The sensation at waking up this morning was different. There was the wonderful one at my side belonging to Theresa, but also a heavy one on my stomach. I opened my eyes and saw in my sleepy sight Warrick's collar. A gentle low woof and a large lick across my face got me wide awake.

'Warrick! Down!'

Theresa's body shook against me as she was laughing. I let my head drop back into my pillow and muttered. 'I'll go mad from the haunted manor. Just not in the same manner like the rest of the victims.'.

Theresa gave me a tight hug and stepped out of bed, taking Warrick with her as she left the room. I smiled softly at the fantasy of living here with the real life Theresa and Warrick at my side. Would she still do this if I were the master of the estate?

I shook my head. It was no use dreaming about things that wouldn't come true. And she was a ghost. A spiritual being. And I was still a living human being. Even like this, would we have a life together? It didn't matter anyway. When the curse is lifted she'd move on to the afterlife.

I stepped out of bed, splashed my face with cold water and dressed. By the time I was ready she had returned with Warrick and a breakfast tray. She put it on the bed, stared at me for a moment, and put her hand gently against my cheek.

I realised I must have looked worried and smiled gently at her as I held my hand against hers. 'Don't worry. I was just lost in my thoughts about the curse.' She nodded once and pulled me to the bed for me to sit down and eat.

To my surprise the weather was fine outside. I could see it through the open door from my room and it gave me an idea. 'Could you show me around the manor today?' I asked her. 'Maybe we'll get a clue about that beauty that hurts while looking around.'

She nodded enthusiastically and it made me smile and forget my earlier worries.

Theresa showed me a couple of common rooms with heavy, rich furniture, where the lord would have spent the evenings and entertained guests, a smaller and a larger dining room, a game room with enough seating to hold a small bridge or chess tournament, the cards and expensive pieces set up to start a game at once, and a ballroom with a massive crystal chandelier hanging from the high ceiling.

I looked up at it, then at Theresa. 'You kept that clean and shining?'

She nodded.

I looked back at the myriad of sparkling pieces. 'I'm thoroughly impressed.' I said and she giggled behind her hand.

We stopped at a hall at the back of the mansion in front of the doors leading outside. 'Are you all right leaving the manor? Nothing will happen to you?'

She nodded and I opened the door for her. Warrick was outside before she took her first step. The sun was warm and only a breeze stirred the air. It was such a contrast to the thunder and rain before.

The garden was a mosaic of patches of grass, flower beds in every colour I could think of, thick shrubbery sculptures and pillars, and nut and fruit trees scattered among them.

'Where do we go?' I asked her.

She pointed to mounds divided into white, red, yellow, and blue flower sections, and took my hand to lead me to a path towards them. The sweet smells and cheerful songs of birds engulfed us as we walked among the various themed parts of the garden. Theresa pointed out partially hidden statues of gnomes and fairies, birds in the trees, butterflies fluttering about, colourful beetles, and the fish in a pond near the back while Warrick ran around, enjoying his new freedom.

After the tour through the garden we ended up at the two storey high greenhouse connected to the back of the manor. Inside was a mix of the sweetness of flowers and the richness of herbs and vegetables. There were three parts, a seating area with a couple of tables and chairs, a vegetable garden with a wide selection of edible plants, and the exotic plants garden. We strolled through there and I only recognised one or two plants from illustrations in some of my books. But there were also regular flowers, like a bed of red and white roses surrounded by a bramble bush and a stream of water running from a heap of stones through it.

'I can imagine wanting to protect such beautiful roses, but with a bramble bush?' I said to Theresa. 'Roses are already painful enough if you're not careful and prick your fingers on their thorns.'

She nodded and we watched the roses.

And then it hit us.

We turned to each other and gestured at the roses at the same time. 'The beauty that hurts!' I said and she nodded furiously.

The plants seemed normal, but given what had happened lately I was cautious. 'Wait here.' I said to Theresa, took a step forward to the bramble, then noticed I was holding something.

I looked back and blushed as I realised I hadn't let go of her hand ever since she took it in the garden. She must have had the same realisation because she looked away and fiddled with her skirt again.

'Ah, ehmm.. I'd have to let go of your hand, of course.' I said with an embarrassed chuckle.

She nodded once and we slowly loosened our hold and slipped our hands out of each other's. I took a few breaths to calm my heartbeat as I stared at the bush and the roses. There seemed no way into the bramble to get to the rose bed. And the thorns were long and thin enough to discourage any thought of going through them. I'd have to cut through them.

I looked around, saw a bench at the side with gardening tools and went there, finding a sturdy pair of pruning shears.

I turned to show them to Theresa. 'I think I can cu-' I said when I saw movement at the bramble bush. The next moment branches shot out and wrapped themselves around her waist, piercing her uniform with their thorns and sending her into a panic. Warrick barked at the branches and was the next to get caught.

For the first time in my life I became furious. 'Let go of them!' I shouted and I bolted towards the branches with the shears and ripped right through them.

They lost Warrick but the loose branches still gripped Theresa. She tried to pull them off but the thorns prevented her getting a firm hold.

My mind went blank at her distress. I grabbed the branches with my bare hands and tore them apart.

Only when she was free and moved back safely did the pain come.

I cried out but more branches shot out towards Theresa and I. I grabbed the shears. And saw the garden overall looming over the roses.

At once I understood it had to be the gardener's ghost. He had been cursed to protect the hiding place at the roses.

He flayed with his arms and directed the thorny branches towards us. At great speed I cut through the branches trying to ensnare Theresa. The others grabbed me and pierced my clothing and skin. Warrick barked but stood helpless.

I cut through several branches before they incapacitated my arms and hands. The pain was too much, I cried out and dropped the shears.

Theresa panicked again at the sight of my capture, saw the gardener, grabbed the first thing within reach, and threw it at him.

He barely dodged the bucket and it hit the heap of stones behind him, collapsing them and blocking the water stream.

The effect was amazing. At once the roses wilted.

The gardener went into frenzy, splashing the remains of water at the roses and trying to pull at the stones. He had completely forgotten about us.

Theresa took the shears and cut the branches holding me as they were losing their strength. I stepped free from them and she took my hands right away, easing the pain slightly with her cool hands.

'Are you all right?' I asked. She nodded. 'No pain?' She shook her head.

A faint wail caught our attention and we saw the gardener look back at the wilting roses while jerking at the stones with all his strength. Petals fell down one by one, stems sagged to the ground.

The gardener had no strength as a ghost! He could manipulate the bramble bush, but could not move a stone. And the bush wilted like the roses without water.

Theresa looked back at me, at the gardener, then at me again. I nodded. 'It's not really his fault. That damned curse changed him, right?'

She nodded and I made my way through the thorny branches, glad I could step on them this time with less branches pricking me. The gardener fell to his knees when he saw me, probably thinking it was all over for him and his precious roses.

'Just don't attack us anymore.' I said and cleared the stones away, returning the flow of water through the bed.

The gardener danced merrily the second the roses recovered and tended to the fallen petals, cleaning up the bed.

When all looked well again he turned to me and bowed in apology. I held up my hands. 'It's fine now. We didn't come to harm your roses or any other plants. Your garden is magnificent.'

That seemed to have filled him with pride and he stood taller.

'There's one thing we can use your help with. It's to lift the curse you're suffering from.'

He gestured his willingness with open arms.

'Thank you. We are looking for the description of the ritual for the curse. Lord Blackfire hid the writing where beauty hurts, as he stated. We thought it might be here after we saw these beautiful and thorny roses.'

I waited while he appeared in thought. He held up an arm and gestured to follow him. At the side of the rose bed. he stroked the ground. I dug into it and just over a foot down I scratched across wood.

A few moments later I held up a wooden box in mint condition for Theresa to see. 'We got it!'

The gardener created a path through the bramble and Theresa and Warrick came up to me as soon as I went through. 'It's locked though, so now we need to find the key.' I said and she nodded. I handed her the box. 'Hold this now, please.' She took it and I flapped my hands immediately. 'Owowowooowww! It hurts!' I said as I could finally stop ignoring the pain from the wounds.

We said goodbye to the gardener who stayed with his roses and went back to my room. There Theresa filled the wash basin and put in the bitter scenting herbs she had plucked at the gardener's direction. I soaked my hands into the water and soon the pain slowly subsided.

I sighed in relief. 'What a morning. I don't think I can use my hands for the rest of the day.'

Theresa put a hand on my arm, her other to her heart and looked down.

I figured she must have felt guilty for it because I rescued her from those painful branches. I smiled softly at her. 'Don't feel bad. It's my duty as a gentleman to help a lady in need. Saving you from harm is worth it.'

She put her hand to her mouth as she looked away, leaned closer quickly, kissed my cheek, and hurried out of the room.

I stared with open mouth and red face at the door for a while, then looked at Warrick who responded with a soft bark.

When she returned later she carried two buckets of water, filled the bath and disappeared again, returning later with buckets of hot water. I could use a bath indeed after these days and I looked forward to it. But it wasn't how I imagined it.

She gestured for me to stand up, and began to unbutton my jacket and blouse. 'Ah! Wait! You shouldn't-' I said but she silenced me with one finger on my lips.

With quite some embarrassment she undressed me, pulled off my underwear from behind, and pushed me into the tub. With a wash cloth she washed me from behind as well, I'm glad to say. It's not that I didn't like it, but when she washed my front she had to reach around from the back and her chest pressed into my back. It stirred my loins as she used the cloth to wipe my, ehm, younger gentleman, and I think she might have seen the effect from the shadow from the candle lights next to me. She couldn't look me in the eye after she dried me and helped me in my night gown.

I also had some trouble looking at her since the front of her uniform was wet and her white bust stuck to her, revealing two firm small parts of her enticing anatomy protruding from behind the cloth. Maybe it was for the best to take a rest for the remainder of the day, we'd have to think about where the key to the box could be anyway.

I read through the diary once more hoping to find a clue while Theresa tended to the room. She had changed into a clean uniform and fluttered about the room. I guess the progress we made into lifting the curse put her in a good mood. That's also probably the reason why she watched me often, to see if I indeed found the next clue in the text.

Unfortunately I had to disappoint her. No mention of a key, or more about the box.

I sighed as I put the book aside. 'I'm sorry.' I said as she came up to me. 'I couldn't find out anything more from the diary.'

She went down on her knees, tilted her head and took my hands gently in hers.

I smiled softly at her. 'I will find the key though, even if I have to turn the whole manor upside down.'

She nodded and Warrick barked his support, which made us chuckle.

When night fell we got ready to sleep. Theresa didn't even need to ask and thunder wasn't a factor anymore, I pulled away the sheets for her to join me and she snuggled up tight with me.

'Good night, Theresa.' I said.

She looked up, gave me a kiss on my cheek and buried her face in my armpit.

I smiled a little ruefully with my eyes closed, I'd miss this after I release her to her afterlife.