She rose cautiously, tiptoed her way across the great hall, and slowly pushed the heavy folding doors apart, then as silently closed them behind her. Like the wind she sped along the narrow passageway that led to her own apartments, opened the door, and flew to the long casement window that gave access to the Palace Garden, where she knew David awaited her. She stepped out into the night.
A gust of wind blew the window to behind her with a crash that shattered the glass into a thousand fragments. Her heart sank. “David, David!” she called softly. There was no answer. It was dark—so dark that she could see nothing—and she feared lest the sound of the crashing glass had awakened the sleepers.
She gave a low, clear whistle. In an instant, before there was time for an answer, David was at her side. “Come!” she said. “There is no time to be lost: the sleepers are waking.” As she spoke, they heard the sound of hurrying feet in the passageway. The door of the apartment was pushed open, and her name was eagerly called.
“She is not here, Sire,” said a trembling voice. “And the window is shattered. She must have tried to escape. Spread the alarm throughout the Palace!”
David and Ruth fled hand in hand through the darkness, out into the Palace Garden, surrounded by its high, solid brick walls.
“THIS WAY, RUTH, THIS WAY,”
WHISPERED DAVID