A Scandalous Adventure (11 page)

Mercifully, the music began again, and the prince excused himself to whirl Olivia into another waltz. Susannah reached a hand out to Max, who had been glaring at Angriffer. “I believe this is our dance,” she said, and stepped out without waiting for his reply.

He joined her, still looking thunderous, and swept her into the dance. “I do not like the way Angriffer looked at you. He has a bad reputation where women are concerned. What did he say while you were dancing?”

Susannah sighed. She hoped Max was not going to be difficult. “He knows that Olivia is not the real princess because he has the real princess himself.”

Max stumbled slightly and corrected his rhythm before he spoke. “How do you know?”

“I know because he told me. I see no reason to doubt his word.”

“But…” Max frowned. “But why did he not denounce Lady Olivia as an imposter?”

“He said he might, but I pointed out that he could not. What would he do, confess that he kidnapped the princess?”

“Ah.” Max tightened his grasp on her but then vanished into his own thoughts.

* * *

The waltz continued, and Max did not miss a step, but Susannah could have been a mop in his arms for all the notice he gave her. At last his thoughts returned to the ballroom. He glanced around and steered them through one of the windows onto a balcony once more.

“Yes, I see,” he said. “It is a stalemate. He cannot denounce Lady Olivia as an imposter without admitting that he kidnapped Princess Mila. Hugo must also know now that she is an imposter. He was not certain, but Angriffer will have assured him that the princess did not escape. That is why Helga was playing her little games. But what is that nonsense you were spouting about Empress Elisabeth?”

“It wasn't nonsense. One of Olivia's cousins is with the embassy in Vienna, so she and I visited there before we took Lady Augusta to Baden. And the empress was quite taken with Olivia.”

“Ah,” said Max again. “I had not realized… I am not familiar with the nobility of England. Lady Olivia's family is important?”

“Her father was the Earl of Doncaster. Her brother holds the title now. Lady Augusta's brother is the Earl of Greystone.” Susannah sounded surprised that Max did not know, but why would he?

“And these are all important men, are they not? Men who will not be happy that I have put their daughters and sisters in danger?” When she nodded, he grinned. “Then I shall have to see to it that I keep you safe while we outwit Angriffer and Hugo. A pretty problem, is it not?”

His smile faded. “It is not that easy, though. I must warn you, Dieter Angriffer is dangerous. He is more intelligent than Hugo and more vicious. He especially dislikes me.” His mouth twisted at his memories. “When we were cadets, I always seemed to come out ahead of him. Some of it he could blame on favoritism—I was a count; he was the son of a tradesman. But I was the better swordsman, the better rider. That he could not forgive.”

“How ridiculously childish.” Susannah sounded impatient.

“Unfortunately, calling it ‘childish' does not make it go away. It makes me all the more concerned for you.” Max took her hands. “It does not take a blind man to see that you matter to me, and Dieter is not blind. He may try to strike at me through you. You must be very careful.”

“Of course I will be careful. We are all being careful.”

He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. “Ah, Suse, I want so desperately to protect you. What if I cannot?”

The strains of another Strauss waltz came through the window, mocking their earlier pleasure in the evening. Susannah shivered. Max wrapped his arms around her to keep her from the cold, just to keep her warm, but he could not resist doing more. His mouth descended slowly to cover hers.

The embrace seemed to surprise her. She stiffened at first, but then, as his lips moved over hers, she yielded. Her body melted against his, her lips softened and parted for him, and her arms crept up to cling to his shoulders. Ah, yes. Yes. His arms pulled her even closer.

She felt so perfect in his arms, so right. He lost all sense of time, all sense of his surroundings.

The kiss was more than he had thought it possible for a kiss to be, more than he had ever dreamed. It was full of sweetness, full of hope, full of promise. It was everything he had ever wanted.

It was breaking his heart.

Susannah lay in her bed, staring at the canopy over her. There was a slight stain on the silk lining in one corner. Trying to think of ways the stain could have gotten there served to distract her thoughts for a while, but could not occupy her for long. She kept reliving the kiss that had turned her topsy-turvy, the kiss that had shaken the very core of her being.

It was not as if she had never been kissed before. Other men had begged or stolen a kiss from her, but those kisses had been, it must be confessed, boring. She hadn't minded them, precisely, but they were not experiences she longed to repeat. However, last night's kiss, Max's kiss, had no sooner ended than she had longed for another. No, not for another, but for something else, something more. This was the feeling her sisters had told her about. They couldn't describe it, but had told her she would recognize it when it happened.

When she had imagined it, she dreamed that magical kiss would happen in a moonlit garden. Well, a moonlit balcony would do. But she had thought that then they would go to her parents, and everyone would be smiling and happy. Instead, she was surrounded by danger and uncertainty. If there was a protocol for this situation, she did not know it.

Beside her bed, Lev snuffled in some doggie dream. Lucky Lev. He knew he was supposed to protect her, and that was all he needed to know. She knew the commands, both the hand signals and the words, to direct him.

What she didn't know was when she should use those commands.

She flopped over on her side and stared at the window. She had shocked the maid by insisting on not only having the bed curtains drawn back, but having the window drapes pulled back as well. The maid was convinced Susannah would catch her death of cold, but she had always disliked being closed in. Mama said she had even fought against swaddling clothes when she was an infant.

She might just as well be swaddled at the moment. The moonlight shining on the walnut paneling of the room might give aesthetic pleasure but did nothing to illuminate the problems swirling through her mind. And the kiss was not the only thing disturbing her sleep.

It was all well and good to say that they were at a stalemate with Hugo, that neither he nor his agents could betray them. But how could they break that stalemate without bringing disaster down on themselves?

She flopped onto her back and sighed. Then she noticed a change in the near-silence. Lev was no longer snuffling in his dreams. He had raised his head—she could see the top of it above the level of the mattress—and was growling softly.

Susannah sat up and looked at the section of the wall that Lev had focused on. Bizarre though it seemed, the wall was moving. A piece of the paneling was swinging out. Slowly. Very slowly.

Lev stood up. She put a hand on the dog's head to keep him still while she thought furiously. There was no time. She had to act quickly.

Keeping as quiet as she could, she pushed aside the covers and swung her legs over the side of the bed. The moonlight made it easy for her to see where she was going, but it would make things easy for the intruder as well. Behind the door that was appearing in the paneling would be the safest place to be, she decided. Snatching up a heavy candlestick, she moved into place as quickly as she dared. Mercifully, the thick carpet allowed Lev to move silently as well, and they were in place before a figure emerged from the opening.

Hunched over, the intruder moved cautiously, as intent on silence as she had been, and paused to look at the bed. Since his back was toward her, this would be her best opportunity. She swung the candlestick with all her might at his head. It connected with a satisfying
thunk
. Unfortunately, the thunk was insufficient. The man staggered but did not fall.

Susannah did not know what to do now. That blow had been as hard as she could strike. In the books she had read, a blow with a heavy candlestick was always enough to lay the villain out.

As the intruder began to turn, Lev leaped. That proved to be far more effective than her blow had been. The intruder gave a cry of terror as he crashed to the floor under a hundred and fifty pounds of dog. Growling dog, with teeth bared.

Susannah leaned back for a moment to allow her knees time to stop shaking. She felt quite proud that she was still standing, but her satisfaction immediately vanished to be replaced by uncertainty. Very well. She and Lev had captured the intruder. That was good. Definitely good.

What was she supposed to do now?

A creak as the door in the paneling swung a bit reminded her that it was still open. That couldn't be good. Where one intruder had entered, others might follow. She started to push it closed but realized that she had no way to secure it. There didn't seem to be any sort of latch or even knob on this side.

She peered into the opening, but all she could see were stairs leading into blackness. Should she go see where the passage led? That would be beyond stupid. What would she do if she found someone else in there?

Also, the prospect of going down a dark staircase terrified her.

She looked at the intruder, who seemed even more frightened that she was. His eyes were white with fear as he lay there, staring up at Lev. The dog stared back, his mouth open, allowing drool to drip onto the intruder's face. The intruder was too frightened to even wipe it off at the moment, but how long would that last?

What if he called for help and another enemy came up that staircase?

What if she called for help and another enemy came instead of an ally?

She could hit the man with the candlestick again, but her blow hadn't been all that effective the first time. Also, it was one thing to hit an unknown intruder. It was another to hit a man who was lying terrified under a dog.

But she couldn't just do nothing. Lev couldn't stand over the man forever. Sooner or later the man might try to move, and she had no idea what she ought to do in that case.

She needed help.

Yes, she definitely needed help.

Help appeared.

A sleepy Olivia stumbled into the room, yawning and stretching. By her side was Lezo, looking far more alert, with the hair on his neck bristling.

“Is something wrong?” Olivia asked, still yawning. Then she noticed Lev and his captive. Suddenly she was wide awake. “Oh.”

“Yes,” said Susannah. She gestured at the section of paneling standing ajar. “It seems we didn't secure all the doors to these rooms.”

They heard a door slam somewhere down below, and Olivia walked over to peer through the opening into the darkness. “This must be a servants' staircase. I wondered how they managed, since I never saw any servants wandering around the castle. This sort of arrangement keeps them out of sight.”

“Oli… Mila, this is no time for a disquisition on household management.”

“It was just that I had wondered. But I don't suppose this fellow came to dust the furniture.” Olivia turned to the man on the floor. His color was returning, but he remained motionless, staring at the dog standing over him. He gave a slight moan when Lezo came over to peer down at him too, but did not speak.

Susannah forced herself to take a deep breath. “We need help,” she said and handed the candlestick to Olivia. “If anyone else comes up, you can hit him with this and set Lezo on him. I'm going to send for Max.”

Josef and Emil, another of Staufer's men, were on guard in the hall and jumped to attention when she appeared.

“What is wrong, my lady?” asked Josef, instantly concerned. “Has something happened to my dogs?”

“The dogs are fine. They are guarding an intruder.” She ignored the old man's gasp and turned to Emil. “You must find Captain Staufer and bring him here at once.”

“The count? Here, my lady? In the middle of the night?” Emil, a fresh-faced young man, looked scandalized at the impropriety.

“Yes, here, and right away,” she said impatiently. “Josef, you must come with me. I don't know what to do with the intruder, and I don't want to make poor Lev stand guard over him all night.”

Josef grinned. “My Lev will have no trouble with that, but if it makes you happy…” He trotted into Susannah's room and, after a glare from her, Emil hurried off in search of Staufer.

* * *

Max burst into the room barefoot, wearing only trousers and shirt, his saber in one hand and its scabbard in the other, and skidded to an abrupt halt. There on the floor, tied up in a neat package, lay what he assumed was the intruder. Josef was putting the final touches on the bonds, which looked like drapery cords, while Susannah stood over them, observing.

He dropped the saber and seized her by the shoulders to spin her around. No blood, no wounds. He crushed her to him and buried his face in her hair until he calmed down enough to speak.

“You are uninjured?” He forced the words out.

“I am fine.” Her voice was muffled, and he realized he was pressing her face against his chest. She did not seem to mind. Her hands were clutching his shirt, keeping him close.

He seized her shoulders again to hold her away from him and shake her in a mixture of fear and anger and a maelstrom of other emotions he didn't recognize. “This is why I told you to leave! You could have been murdered in your sleep, you fool woman. And I could not have prevented it!”

She did not even look frightened, the idiot. She smiled at him and put a hand to his cheek as if to soothe him. “But you did prevent it.” She sounded as if she were talking to a child, and he wanted to shake her again. “You did,” she insisted. “You set Lev to watch over me. He warned me and knocked the intruder down.”

Max could not think. All he could do was pull her close once more and wrap himself around her. He wanted to hold her and protect her forever.

As his turmoil subsided, he began to notice things. First, that Susannah seemed perfectly content to rest her head against him, as if she belonged there in his arms. Where he wanted her. Then, he remembered that they were not alone in the room. Josef was standing nearby, his eyes averted and his boot keeping the prisoner's face to the wall. A pair of dogs—Lev and Lezo—stood on guard. And Lady Olivia was there as well, watching Max and Susannah with considerable interest. She was holding a tall candlestick, resting it on her shoulder like a club, and had a shawl wrapped around her over her nightdress.

Nightdress.

Susannah was wearing nothing but her nightdress. It was not cold in the room. Someone had built up the fire, but still, there was nothing but thin lawn between her body and his hands. He should not be holding her this way. It was improper. He had no right.

He did not think he could let her go. Not when her hands were pressed against his back, only the fine linen of his shirt…

“What, may I ask, is going on here?”

The icy tones of Lady Augusta, coupled with the furious barks of little Hans, dispelled the fog that had been descending on Max's mind, and he and Lady Susannah sprang apart. At least they put a few inches between their bodies. His fingers slid slowly down her arms before leaving her entirely, and his eyes did not leave hers at all.

Then the general appeared, not barefoot, but with his tunic hanging open. His words echoed Lady Augusta's. “What is going on here?”

What was the general doing here? The question popped into Max's head, and he pushed it aside to be considered later.

Little Hans continued to yap at everyone, ignored by Lev and Lezo as well as the humans, but no one spoke. “Susannah captured an intruder,” said Olivia brightly when the silence started getting awkward.

Everyone, including the dogs, turned to look at the creature trussed up on the floor. The handkerchief stuffed in his mouth made him look rather like a fish, especially when he heaved about impotently.

Lady Augusta sniffed. “Not very impressive, is he?”

Josef coughed. “Perhaps not, my lady, but he carried an impressive knife. This was tucked into his boot.” He held out a dagger with a blade close to a foot long.

Lady Olivia gasped and Susannah's eyes widened, but Lady Augusta just raised her brows. “Not a visitor on a friendly errand, I gather.”

“He also had this.” Josef held out a bottle wrapped in a cloth.

The general stepped forward to take it and cautiously removed the cork. He brought it near his face, grimaced, and quickly replaced the cork. He set it down among the trinkets on a table. “Chloroform and ether. A powerful mixture. Was he coming to kill or to capture? Or perhaps both?”

“I checked the staircase, my lord. It is one of the old servants' passages, but the door to the kitchens and workrooms is barred from this side. The door at the bottom leads out to the gardens. Someone had been waiting there with horses—I could see the prints—but they fled before I got there.” Josef flicked a glance at the women and lowered his voice. “He is wearing…”

Max nodded, hoping to avoid frightening the women further. However, Susannah immediately demanded, “What about what he's wearing? It doesn't seem to be a livery. What does it tell you?”

Josef looked apologetic, but Max's mouth twitched up in a half smile. Of course she was paying attention.

“Not livery precisely, but Hugo likes to have all his people wear his colors, black and red.” Max had picked up his saber and used the tip of it to lift a corner of the captive's short black jacket with red lapels. “This is the way he dresses his foresters.”

“Do you suppose he came here to kill us?” Susannah sounded calm enough, but he could see that her fists were clenched.

The captive shook his head wildly in denial.

“To kill only one?” Max asked, sounding equally calm.

The captive shook his head wildly again.

“To carry off the princess,” said Max.

The captive looked relieved and nodded.

“But,” Max continued, putting the point of his saber at the man's throat, “prepared to kill if anyone interfered. Is that it?”

The captive froze and stared at the blade, glittering in the light from the fire.