children were sons—Richard, the eldest, now Earl, behind him the Honorable Frederick Meriwether, at five-and-forty the second son, known as “the wayward” around the village (and possibly the castle itself) since it was common knowledge that he hightailed it to America the moment he completed his studies at Oxford. Everyone knew everything in a rural village like Hembry, and they knew Frederick was a widower, his wife having died nearly five years before. For this sad occasion, Mr. Frederick had brought with him his only daughter, his only child, to England for the first time. There were rumors that Mr. Frederick’s daughter was a Beauty, as her mother had been (because who else could entice the son of a peer to stay in America but a Beauty). The golden-haired young woman appeared near the cemetery gate, and though a thin black veil covered her features, those close enough could see the sadness on her lovely face and they nodded, thinking, yes, she is indeed a Beauty.
The 8th Earl’s youngest son, the Honorable Jerrold Meriwether, nine-and-thirty, and his wife, Hyacinth to family and friends (age withheld), had just arrived from London where they lived with their two young sons, Harold and Xavier, the boys somber in their small black clothing. Jerrold Meriwether, though he was the youngest son, looked older than his brothers with his thinning hair brushed to one side, an unfortunate pretense obvious even beneath his top hat. He wore a mustache over a protruding lower lip, which gave him the appearance of a lopsided mouth, too thin on the top, too thick on the bottom. He waited near the wrought iron gate looking at no one, especially not his wife, who was most certainly not looking at him. If they cast their eyes in opposite directions, they were also turned away from each other, he to the right, she to the left, and their backs would have had an easier time conversing than their fronts. Though the space between them was a few steps, it could have been miles for all the attention they paid to each other. Their two small boys, taking their cues, stood in the gulf between their parents and watched their grandfather’s burial with detached glowers, as though this were the funeral of any poor sod they might have happened upon in the street. The only sign of emotion from anyone in Mr. Jerrold’s family was from Mr. Jerrold himself, and that was when an infant child of one of the onlookers cried. At the sound of the wail, Mr. Jerrold snapped around, his neck growing longer, his lank hair blowing out from under his top hat as though Medusa’s snakes were crawling from his head, ready to discover the unfortunate child who dared to make a noise. But there were no snakes to aid him, it was only his thin strands of hair blowing about, so Mr. Jerrold cast his eggshell glare over the crowd and grew small again. When his mother, the Countess, gestured for him to join her near the mausoleum, he walked to her side, leaving his own family near the gate.
After Mr. Jerrold was inside, the family’s physician, Mr. John Hough, appeared. The new Earl pointed his walking stick toward Mr. Hough, and they found their way toward each other, the tall, lanky, chestnut-haired Earl and the nearly as tall though not so lanky doctor with glints of silver in his black hair. Mr. Hough whispered to the Earl and nodded toward Mr. Jerrold, who was too busy scrutinizing everyone else to notice. Did Mr. Jerrold expect a specter to jump out from behind a gravestone? The onlookers noted Mr. Jerrold’s odd behavior, though some insisted that his behavior was no stranger than usual. He always looked like a little boy caught with his hand in the sweets jar. The golden-haired Miss Meriwether touched her Uncle Jerrold’s arm, gently, and the man seemed to come to himself. He nodded at his niece and followed her.
Edward Ellis was among those watching the funeral proceedings, and he was struck, like many others, by the lovely young woman recently arrived from America. It was some time before he remembered to exhale. He wanted to press past the bodies, yell “Get out of my way!” like a churlish old woman knocking everyone aside with a walking stick until he could see Miss Meriwether up close. She couldn’t truly be that lovely. After all, her features weren’t clear under the black lace veil. If he saw her without the veil she wouldn’t make such a strong impression. Would she? Then he saw the line of servants from the castle making their way into the graveyard, the female servants in their simple black dresses and bonnets, the male servants with their black armbands. He saw the butler and housekeeper at the head of the line, arm in arm, heads bowed. They didn’t need to feign their sadness, Edward knew. He caught the housekeeper’s glance and she nodded. She nudged the butler and gestured toward Edward. The butler looked over the top of his round spectacles and smiled in a muted way. Edward returned the solemn greeting and watched them walk more slowly than he had ever seen them. When the butler and housekeeper broke their staffs of office over the dead Earl’s coffin, Edward knew their hearts would break too.
From outside the gates the melancholy voice of the vicar was heard reciting the burial rites: “I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die…”
The family was hidden behind bushes, trees, and ancient gravestones, and not much could be seen outside the gates. Some of the onlookers began to drift away while others remained until the end.
“I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, Write, From henceforth blessed are the dead which die in the Lord: Even so, saith the Spirit, for they rest from their labors…”
Edward wanted to stay. He wanted to see the golden-haired girl again. He wanted a glimpse of her without the veil. He wanted to be certain. He remembered the untouched paper in his carpetbag, and he knew he should be writing down everything he saw, but he trusted his memory not to forget this scene. Certainly, he wouldn’t forget the girl. He pulled his fob from his pocket, saw the time, and sighed. He had to leave now if he were to make it to the train and back to London before nightfall. Edward Ellis looked once more at the cemetery, saw a smattering of black dresses, armbands, and top hats, but that was all he could make out. Since there was no glimpse of Miss Meriwether, he walked at a brisk pace from the cemetery. At the end of the field where horses grazed on grass and wildflowers shimmied in the humidity he heard the death knell. The old Earl had been entombed. Edward looked to his left and there in the distance, perched on the tallest hill, looming large above the village, bursting out beneath the darkening clouds, was the sand-colored limestone of Hembry Castle. Edward was certain he saw the chimneys bow toward the church in reverence for their lost lord, wondering if anything at Hembry would ever be the same again.
Last Chapters
#34 Also by Meredith Allard
Last Updated: 3/3/2025#33 About the Author
Last Updated: 3/3/2025#32 Author’s Notes
Last Updated: 3/3/2025#31 The End
Last Updated: 3/3/2025#30 The Missing Child
Last Updated: 3/3/2025#29 A Plan is Hatched
Last Updated: 3/3/2025#28 The Intruder
Last Updated: 3/3/2025#27 In the Paradise
Last Updated: 3/3/2025#26 Meanwhile, Downstairs at Hembry Castle
Last Updated: 3/3/2025#25 A Previous Engagement
Last Updated: 3/3/2025
You Might Like 😍
MY Possessive Mafia Men
"I don't know how long it is going to take you to realize this, honey bunny but you are ours." His deep voice said, yanking my head back so that his intense eyes met mine.
"Your pussy is dripping for us, now be a good girl and spread your legs. I want to have a taste, do you want my tongue gracing your little cunt?"
"Yes, d…daddy." I moaned.
Angelia Hartwell, a young and beautiful college girl, wanted to explore her life. She wanted to know how it feels to have a real orgasm, she wanted to know what it felt like to be a submissive. She wanted to experience sex in the best, dangerous and delicious ways.
In search of fulfilling her sexual fantasies, she found herself in one of the most exclusive dangerous BDSM clubs in the country. There, she catches the attention of three possessive Mafia men. They all three want her by all means.
She wanted one dominant but in-turn she got three possessive ones and one of them being her college professor.
Just one moment, just one dance, her life completely changed.
I Am His Wolfless Luna
Ethan also kept emitting deep roars in my ear, 'Damn... I'm going to cum... !!!' His impact became more intense and our bodies kept making slapping sounds.
"Please!! Ethan!!"
As the strongest female warrior in my pack, I was betrayed by those I trusted most, my sister and my best friend. I was drugged, raped, and banished from my family and my pack. I lost my wolf, my honor, and became an outcast—carrying a child I never asked for.
Six years of hard-won survival turned me into a professional fighter, fueled by rage and grief. A summons arrives from the formidable Alpha heir, Ethan, asking me to return as a wolfless combat instructor for the very pack that once banished me.
I thought I could ignore their whispers and stares, but when I see Ethan's emerald-green eyes—the same as my son’s—my world tilts.
Our Luna, Our Mate
“Absolutely stunning” replies Eros as both take a hand and place a sweet yet gentle kiss upon it.
“Thank you” I blush. “You're both handsome as well”.
“But you, our beautiful mate, outshine everyone” whispers Ares as he moves to pull me into his embrace, sealing our lips with a kiss.
Athena Moonblood is a girl without a pack or a family. After accepting her rejection from her mate, Athena struggles until her Second Chance Mate shows up.
Ares and Eros Moonheart are twin Alpha’s of the Mystic Shadow Pack who are searching for their Mate. Forced to attend the annual mating ball, the Moon Goddess decides to intertwin their fates, bringing them together.
Heartsong
I looked strong, and my wolf was absolutely gorgeous.
I looked to where my sister is sitting and her and the rest of her posse have jealous fury on their faces. I then look up to where my parents are and they're glaring at my picture, if looks alone could set shit on fire.
I smirk at them then I turn away to face my opponent, everything else falling away but what was here on this platform. I take my skirt and cardigan off. Standing in just my tank and capris, I move into a fighting position and wait for the signal to start -- To fight, to prove, and not hide myself anymore.
This was going to be fun. I thought, a grin on my face.
This book ”Heartsong” contains two books “Werewolf’s Heartsong” and “Witch’s Heartsong”
Mature Audience Only: Contains mature luangege, sex, abuse and violence
Chosen By The Moon
Oh... SHIT!
In a dystopian future, it is the 5-year anniversary of the end of the earth as we knew it. A race of supernatural creatures calling themselves the lycanthrope has taken over and nothing has been the same.
Every town is split into two districts, the human district, and the wolf district. The humans are now treated as a minority, while the Lycans are to be treated with the utmost respect, failure to submit to them results in brutal public punishments. For Dylan, a 17-year-old girl, living in this new world is tough. Being 12 when the wolves took over, she has both witnessed and experienced public punishment firsthand.
Wolves have been domineering since the new world and if you're found to be the mate of one, for Dylan it is a fate worse than death. So what happens when she finds out she not only is a lycan’s mate but that lycan happens to be the most famous and the most brutal of them all?
Follow Dylan on her rocky journey, combatting life, love, and loss.
A new spin on the typical wolf story. I hope you enjoy it.
Warning, mature content.
Scenes of strong Abuse.
Scenes of self-harm
Scenes of Rape.
Scenes of a Sexually explicit nature.
READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.
My ex-wife is a Mysterious Boss
He said, "She's back. Let's get a divorce. You can have whatever you want."
After two years of marriage, she can no longer ignore the reality that he no longer loves her, and it’s clear that when the past relationship causes emotional distress, the current one suffers.
Daphne Murphy did not quarrel, she chose to bless this couple and put forward her own terms.
"I want your most expensive limited-edition sports car."
"Yes."
"A villa on the outskirts of the city."
"All right."
"Split the billions of dollars earned after two years of marriage."
"?"
After her rebirth
(1/weeks)
The Four Mafia Men and Their Prize
“Kiss back” he mumbles, and I feel rough hands all over my body giving me tight squeezes as a warning not to piss them off further. So I give in. I begin to move my mouth and open my lips slightly. Jason wastes no time devouring every inch of my mouth with his tongue. Our lips doing the tango, his dominance winning the race.
We break away, breathing hard. Next, Ben turns my head to face him and does the same thing. His kiss is definitely softer but just as controlling. I moan into his mouth as we continue to exchange saliva. He tugs my bottom lip slightly in his teeth as he pulls away. Kai pulls my hair, so I am looking up, his large frame towering over me. He bends down and claims my lips. He was rough and forceful. Charlie followed and was a mix. My lips feel swollen, my face feels all hot and flushed, and my legs feel like rubber. For some murdering psychotic assholes, damn can they kiss.
Aurora has always worked hard. She just wants to live her life. By chance, she met four mafia men Jason, Charlie, Ben and Kai. They are the ultimate dominants in the office, on the streets, and definitely in the bedroom. They always get what they want and THEY SHARE EVERYTHING.
How will Aurora adjust to having not 1 but 4 powerful men showing her the pleasure she only ever dreamed of? What will happen when a mysterious someone shows interest in Aurora and shakes things up for the notorious mafia men? Will Aurora finally submit and acknowledge her deepest desires or will her innocence be forever ruined?
Secrets of Us: A Forbidden Love Romance
He’s angry from the conversation last night. I can feel it, I can see it in his dark eyes. It’s only confirmed when he slams into me without preparing me.
I cry out and he soothes me with kisses on my neck and nibbles on my skin. Still he doesn’t slow down. He starts at a quick pace, at a strength that already has my legs trembling.
I grab onto his shoulders, cries leaving my lips every time he slams into me. It turn wet, not from the water, but from how much he makes my pussy happy.
Alina leaves everything she knows behind after she is in a terrible car accident that tears her family apart. A new home, a new school and a fractured relationship with her mother are only the beginning of the things this change will throw her way. Immediately she catches the attention of three men, and she can’t deny what she feels for them, too. Quickly, and much to her demise, she finds out that their lives are much more intertwined than she would have ever hoped for. She had hoped to discover herself in this new place, but everything only tears her apart. Who will she choose between Zaid, the bad boy, Aiden, her sweet jock, and Jake, and older man who can't seem to keep his hands off of her?
Billionaire's Second Chance
Jasmine Dupree his best friend and employee ,has always been in love with Dimitri unbeknownst to him. Their Best friend Grayson Paul and Dimitri has no idea that the return of their Best friend would end his marriage.
McKenzie is accused of betraying Dimitri and kicked out only to turn up five years later as the doctor to save his best friend Grayson's life.
McKenzie tries to stay away, promises to keep away from Dimitri. FIVE years and he still hated her for betraying him, however new details come to light making Dimitri doubt his accusations form Five years ago.
Jasmine See's an opportunity to mess with McKenzie and does it , What jasmine doesn't know is that Dimitri still loved McKenzie and she was still his wife. He never divorced her even though McKenzie signed the papers.
When Dimitri finds out he was wrong he was repulsed at the way he treated her and began making a way back to her. McKenzie Peirce on the other hand has no idea that she would be given a second chance at love. with the man she has always loved.
With his best friend and family besides him he intends to win McKenzie back, however while they are trying to make their second chance marriage work trouble is brewing . Jasmine refuses to give up on Dimitri.
The Devil's Doll
''Relax your body. '' I kiss her left buttock and twist my fingers inside her and push them in hard.
''Ahh!"
She let out a burning moan when I hit her sensitive spot, and I approached her right breast, marking it with my bites and sucking. I want everyone to realize tomorrow that she now has a man, a man who will be her only owner. Her every move will be known to me, I'm the only one who can have her. I will kill anyone who dares to approach my beautiful little doll.
Aurelia's life changes dramatically when she is wrongly accused of having marijuana in her backpack, she is sent to the infamous Horizon Penitentiary, known as hell on earth. In an environment where law and order seem like mere illusions, Aurelia finds herself surrounded by cruel criminals and the sinister shadows that lurk in every corner of the prison.
Desperate to survive and escape this nightmare, Aurelia catches the attention of the dreaded Demon, the prison's supreme leader. With his aura of power and absolute dominance, the Demon sees her as tempting prey, determined to have her as his own. As she struggles to survive in an environment where violence reigns supreme, she finds herself involved in a dangerous game of cat and mouse with the Demon.
Between the darkness of the prison and the shadows of the corridors, Aurelia struggles to keep her humanity intact, even as he tries to turn her into his obedient doll. In a world where the lines between good and evil are blurred, she must find a way to resist his seduction before it's too late.
"The Demon's Doll" is a story of courage, sacrifice and redemption in a place where hope is a rare luxury and survival is a daily battle.
My Boss My Secret Husband
Heartbroken, she ended up marrying a stranger. The next morning, his face was just a blur.
Back at work, the plot thickened when she discovered the new CEO was none other than her mystery Vegas husband?!
Now, Hazel's got to figure out how to navigate this unexpected twist in both her personal and professional life ...