“Maybe ator ano,” she muttered.
If she got off on the wrong track now, it could be disastrous. Spending a few more minutes creating a list of all the characters in order of how many were in the puzzle, she then copied out the puzzle again on her paper, writing the lettereabove each of the eights. It was a start.
Yawning, Eleanor realized she ought to get some sleep if she were to rise early enough to meet Grayson in the library before breakfast, and undeniably, some rest would sharpen her mind to help solve the puzzle.
After putting everything back as she’d found it and slipping her new sheet of paper into the pocket of her wrap, Eleanor turned down the two lamps, and then picked up her own.
Outside the library, all was quiet until—bang! She jumped, startled, and then froze at the loud sound that had come from the other end of the hallway, somewhere toward the back of the house. Her heart quickened.
She waited a moment, and all was silent. Just as she breathed a sigh—bang!—she heard it again.
“Oh, dear,” she said, though she knew it wasn’t a gunshot this time. Something more benign, like a…
Her brain couldn’t fill in anything. She could go upstairs and ignore the dreadful noise, or she could investigate.
Choosing the latter, as she trod along the passageway toward the rear of the house, one thing became uncomfortably clear—the floor was wet. She held her lamp down low to see it was merely water, though a little muddy, as if someone had come in from the outside.
She was certain it hadn’t been there at bedtime. Someone had been out in the storm.How strange!
Bang!Taking a deep, fortifying breath, thinking she could hear her own heartbeat, Eleanor continued along the wet hallway, getting her kidskin slippers damp.
Bang!Eleanor approached the window overlooking the garden. The shutter had blown loose and was now making a merry racket as it slammed shut before swinging open again.
She laughed with relief and set her lamp down on the wooden floor beside her before working to open the window sash, which, if properly maintained, should easily slide upward. It did. Eight glass panes over eight moved fluidly under her touch, and she reached out, even as a gust of wind blew rainwater all over her and snuffed out her oil lamp.
“Drat!” she exclaimed. It was damnably cold water, too.
In a moment, she had managed to secure the shutter with its clever little hook. As she closed the window, however, Eleanor felt rather than saw the presence of someone nearby. The hair on her neck arose, as did gooseflesh upon her arms.
The scuffling of a shoe upon the floor alerted her to the unknown person’s proximity, and suddenly, arms went around her.
“I’ve got you,” an unfamiliar voice exclaimed.
Chapter Ten
Eleanor struggled, feelingthe tall stranger’s bony arms tighten.
“Let me go,” she yelled, lashing out, even as terror filled her, making her want to run and scream.
Surprisingly, the arms dropped away from her instantly.
“Miss Eleanor?” came a bewildered voice, and then she recognized it.
“Mr. Stanley?”The butler, of course!
“Why are you creeping in the window?” the Angsley butler asked, sounding flabbergasted. Then, as if recalling his place, he added, “Not that it is any of my business, miss.”
Everything would make sense with some light,she thought.
“Somewhere on the floor is my lamp,” she told him, and they immediately bumped heads as they both bent down to find it.
“Ow,” she said.
“My apologies, miss.” In another moment, he said, “I have found it.”
When he relit it, she nearly yelled again. For in the scant light flickering from below, the butler’s face looked skeletal, and his eye sockets appeared very large and dark, almost as if sunken.
She shuddered, probably from the cold rain that had spattered her face and neck. Moreover, he was not dressed for going to bed, but rather, wearing an oil skin and Wellingtons. Even stranger, they were perfectly dry, so he could not have caused the water in the front hallway.
