thinking. The footman wouldn’t have taken them on his own; why would he? So someone must have paid him to do it, and the only person who might do such a thing that I could see was the Prince.’
‘So you made an excuse about the handkerchiefs to make sure I would look in the valise,’ said Elizabeth.
‘Yes, Ma’am. It was the best I could think of at the time. I went back to your room and put them in your valise, but as I closed it I heard footsteps coming along the corridor. I don’t mind telling you, it was a nasty moment when they stopped outside the door, and when the door handle turned I took fright and so I slipped through the interconnecting door into Mr Darcy’s room. It’s a good thing I did. I heard the footman go into the room with the coachman and from what they said I knew they were looking for me. They didn’t want me to help you.
‘Then one of them walked over to the connecting door and locked it, “So we won’t be disturbed,” he said. You’re too late for that, I thought, I’ve heard every word.
‘I thought it best for me to stay there until Mr Darcy returned, but the coachman was laughing at the footman for locking the door and saying there was no danger from that quarter, the Prince had men waiting for Mr Darcy by the stables.
‘I didn’t know what to do for the best, but you seemed safe enough for the time being so I thought I ought to warn Mr Darcy. I waited for him some way down the drive from the stables and told him what had happened. He said not to worry, he would take care of you, and then he told me to go to the hunting lodge with his valet, his valet would know the way. He said I should send a message to his valet by one of our grooms. I did as he said, and here we are.’
‘And what of the rest of the entourage?’ asked Elizabeth. ‘Where are they?’
‘Gone back to Venice, to the palazzo, on orders from the master,’ said Annie. ‘I never was more glad to see anyone than I was to see you when you rode up to the lodge.’
‘And I am here now, safe, thanks to you,’ said Elizabeth. ‘Without your help…’ She shuddered.
‘It doesn’t bear thinking about,’ said Annie.
‘No, it doesn’t,’ said Elizabeth. ‘I can never thank you enough.’
‘I’m just pleased you’re safe, Ma’am.’
Annie took the tray of tea back to the kitchen and Elizabeth sat at last on the sofa, but she was too restless to sit for long. It had all been such a nightmare: the carriage ride, the man in the mask, and then the sight of Darcy with… of Darcy with… with fangs.
All the stories she had heard about vampyres, whispered in tones of laughing horror, so strange and odd and unbelievable in Meryton, now took on new shades of dread and terror. She knew now why Darcy had never come to her. She knew the secret that lay between them, the truth he dare not tell.
What a strange fate was hers, to meet a man she took in dislike, then to have to change all her opinions about him and realise she loved him, and then to find out he was a creature of the night. And, perhaps, fate had not done with her yet.
The door clicked and she looked up. Darcy was standing in the doorway.
He was the same and yet different. He was dishevelled from his long ride. He had removed his coat and he was dressed in his breeches with his ruffled white shirt, damp from his exertions, untucked. His hair was wild and his eyes were haunted. He stood before her, completely vulnerable as though he did not know whether he would be welcome or not, and impulsively she held out a hand to him. He struggled with himself for a moment and then restraint broke and he strode across the room towards her, looking deep into her eyes as though he would read the answer to the mysteries of the universe there. Then he put his hand behind her head and kissed her with fierce abandon, dissolving and merging with her… until he bit her lip and unleashed a drop of blood. His whole body jolted as though it had been run through with electricity and there was a change in him, a