The Nonsuch Lure

By Mary Luke

A successful business man finds himself drawn back to a landscape he visited as a little boy, the site of Henry VIII's pleasure palace, the Nonsuch, of which only ruins remain. The man, Andrew Moffat, finds out that the site is being investigated by archaeologists and he decides to visit England and return to the site he remembered from his childhood. While strolling on the grounds he is suddenly taken ill at a particular location in the old ruin.
Still his fascination remains with the site and with the family that owned the land before King Henry took it to build his palace on and in particular he is fascinated by Chloe Cuddington, the beautiful daughter of that family whose portrait he has seen the home of a distant relative of hers.
Realizing his fascination is turning into an obsession he pays a visit to a doctor friend in London and the doctor uses hypnosis to regress Andrew back into a previous life, the life of a young Virginia planter who also visited England and who also became enamored of a Chloe Cuddington, an indirect descendant of the Chloe in the painting.
This young planter experienced the same illness that Andrew did in the exact same location and his experience was deadly, killing him and leaving the beautiful young Chloe to die of a broken heart within a few years.
For something evil lingers at the site of the ruined palace, something that is hateful and jealous and willing to kill to protect the secret of the palace, the Nonsuch Lure.

This was a pretty good story, about eternal love, past lives, karma and reincarnation. Even if you don't believe in reincarnation, still it was an engrossing tale and it was touching reading about a love strong enough to span the centuries. And about the mystery of the Lure and what it is and what demonic spirit guards it. I also enjoyed the background story of the Nonsuch Palace, which really existed and which was later torn down to pay for gambling debts. An ignominious end to what was described by the people of its time as one of the most magnificent and amazing palaces in England.