Mally : Signet Regency Romance (9781101568057) by Sandra Heath Page B

Come and find me.
    Daniel!
The sepulchral air breathed again.
    Abruptly the nightmare was gone. Mally lay there shaking in the warm bed. The nightmare had gone, but its threads still lingered in the room, threads like cobwebs to cling to her across the years. She stared at the tiny night light, its steady little glow visible through the velvet drapes of the bed. The sheets smelled of lavender. And they were warm. Not cold and damp like a grave—
    The quiet of the night was absolute. Except— She turned her head slightly at a faint, stealthy sound. At the door. She froze with a sudden new fear as the night light quivered a little in its dish as a cool draft spread through the room from the opened door. The velvet curtains of the bed moved slightly as a hand drew them aside.
    The terror rose to a crescendo and she began to scream. The hand vanished and heavy steps retreated toward the door. Still screaming she dragged the bed-clothes away and pushed past the still trembling curtains. The door of the room was wide open, and as she ran out onto the landing and leaned over the banisters, a figure stood down in the hallway, the hood of its cloak pulled over its face although it was staring up at her, motionless.
    She screamed again and the figure’s frozen immobility vanished. With one or two steps it was by the front door which had already been unbolted. The doors swung heavily, letting in the mist and cold of the night, and then the intruder was gone. Mally thought she could hear footsteps out in the night. And then nothing.
    â€œMiss Mall? Miss Mall, whatever is it?”
    She turned to see Lucy’s frightened face lit by the single candle she was holding. Her gray hair was in one long plait hanging down over her right shoulder, and one hand was clutching the drawstring at the throat of her nightgown.
    â€œOh, Lucy—” Mally clung weakly to the banisters. “Someone tried to get into my room, he was at the very bed itself! Oh, if I hadn’t woken up—!”
    â€œMarigold?” Mrs. Berrisford’s key rattled and she peeped cautiously out of the room. “Marigold? Was that you screaming, or was I dreaming?” Her face, bereft of rouge, looked podgy and pale, and her mousy hair was revealed without its usual wig cover.
    Lucy put her arm gently around Mally’s shaking shoulders. “Come on down to the library, Miss Mall, the fire will still be in there. You’ve had a dreadful shock.”
    Mally looked down into the empty hall again, looking through the shimmering crystals of the chandelier. Surely she had not imagined it—
    But then Digby came up from the basement, his old nightcap pulled over his balding head and his dressing gown tied firmly around his bony body. He went to the doors and closed them, pausing before finally closing the second one to look across the square.
    â€œWhat is it, Digby?”
    â€œSir Christopher is just leaving the Earl’s house, madam.”
    Chris.
“Go and bring him, Digby, I beg of you.”
    â€œMarigold!” Mrs. Berrisford emerged a little more from the haven of her room. “You cannot!”
    â€œI want him here, Mother!” She looked over at Digby. “If you please.”
    The butler straightened his nightcap self-consciously, rearranged his dressing gown, and stepped out down the steps into the night.
    Lucy steered Mally down the stairs to the floor below and into the leather-filled warmth of the library. The fire glowed softly behind its guard and the spines of the books ranged around on their shelves looked soothing and comforting as Mally sat in Daniel’s favorite chair by the fire.
    They heard light steps coming up from the hallway and then Chris was there, tossing his top hat onto the table.
    â€œMally?” His eyes were anxious and he brought the scent of cigar smoke with him, clinging to his velvet coat.
    â€œOh, Chris—” She stood and ran to him.
    He caught her close, his