Page 133 of Winterset
Kate is there, walking along the seashore, her ball gown billowing in the breeze.
I cup my hands around my mouth and call to her.
She looks up. Sees me. Smiles. She motions for me to join her.
But my body is heavy, my limbs filled with thousands of grains of sand.
I’m stuck standing on the cliff.
Kate looks up at me with a pinched expression, as if wondering why I haven’t joined her yet.
Wondering if I ever will.
Wondering if I even want to.
She turns away. Steps into the sea.
Water surrounds her ankles, her knees, her waist.
She takes off a pelisse that she wasn’t wearing a moment ago and lays it on the water. She hesitates for a single second, then disappears into the depths.
I scream for her to swim, to fight. But I already know that if I don’t get to her ...
A sharp gasp of breath and my eyes snapped open.
But I saw nothing. The world was black.
I blinked.
Where was I? What had happened? I tried to make sense of my surroundings.
I was lying on my side, my face pressed against something cold. The marble floor?
My head spun as I sat up, and I rubbed my throbbing forehead. There was a large lump.
I stood and felt along the wall until I found a handle. As soon as the door opened, I realized where I was: in the corridor not far from Damon’s study. Spinning around, I saw that I had been inside the butler’s pantry. On the floor lay a woman’s reticule.
Everything came crashing back to me: proposing to Kate, our plan to run away, my discussion with Damon, the masked man in the corridor. Markham.
Kate!
My pulse raced with panic. How much time had passed?Please let her be safe in her rooms, packing her things, I prayed.
I staggered up the stairs toward the west wing, where Kate’s bedchamber was located. I didn’t know which one was hers though. “Kate!” I called frantically as I checked inside each bedchamber. “Kate!” She had to be here. I had to find her before Markham did.
A door opened farther down, and a maid peeked out.
I ran toward her. “Where is Kate?”
The maid looked at me in confusion.
“Miss Lockwood,” I said. “Do you know where she is?”
“I thought she was with you, sir. I watched as she climbed into your carriage and drove away.”
My stomach dropped. Markham had her. “How long ago?” I demanded.
“I don’t know. At least an hour.”
