"Owwww! Ouch! Oww oww owwww!... Take… it… ea-sy!" said Adrian to his wife Natalie and their driver assisted him out of the van. Nearly thirteen hours of travel had taken its toll on his back, shoulders and neck.

Natalie held onto him to support him. "Come on honey, you can lean on me." she said sweetly.

"Lean on you?" he complained. "I can barely even move!"

"He has a low threshold for pain." she whispered to the driver.

"I'll go get yo' bags and take them up to the house." The driver said with a cockney accent.

As the driver walked way, Adrian said "I think he hit ever pothole and bump in the road…ow ouch!"

"I think maybe on the way back, we should take the train. As least you can stretch out a little there." She said helping him along.

"I think maybe on the way back we should take cyanide. It would be easier than this!" he replied. "Jus..just get me inside." he growled.

As they stumbled across the driveway, Natalie looked up at the amazing home before her. Its majestic black and white facade and leaded glass contrasted beautifully against the deep blue afternoon sky.

As they reached the front door, Natalie reached into her purse and tipped the driver as Adrian leaned against the building. He was in serious pain, so she was sorry for that. But she struggled to hold back a laugh because he was also very much a drama queen.

Natalie rang the doorbell just as the driver was pulling out of the parking lot. There was no answer.

"Shouldn't we have waited to make sure that someone was home?" asked Adrian.

"They were expecting us. We called ahead in London. Surely someone is here." said Natalie as she walked a few feet away and looked around.

Just then, the front door unlocked and slowly creaked open.

A tall thin elderly gentleman stood at the door looking very dour.

"May I help you?" he asked in a thick British accent, the kind of accent one would expect to hear in the noble classes.

"Um, yes…My name is Natalie Monk and this is my husband Adrian…"

"Come in." he said abruptly, turning and leaving the door wide open.

Adrian grimaced and peeled himself off the side of the house, leaning on Natalie as they entered.

"We have been expecting you. I will call for Mrs. Sedgewick." He said.

"Thank you, Mr…." said Natalie.

"Bassett. Bartholomew Bassett." He replied.

"Happy to meet you Mr. Bassett." She said as the old man left the room.

As they waited for Sedgewick to arrive, Natalie and Adrian both looked at the ancient woodwork in the entryway and the Great Hall in which they were standing. Adrian saw some intricately carved benches next to the fireplace and decided to hobble over. But, before he could get there, he looked down at the fireplace and noticed a stone statue on the floor about two feet high. It was the bust of a man attached to a pillar. The man had curly hair was shirtless and stared straight ahead. There wouldn't have been much to distinguish him from any generic man except for one thing. He had a noose around his neck!

"Natalie! Get a look at this!" said Adrian. "I hope this isn't an omen of things to come."

She walked over. "Creepy!" she said, rubbing Adrian's shoulder. "Well honey, look at it this way. That's one way to get rid of a stiff neck."

"That is the 'hanged man'" said a stately woman in her 60s, entering the room from their left. "He is part of the Davenport coat of arms. The Davenports at the time were one of the most prestigious and wealthy families in the country. The hanged man represents their power over life and death. My name is Cecelia Sedgewick. I presume that you are Mr. and Mrs. Monk?"

"Yes, Mrs. Sedgewick. I am Natalie Davenport Monk and this is my husband Adrian." Natalie responded.

"I shall call you Mr. and Mrs. Monk, ma'am, if you don't mind. But you may call me Cecelia." She said. "Mr. Monk? Are you alright?"

Adrian had hunkered down and was looking the statue in the face. "He looks unrepentant. Probably deserved it." He said.

"Bartholomew will take care of your baggage. I am sure that you would like to rest up a bit before dinner since you've traveled so far. I will show you to your room." She said leading the way.

Natalie looked over at Adrian who was trying to stand up but having a difficult time.

"Ahhhhh ahhhh." he groaned.

"Oh dear." she said, rushing to his side helping him to stand upright.

"Ouch!" he shouted. "Careful!"

"I'm sorry…" she said as they hobbled towards the hallway and then up the red carpeted stairs of the South Staircase.

Mrs. Sedgewick waited patiently as Adrian and Natalie made their way upstairs. Adrian leaned over and touched the finial on top of the newel post at the top of the stairs. He grimaced in pain again from bending, but he felt it worth the pain.

From here, they followed Cecilia into what was known as the Plaster room which was flanked on one side by a large tapestry of Davenport heraldry.

"I could stay here a month and not take everything in." said Natalie as they continued following Cecelia.

"Yes, ma'am. There is much to see here, both inside the house and outside. A group has been working for some time on restoring the property, and various treasures formerly lost to us have been making their way back. We hope some day soon to open it to the public, though the restoration work will take many years." Cecelia said.

"How old is the property?" asked Natalie.

"Various parts of the manor were built at different times, but the oldest parts of the home date from the 14th century." She answered.

"Wow, that's a lot of history." said Adrian.

"Yes it is. Mrs. Monk, your family, the Davenports, lived here for centuries. The walls are ripe with tales of their triumphs and tragedies. I trust you will feel quite at home here." She said as they entered a small bedroom with a fireplace.

"This, Mr. and Mrs. Monk, is known as the Paradise room and it is where you will be staying. The embroidery you see in this room is a reproduction of work that Dame Dorothy Davenport spent nearly a lifetime developing. Some of the most exquisite needlework in the world. Sadly, many items from the home were sold in the 1870s and the original tapestry resides at another home. But, this room is very much like it was during the time the Davenports lived here. Please, make yourself comfortable."

Natalie and Adrian looked around the room as Cecelia began to leave. Turning, she noted "We will be serving dinner a little later tonight at around seven oclock. That should give you time to get a little nap in. I trust you are hungry. We will be having a pork roast with root vegetables and Yorkshire pudding. I will come get you when it is ready."

"Thank you, Mrs. Sedgewick." Said Natalie.

Adrian went over and sat on the beautifully carved four poster canopy bed. There was a lovely view out the window to the grounds to his left and paintings of Davenports of days gone by on the rich wood paneled walls to the right. The tall ceiling was bordered by an ornate plaster frieze complete with a coat of arms. Underneath the frieze, another painting of a man hung over the top of the beautiful wood fireplace. It was a dark but cozy place to be.

Natalie looked out the window and then turned and looked back at her husband. Climbing into the bed beside him she asked. "How are you feeling?"

"A little better." He said. "Just getting up and moving around has seemed to loosen things up a bit."

"Good." She said, getting behind him and rubbing his shoulders.

He moaned lightly as her hands kneaded his tight muscles and caused much of the tension to release.

"I'm sorry." He said.

"What for?" she asked.

"I'm sorry that I've been so grumpy this afternoon." He replied.

"You were in pain." She said.

He turned around and took her by the hands.

"That is no excuse. I don't know why I get so self-centered sometimes. I shouldn't treat you that way." He said.

Natalie looked down and then raised her eyebrows. "You know what would make it better don't you?" she said, looking up at him with doe eyes.

His eyes crinkled as a small grin came on his face. "What is that, my lady?"

"This!" she said, coming in for a sweet and tender kiss on his mouth."

As he reciprocated the gesture and the kiss grew more passionate but was interrupted when both of them suddenly felt a cool breeze pass by. They stopped and looked at each other, then they heard a soft sound of a female giggle.

Their eyes grew larger.

"Is someone there?" asked Adrian looking at the door.

Silence.

Natalie's eyes grew larger still and she snuggled in closely to Adrian.

"That was weird." He said.

"You heard it too?" She asked.

"I heard something. Probably our imagination. This is an old house. I'm sure it makes all sorts of noises." He kissed her on the top of her head as she laid it on his chest. "Don't you worry, my lady. I will protect you from whatever may come."

"I feel safer already." She smiled.