Masked Ball at Broxley Manor

would have been impossible, or I would have been forced to remove the mask—which is not allowed until midnight.”
    I realized that midnight was not far away and felt a thrill of excitement about looking at his face for the first time. I hoped he wouldn’t be disappointed when he saw me unmasked. As I glanced across the room to the ornate gold clock on a sideboard I saw something I couldn’t quite believe.
    “That man just put something in your drink,” I said indignantly.
    He stiffened and I felt his hand tense on my shoulder. “Are you sure? What man?”
    “See, that one. Sort of white and formless, like a ghost. But I’d swear I saw a hand come out from under all that flowing fabric and it tipped something into your drink.”
    He dragged me rapidly back to the table, picked up his glass and sniffed at it.
    “They don’t play around, do they?” he said. “Cyanide, if I’m not mistaken.” He picked up my glass. “They obviously wanted to finish you off too. There’s some in yours.”
    “But who would want to do that?” I asked.
    He shrugged. “There are plenty of anarchists’ groups who are sworn to do away with royalty, and of course Russia is reaching out communist tentacles, hoping to topple all Western governments.”
    “That’s horrible.”
    “But a fact, nonetheless.” He picked up both glasses. “Now do what I say. Stay put and do not move. And don’t eat or drink anything unless you’re sure it’s safe. Understand?”
    “Where are you going?”
    “To find the bastard who did this.”
    “Don’t go.” I touched his arm. “Tell Lord Merriman. They have policemen around the house.”
    “That will be too late,” he said. “Stay with the crowd. You’re safer here.”
    I watched as he forced his way through dancing couples and out of one of the French doors. Just as he exited a deep bell started tolling. Then the sweet chimes of the ormolu clock were added to it.
    “Midnight, everybody,” Lady Merriman’s voice called. “Come on through to the gold salon for the grand unveiling of masks, and then we’ll all go in to supper. Come on, come on. No lagging.”
    She drove us out of the ballroom like a diminutive sheepdog, through to a lovely white-and-gilt room where we took our seats in a circle of chairs. I looked around the circle but didn’t see the wraithlike figure who had tried to kill us. I kept glancing across at the French doors, wondering whether my dancing partner had found the man and when he’d be back.
    “You probably all know by now who we are so we’ll go first,” Lady Merriman said. “Come on, Podge, take your mask off.”
    “About time.” Lord Merriman wrestled with his monster head. “I was just about suffocating under this thing. Somebody help me off with it.”
    One of the footmen rushed forward to help him and soon a distinguished gray-haired head appeared, his face a little flushed. Lady Merriman had taken off her mask and fluffed out her hair. “There, that’s better, isn’t it? Who is going to go next? Order of precedence, Your Royal Highness? “
    “Very well,” my cousin’s voice said and an extravagant birdlike Venetian mask was removed to reveal the Prince of Wales.
    Before any more masks could be removed there was a deep boom outside the building. The French doors blew open, a great gust of wind rushed in and the whole house shook. People jumped to their feet, alarmed. A couple of women screamed.
    “What is it? What’s going on?’ a woman shrieked.
    “Stay put, everyone,” Lord Merriman said in a commanding voice. “Nobody go anywhere. We’ve got police around the building. I’m sure we’re quite safe in here if we stick together. I’m going to see what’s happening.”
    “Do you think they’ve bombed Broxley, Podge?” Lady Merriman asked. “Bombed our lovely house?”
    “I’m sure everything’s all right, Dottie. You keep our guests entertained.”
    “All right, but take care, won’t you?” Lady Merriman called after him. She turned back to us and tried to manage a bright smile. “On with our game and off with the motley. Who is next, Prince Otto?”
    “Where is Prince Otto?” a woman’s voice said. “I don’t see him. Oh my God. They haven’t killed Prince Otto, have they?”
    My heart had almost stopped beating. That blast had come from outside the French doors and that was exactly where Prince Otto had gone. It was all I could do to force myself to stay seated.
    “I’m sure Prince Otto is just