My words were cut short by a shout and a loud beating on the door. I ran to the window of the front upper room and looked down. The storm was now gradually passing away; the intense darkness was relieved sufficiently for me to be able to make out the forms of several men standing before the house. That they were Count Furello and his followers there could be now little doubt. How they had tracked and overtaken us so quickly was surprising; but there they were, and we could only be thankful that an accident had given us a shelter in which to stand at bay. Had we remained in the carriage a few minutes longer they would have surrounded us and we should not have had a chance.
As I drew back from the window I heard the Count’s voice cry:
“Come out, you foul Englishman, before I fetch and hang you.”
This pleasant invitation had scarcely left his lips when a shot rang out followed by a cry. In the hope that the leader of the gang had been accounted for, I sprang to the window only to hear to my disappointment the same hateful voice giving order to his men to fall back.
“Settled one of them, Tyrrell!” Strode called up to me. “We’ll have some rare sport here.”
I was glad to think our enemies were one the fewer, and I sent a chance shot on my own account after them to hasten their retreat to a respectful distance.
But I could not remain there leaving Strode the impossible task of defending all the weak spots in the lower floor.
“You will not be afraid to stay in this room alone, Fräulein,” I said, with probably more confidence than I felt. “I must back up Strode downstairs. Between us there is little doubt we can keep these ruffians out and drive them off, but Strode cannot do it alone. You will trust us and not fear?”
She shook her head with a little shudder. I had, in the stress of the moment, laid my hand on her shoulder. Suddenly, before I could turn to leave her she flung her arms impulsively round my neck and kissed me twice. “Darling! my own darling!” she cried, her voice trembling with excitement and fear. “If you are to die for me you shall know that I am grateful, that I love you.”
Her cheek was pressed to mine. I whispered back my love in her ear, the love I had known, but had not dared to show. Strode called me.