The Secret of Gray Towers = The Haunting of Nurse Jean — Ellen Randolph (2)

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 produced 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 ground-- before Jean would be free to leave her patient. But, strangely, by that time, Jean had no desire to leave Graytowers.

When Martha Squires, mistress of Graytowers, returned to the old Vermont mansion, Nurse Jean Murray went with her at her doctor's urgent request. He was afraid that certain developments might be too much for his patient, so recently recovered from a stroke. The developments were the surprise return of Martha's long-lost son, Victor, missing for six years and now found, the victim of amnesia. But was the dark, broodingly handsome young man really Victor Squires -- or was he an imposter, a pawn, or perhaps a willing accomplice -- in a swindle dreamed up by Martha's greedy cousin Richard Ealing? At Graytowers, it was possible to believe anything. The place had an ugly history that included murder and suicide -- and the legend of the ghostly shadow of a hanging man seen always just before tragedy struck. But for Jean there was no time to brood about ghosts: Martha Squires suffered another stroke. Concerned for her patient, the lovely nurse was unaware of any other threat -- certainly not to herself -- until the hanging man was seen again…


Valentine Romance Series #228