title: Room Beneath the Stairs
author: Wilde, Jennifer
description: As a child, Carolyn Dawson had loved playing on Greycliff, an island of the Cornish coast owned by the rich and powerful Brandon family. Several years later she returns to the island -- and Greycliff Manor -- as the bride of romantic, mysterious Grey Brandon, heir to the estate.
  
  Before long, however, her bliss turns to uneasiness as she realizes that she is an unwelcome intruder to the other residents of Greycliff. Helen, Grey's coldly contemptuous aunt; Evan, his taciturn, broodingly attractive brother; and Burke, the stolid, intimidating servant who seems to dominate rather than serve the household. Even more disturbing, she finds Grey himself increasingly preoccupied and distant. One night Carolyn is awakened by strange, unaccountable cries of anguish emanating from a basement room. They are the sobs of a heartbroken child, yet there are no children in the house.