Page 35 of Shining Knight
Chapter Nine
Eugenia could notfall asleep. After the narrow escape Graham had had with Kitty Ravenhill, Eugenia had locked her door, but nevertheless could not stop worrying. He had warned her about Lord Ravenhill and that he might possibly try something similar. The thought of either one of them being tied to a Ravenhill was beyond disturbing.
Normally, she slept dead to the world, unless something was bothering her and then she could not purchase a wink. At home she would read an entire book on such occasions, but nothing could make her stop fretting about impending marriage. Not one of her suitors had ever felt right. Oh, she liked most of them well enough, but not enough to marry. Perth was her best prospect by far.
One more day… if she could survive that then she could at least go back to London.
She tossed and turned, trying not to think about the obscure future. The moon was not even very bright, so there was little light coming through the small parting in the curtain. She flipped back over to the other side and then her sheets were entirely too tangled, so she tossed them off to reorganize them.
She climbed out of the bed and widened her curtains, in order to have enough light to straighten the bedding without having to light a taper. What she would not give for a book, a cup of chocolate and some warm biscuits, but she dare not leave the safety of her chamber. It was still hard to believe that Kitty Ravenhill had barged into Graham’s room while he was bathing. Eugenia never would have thought of such a thing! What if she had been caught, as she had wished? It did not bear thinking on, but Eugenia could do little else.
A noise jerked her out of her reverie. Was her imagination getting the better of her? It sounded as though the door handle were rattling. Someone was trying to open her door!
Quickly, she scrambled to hide on the other side of the bed while she gathered her wits. She needed a weapon. No one trying to intrude during the night would do so with good deeds in mind. She crawled to her dressing table and found her dagger. Truly, she had never thought to use it on a human, but she would do so before her virtue was stolen. She also found her candlestick and crawled back behind the bed. Her eyes adjusted a small amount, but it was still not bright enough for her confidently to throw a dagger at an intruder.
There was silence for a few minutes—it must have been—but her heart did not stop racing. Indeed, when she heard the noise again her chest thumped even harder. This time, it sounded as though a key had been placed in the lock. It rattled again, but she heard a muttered curse. At least she could now say the intruder sounded male. Footsteps crept away from her door and she wondered if that meant he had given up. Did it further mean that Lord Ravenhill had come to compromise her? Who else would it be? ’Twas either he or Kitty, but her brother could do much more damage to Eugenia’s reputation and future.
She waited long enough for her pulse to calm and then began to rise when she decided he had given up. Thankfully, her party was to go home in the morning—she just had to survive until then. Should she seek out her aunt for protection? No. She shook her head. If he was gone, there was no point in waking anyone when she could no doubt defend herself. Despite not approving of Ravenhill, Aunt Hambridge might still force Eugenia to wed him to save her reputation, if she was caught in a compromising situation.
Eugenia climbed back up onto the bed, knowing there would be no more sleep for her that night. She kept a weapon in each hand and stared at the canopy over her head, wishing she had a book or anything with which to pass the next few hours.
A shadow passed in front of her window. At least, so she thought. It was hard to tell when there was little moon. Her heart began to pound again and she swore to herself that she would never again read a Gothic novel after this night.
The panes on her window rattled and she had had enough. Stealing her courage, she threw back the covers again and marched over to the window. She tossed back the curtains… and screamed when she saw a face looking back at her.
“Let me in!” Ravenhill demanded.
“Absolutely not! How dare you try to sneak into my room!”
“I will break the window,” he threatened.
“Go ahead. I will be gone from this room before you can enter.” She turned to run but he forced the window in, knocking her flat on her face.
She grunted with the pain and the shock and began to crawl forward. He grabbed her ankle and pulled her back, the rough carpet burning the skin on her legs as he dragged her towards him.
She screamed and tried to fight free, clawing at him in desperation. She had dropped her dagger when she fell and strove to reach it.
“Stop it, you viper of Hell!”
“I am not the one who has broken into a lady’s bedchamber!”
“I should have known you would not fight like a lady.”
“That was the wrong thing to say,” she growled. He might be twice her size, but she found renewed strength to knee him in a place most likely to disable him. Her unconventional childhood had had its benefits. He groaned and for a moment she thought he would vomit over her, but he was not about to give up so easily. Just as she began to scramble away, he grabbed her night-rail and ripped it. Realizing she was utterly ruined if anyone happened upon them, she kicked at him, desperately searching for a way to get out of the situation with more than her life intact.
“What do you want, Ravenhill?” she asked. Shaking with fear, she crawled backward. Despite the darkness, she could still see the predatory gleam of his smile at her exposed skin and she shivered.
“You, of course,” he said, taking off his coat. “I had not expected such a lively encounter.”
“Please, no,” she whispered as she felt around on the carpet and her hand met with metal. “Anything else. I will find a way to get you money.”
“But it would be so much morepleasurableto have the whole package,” he said, lunging for her.
Her hand curled around the hilt of her knife and as he landed on top of her, she drove the blade into his back.
She had no idea what she had hit, but Ravenhill groaned in pain and then went limp across her body at the very moment someone began pounding on the door. “Eugenia! What is happening in there?”
“Graham!” she shouted.
