**PLEASE NOTE - THIS IS NOT A FULL-LENGTH NOVEL - it is a novella-length piece of fiction (about 20 thousand words)** It is 1929. Asharton Manor stands alone in the middle of a pine forest, once the place where ancient pagan ceremonies were undertaken in honour of the goddess Astarte. The Manor is one of the most beautiful stately homes in the West Country and seems like a palace to Joan Hart, newly arrived from London to take up a servant's position...