Alexander-Fyn-Sanguinarian

against it and slid further down underneath the heavy eiderdowns. A scratching sound followed by a sharp rap startled her and she jumped up looking about her, terrified that Lady Ravenscroft might have returned to the castle and found a way in.
    Again there was a rapping sound and it seemed to be coming from the window. With fear gripping her stomach, Evangeline got out of bed. The floor was freezing and while she stood trying to convince herself that it was all in her imagination and she should get back into bed before she froze to death, another sharper knock echoed in the cavernous chamber.
    Running to the window on tiptoe, she opened the heavy draperies a crack and barely suppressed a scream when she saw a face staring back at her. Pressing her hands over her mouth she saw, even though he was white with snow, Mr. Harding hanging onto her window ledge gesturing wildly for her to open the window and let him in.
    “What do you want?” she mouthed.
    “Open up!” He knocked again.
    After a struggle to open the large stiff casement, Evangeline pulled the young man inside. He tumbled to the floor, pink-faced, frozen, yet smiling up at her. “Mr. Harding, in God’s name what are you doing here? How did you get across the moor? And how did you climb up to my window? If Lord Ravenscroft finds out you are in his castle he will kill you.”
    “I’ve come to rescue you.”
    Evangeline pulled him toward the fire and began throwing on logs. The young man, clad only in a great coat over his ordinary clothes, began to shiver. He grabbed the poker to stir up the flames helping the logs catch light. “You wouldn’t have a shot of brandy in here, would you, Miss Rutledge?”

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    “Keep your voice down. Of course I don’t have brandy in my chamber,” she whispered. “I suppose I could wake up a servant and say I want a hot cup of tea, but they can all hear so incredibly well, we’d never be able to hide you. They can’t be allowed to know you are here.”
    Standing before the flames, he rubbed his hands together, furiously trying to drive some life back into them. “Never mind. We must get you out of here before we’re discovered.”
    “How did you know where to find me?” she asked.
    He gazed at her with soft eyes. “I never left the village. I stayed on waiting for you. I’ve been at the vicarage all this time. The innkeeper saw you get into the Ravenscroft coach the very day you were supposed to return to London. I’ve only been waiting for a bit of clear weather, and then I decided I could wait no longer. He kidnapped you again, didn’t he, the monster?”
    “Keep your voice very, very low,” Evangeline whispered. She pulled on her dressing gown and huddled in her chair beside the fire.
    “And yes, he did, in a way. He tricked me into coming back to Castle Haven with him.”
    “The swine!” Mr. Harding said then apologized quickly for his language. “Has he attacked you? Has he tried to bite your neck?” he asked earnestly. “I asked questions in London, after he kidnapped you from the boarding house. Everybody knows of his habits. I spoke to at least two ladies who said he bit their necks and that now they have an insatiable thirst for blood themselves.”
    Evangeline smiled. A few weeks ago she would have believed every word and been terrified. “That’s how rumors start. Peoples’
    imaginations run away with them.”
    “Oh, they were in earnest, Miss Rutledge, I assure you. I’ve come to rescue you.”
    “How did you get here?”
    “On foot. I set out late. Only the vicar knows where I am. The moon is quite bright and the snow stopped after an hour or so. I saw 252
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    one light and kept walking toward it. It was the light from this chamber. After a while it went out, but I was sure of my path by then.”
    “You could have frozen to death, Mr. Harding.”
    “I would consider it an honour to die in the quest of your rescue.”
    Evangeline attempted to look grateful. “That’s very kind of you, but I would not want your death on my conscience. You should not have come. You are very foolhardy.” He grinned at her and she noticed how sweet he was in a very ordinary sort of way. “Mr.
    Harding, you can’t leave in this weather and try to get back across the moor. I think we have no choice but to hide you and when the weather breaks you will be safe to return to the village. We cannot let his lordship know. I honestly fear for your life.”
    “We can’t stay