Page 81 of Christmas at Castle Dunrannoch
Rye tilted back his head, peering up at the opening. He could see only the two women’s faces, lit by a dull halo of lamplight.
Arabella laughed again. “Balderdash! We can’t go back now. They’ll already be looking for us.”
“No!” Ursula announced more resolutely. She leaned over the hole. “Rye, you should climb back up. We shouldn’t be down here. Something isn’t right.”
Arabella tutted. “It would have made things so much easier if you’d climbed down.”
From above, Rye heard Ursula shriek.
Headfirst, she was tumbling through the air.
On instinct, Rye held out his arms and she fell straight into them, her weight knocking them both over.
“Dear God—Ursula!” Rye gasped. “Are you alright?” He was sprawled on the ground beneath her, the air having been flattened from his lungs.
“Rye!” Ursula threw her arms around his neck, her voice terribly small. “Oh, Rye. She pushed me!”
“Ahoy down there.” Arabella’s voice drifted down. “Still alive?”
“I think so, but what the Hell, Arabella! You could’ve killed us!”
“Yes, that was the idea…” Lady Balmore clucked her tongue. “You just don’t seem to take the hint. Quite tiresome, I must say.”
Moving Ursula to one side, Rye got to his feet. The illumination had become fainter, as if Arabella had put the lamp to one side, but there was enough light to show the rope ladder disappearing upward. He jumped to grab hold but it was already out of reach.
“Hey, what are you doing? Arabella!” Rye was getting angry now. Whatever party game this was, it sure wasn’t his idea of a good time.
“I’m leaving you entombed, you ridiculous man! You and that tart. Don’t think I hadn’t noticed. I warned Fiona not to bother with you. You weren’t even supposed to turn up. The devil knows how Lavinia came up with the address for your father in the back of beyond!”
She made an unladylike spitting sound. “As if either of you could have stepped into my husband’s shoes! He was worth ten of you—but that didn’t make him good enough to take on the title, nor that pompous Lachlan. Mary’s better off without him. I did her a favour, really. She’ll see that in the end.”
“Arabella? What are you talkin’ about? It’s true Ursula and I are in love, but she’s no floozy. It might take some gettin’ used to, but I hope you’ll come round.”
“Ha!” Arabella snorted. “The only thing I shall be ‘coming round’ to is Cameron taking the title of Viscount Balmore. Once his position is secure, I’ll help old Finlay on his way, and dear Cameron will be able to make me his countess.”
Rye rubbed his ear and swallowed. He couldn’t be hearing straight. Either that, or his aunt had taken a strange turn. He wasn’t one for believing women prone to hysterics, but Arabella wasn’t behaving like herself at all.
“I overheard them.” Ursula tugged on Rye’s sleeve. “It’s true that there’s something between her and Cameron. I think they were…” Ursula lowered her voice, “lovers!”
Rye nearly choked.
“Who do you think arranged for the bagpipes to play, making everyone think Camdyn was back, foretelling the deaths of the future lairds?” Arabella gave a cackle. “It wasn’t easy persuading Buckie to go up onto the roof with the gramophone player. He made such a fuss about being afraid of heights, but I told him I’d strangle him in his bed unless he did as he was told. It was easier to get him to put the thistle under Brodie’s saddle, and yours! As for Lachlan, I did that myself—a quick push down the staircase and the job was done.”
Dear God! She was a murderess!
“Arabella! You can’t just leave us here. Everyone will be looking.” He scrambled to think of a way to bring her to her senses. “They know you were with us. Nobody will believe we got here by accident.”
“I’ll tell them I only led you as far as the upper corridor and have no idea where you’ve gone—that you begged me to let the two of you go off and canoodle on your own. I’m not the only one to have noticed you have a sweet spot for Miss Abernathy here. I’ll come back when I can be sure you’re dead and put the ladder through the open hole—with the rope shorn through, of course, so it looks as if it broke when you were climbing.”
Far above, Arabella began nudging the lid back into place.
“You can’t do this, Arabella. It’s inhumane! It’s criminal!” Rye tried to keep the desperation from his voice, and failed miserably.
“It’s fiendish!” added Ursula. “You’re a bitch of the highest order!”
“I shall take that as a compliment. Now, I must go, my dears. Do enjoy the last few days together—or hours, possibly. The air isn’t terribly fresh down here.”
With that, the lid slid over completely and plunged them both into utter darkness.
