Something hard smashed into Eugenia’s back. Shoved hard, she flailed her arms to keep her balance, but could not stop her fall. She caught a rapid glimpse of the rocks below at the castle’s roots, and she fell.
Chapter 23
Eugenia screamed.
Falling, throwing her arms out, she fought to grab hold of something, anything, that could stop her fatal plunge to the rocks below. From the corner of her eye, she saw a figure in a black cloak and hood darting away, and from a distance heard Lady Helena's terrified cries. Floundering, she grabbed hold of the stone wall but had nothing to grab onto to stop gravity from pulling her to her death. Her body slipped.
Dragged downward, her fingers of her right hand caught a niche between the squared-off stones of the wall. Her fall broken, she hung there, her left hand tried in vain to reach up and grab hold of the wall’s top. Too far, it remained out of her grip. Panicked, she knew her fingers could not hold her for long.
A head and upper body appeared over the stone battlement.Mr. Oldman.His young face, calm, in control, sent hope rushing through her terror. His strong hand gripped her right wrist just as her fingers betrayed her to drop her to her death. “Give me your other hand,” he told her.
Flailing, Eugenia tried to throw her left hand up into his, but she fell inches short of it. Over and over, she struggled, unable to reach his hand. “I – I cannot,” she gasped. She felt his hand gripping her wrist slip.I am going to die.
“I got you, Miss Betham,” he said, his tone still utterly calm. “I will not let you fall. Stop struggling. There. That is better. Now when I sayreach,I want you to throw everything you have into grabbing my hand. Now – reach!”
Bracing her toes against the outer wall of the castle, Eugenia grit her teeth and threw herself upward. Her hand smacked into his. Using his weight, Mr. Oldman hauled himself backward, dragging Eugenia with him. Her chest, breasts, and belly bumped and scraped over the rough stone, but within seconds, she lay in a sobbing heap on the battlement floor.
“Eugenia!”
She heard Maximilian’s bellow, caught a glimpse of him racing across the battlement toward her, and felt him drop to his knees beside her. Discovering herself enfolded into his strong arms, she wept against his shoulder, shaking uncontrollably. “I got you,” he murmured against her hair. “I got you. You are safe now.”
Over her head, she heard Mr. Oldman say, “A man in a cloak and hood, Your Grace. He came out of that door there and pushed her. He was unbelievably quick and ran back through in an instant.”
“That is right, Your Grace.” Lady Helena's voice sounded right over her. “I screamed a warning, but I was too late. Mr. Oldman – I have never seen anyone run so fast. If he had not been here – ”
Eugenia heard Lady Helena’s voice choke off, and the sound of Lady Helena crying. Through her terror, she could not focus her thoughts but felt her heart beating so hard in her chest, she expected it to burst at any moment. Maximilian’s soothing voice told her to breathe, just breathe, and she tried to obey him.
Rocking her gently, Maximilian soothed her fright and spoke to the others. “Thank God you were here, Mr. Oldman. Lady Helena, did you see anything that might indicate who this villain is? Did you see his face?”
“N – no, Your Grace. It happened so fast. He – he ran out of that tower door, shoved Eugenia, then was gone. It happened so fast.”
“The hood covered his face,” Mr. Oldman added. “The cloak covered all of him save his boots. I saw nothing remarkable about them.”
“Why did you decide to come up here, Lady Helena?” Maximilian asked, his tone gentle. “Who knew you were planning it?”
“No one, Your Grace,” she answered, her voice calmer. “It was on impulse, I thought I wanted to see the view, but the wind was too cold. Eugenia – Eugenia enjoyed it. How did you happen to come here?”
Calm enough now to be curious about how Maximilian did indeed wind up on the battlements just after she was pushed, Eugenia raised her tear streaked face. “Yes. How did you know we were here?”
“After I paid my respects to the Countess,” he said, “I thought to look for you both. See if you wished to pay a visit to the stables. I confess, I saw you heading for the stairs and followed.”
“I am glad you did,” Eugenia whispered.
“If Mr. Oldman had not caught you,” he murmured, his deep-sea blue eyes darker than ever, “I would have been too late.”
“You were right to assign us a guard,” Lady Helena said, her voice low. “He tried to kill her in broad daylight in front of witnesses.”
“He grows bolder, Your Grace,” Mr. Oldman said. “Perhaps he is getting desperate.”
“Yes, I think he is,” Maximilian said, rising and bringing Eugenia up with him. “Whatever his motive is for trying to kill us, it is almost as if he is under some sort of pressure to get the job done as quickly as possible.”
“If your assumption is correct, Your Grace,” Mr. Oldman said, “then you should doubly watch your back.”
“I plan to.”
Smoothing Eugenia’s loosened hair back from her face, Maximilian gazed into her eyes. “Better?”
Still shaking, needing his support to stand, Eugenia could not find a smile for him. “I think so,” she whispered. “May we go back inside now?”
