The Lost Bride Trilogy, #1
Inheritance
by Nora Roberts
Contents
Chapter Six
Overview
Sonya explores Lost Bride Manor with Trey, falls for the library as her studio, and settles on a turret bedroom. Trey provides practical guidance, confirms the manor’s hauntings, and reveals Collin died on the stairs. After Trey leaves, Sonya begins nesting as snow deepens, unnoticed by her, a shadow moves at a window.
Summary
Trey gives Sonya a full tour of Lost Bride Manor. She’s instantly captivated by the two-story library and decides it will be her studio. A turret bedroom with sea views and a cozy sitting room becomes her space, reinforcing her growing attachment to the house despite its gothic aura.
They review practicalities over coffee and cookies: local contacts, services, mail, banks, salon, internet and cable details, passwords, and the office safe combination. Trey explains fireplaces, wood supply, the generator, and hands over a cigar box packed with color-coded keys, including the garage opener and a key fob for Collin’s Ford F-150.
Talk turns to the house’s reputation. Trey confirms the manor is haunted and admits he has seen a woman in white on the widow’s walk. He also reveals Collin’s death mirrored Johanna’s decades earlier: a fall on the stairs after taking a sleeping pill and cold medicine; Trey found him. He reassures Sonya that Collin wanted her here and predicts she will stay.
After Trey departs into the increasing snow, Sonya steels herself, explores her room, and begins unpacking, arranging personal items and planning to hang her father’s paintings in the library. She prepares a simple meal, listens for the plow, and readies coffee to meet the driver, John Dee.
As Sonya steps out to greet her new neighbor in the storm, a shadow moves at a window behind her, unnoticed—hinting that the manor’s whispered hauntings may be more than stories.
Who Appears
- Sonya MacTavishNew heir to Lost Bride Manor; chooses the library as her studio, settles in, learns house logistics, and confronts hints of hauntings.
- Oliver “Trey” Doyle IIILocal lawyer and guide; provides keys, contacts, and passwords, confirms the haunting, and reveals Collin’s stairway death.
- Collin PooleDeceased benefactor; loved the manor; died falling down the stairs after taking medication; left Sonya the estate.
- Johanna PooleCollin’s late wife; died years earlier from a fall on the same stairs; her death informs the manor’s eerie history.
- Astrid Grandville PooleAncestral bride; her portrait watches over Sonya, reinforcing the manor’s tragic bridal legacy.
- John DeeLocal plowman; clears the manor’s road and walks during the snowstorm; Sonya prepares to meet him.