Page 105 of Ashes and Understanding
Then she paused.
A scent.
Faint, but there— foreign and musky, not the usual sharp tang of pipe smoke from her father or the faded rose water the maids favored. It was a man’s scent, and not one she recognized.
A muffled thump echoed above her, and her blood ran cold.
Benjamin!
She bolted upright, her heart hammering. Without thinking, she snatched her parasol from the corner and crept to the door, easing it open.
The hallway was quiet.
Tooquiet.
She moved quickly and silently up the servants’ stairs to the third floor. As she reached the landing, another soft thud made her breath catch in her throat.
Then, from within the nursery, a low rustling sound.
She flung the door open.
Moonlight spilled across the room through the open window, catching on the edge of the cradle. The maid and the nurse lay motionless on the floor, and a tall, dark-cloaked figure stood just beyond the cradle, reaching down toward it.
Something primal surged up in her chest.
She screamed—a ragged, guttural sound—and charged.
The man spun, startled, just in time to raise his arms as she swung the parasol with all her strength. The crack of wood on his forearm echoed through the room.
He stumbled back.
She struck again.
And again.
And again.
Her arm ached, her breath ragged, but she would not stop.
He caught the end of the parasol at last, and for one terrifying moment, they struggled for control. Then came the thunder offeet on the stairs and shouts echoing up the hall. The man’s head whipped toward the door.
His eyes—pale blue and furious—met hers for a heartbeat.
Then he turned and dove through the open window.
“No!” Elizabeth rushed forward, reaching the sill just in time to see—
Nothing.
The yard below was empty. No body. No figure running. Nothing disturbed.
He had vanished.
She stared into the dark, wind stinging her face, her knuckles white on the windowsill.
How did he get up three stories without a ladder? How did he getdown? Where did he go?
Behind her, a footman rushed into the room. “Miss Elizabeth?” he asked, gaping around the room from her at the window to the fallen nurses on the floor.
