The Haunting of Nurse Jean

From the beginning, Jean Murray was reluctant to go to Graytowers - no matter how much her patient needed her - as if she sensed the terror that waited her from there. Jean Murray had been Martha Squires' nurse at Manhattan General Hospital. Now Mrs. Squires, a stroke victim, was returning to her home in Vermont, and it was thought best by Mrs. Squires' physician, Dr. Jeff Peters, that Jean return home with her for a few weeks. Martha Squires was in high spirits as she prepared for the journey home. Richard Ealing, a cousin of hers, has just located an amnesia victim whom he claimed as Mrs. Squires' son, missing for six years. Privately, Jean did not believe that the dark, good-looking Victor Squires was the man he claimed to be -- and indeed, Victor himself said that he was not sure. In Dorset, they were met by the ancient chauffeur, and at Graytowers, the wizened housekeeper, Hildy Potter, welcomed them -- if such a dour person as Hildy could be said to be welcoming. Jean wanted her patient to return to normal living, but she felt that she was in the middle of a swindle -- and that Graytowers itself, with its tragic history, was not a good place for her patient to be. This feeling was not helped by Jean's unexpected visit to the cellar rooms, where she ran across hideous wax figures that looked almost lifelike. Hildy told her that they had been made by Mrs. Squires” father-in-law, who, on a visit to Paris, was intrigued by Madame Tussaud's wax figures and attempted to copy them upon his return home. It didn't help that one of them, a long-ago Jabez Squires, had hanged himself and that his hanging figure was always seen just before tragedy struck Graytowers. Much more was to happen at Graytowers -- as well as in the chapel near the Squires' burying groung -- before Jean would be free to leave her patient. But, strangely, by that time, Jean would have no desire to leave Graytowers. Valentine Romance Series #228