WHEN A ROSE BLOOMS
Opening

As the moment that marked his wife's passing approached, Nathaniel Moncreiffe knelt before her grave. Fog swirled in thick, gray strands before the eerie light of the lantern beside him, enveloping him in a living tomb. His fingertip, calloused from countless repetitions, traced the letters that were as deeply etched into the recesses of his heart as they were the rough surface of the gravestone.

MARGARET MONCREIFFE
BELOVED WIFE
BORN 1259
DIED 1287