title: The Tale of Hawthorn House: The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter
author:  Susan Wittig Albert 
description: Albert's charming fourth Beatrix Potter mystery (after 2006's <i>The Tale of Cuckoo Brow Wood</i>) finds our heroine unexpectedly in possession of a foundling child, Baby Flora. The reader knows the mysteriously twinkly Mrs. Overthewall stole Flora from her teenage mother, Emily, a maid at the gloomy and possibly haunted Hawthorn House, and left her on the Potter doorstep, but Beatrixnot having read the prologuesuspects the child of having gypsy origins. Capt. Miles Woodcock and his sister, Dimity, gladly give Flora a new home, leaving Beatrix to solve the mystery of her old one. Other thoughts of families and youngsters abound: Jemima Puddleduck broods over a nest of long overdue eggs; Reynard the Fox struggles with his unnatural fondness for Jemima; and the village gossips bring all their matchmaking powers to bear on Beatrix and the highly eligible Captain Woodcock. The whimsical blend of romance, mystery and nostalgia will keep cozy fans happily entertained. <i>(Sept.)</i> <br />Copyright  Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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  **FACE DOWN AMONG THE WINCHESTER GEESE**
  
  
  
  
  
  **Kathy Lynn Emerson**
  
  
  
  
  
  **Chapter 1**
  
  
  
  
  
  _Whitehall Palace_
  
  
  _April 25, 1557_
  
  
  
  
  
  The one-eyed Spaniard shoved the door with such force that it slammed against
  the inner wall. As he advanced into the room, lingering vibrations dislodged a
  stack of elaborate animal-head masks and sent them tumbling to the terra-cotta
  tiles. Undeterred, he continued on his course, passing within a hand’s span of
  the pageant wagon in which Lora Tylney hid, trembling, fearful of discovery.
  
  
  When the gaudily painted wood-and-canvas tower had been drawn into the great
  hall a few hours earlier, four golden-robed damsels had been inside. Now,
  while revelers throughout the palace and grounds enjoyed the subsequent
  banquets, dances, and masques Queen Mary had arranged to celebrate St. Mark’s
  Day, only one chamberer sheltered within, crouched low and concealed by the
  thin walls and lightweight frame but convinced that if she so much as
  tw