I had a balustrade before me, some statues to my left, an almost sheer drop beyond these.
Again I was forced to pause. I tried to pull a pistol loose and fire in the hope it would startle their horses. I did not think I could delay their charge by wounding one.
My horse was moving too much beneath me, ready to gallop, yet not knowing where to go. I reined him tight, standing firm against that rocking nest of pikes which was now almost upon me.
A glance this way and that told me that my chances had improved. There was every possibility of escape. I no longer felt in terror of my attackers. At worst I could calculate on a few flesh wounds for myself and a sprained tendon or two for my horse.
The pikes drew closer as I reached for my pistols. Then a clear, humorous voice sounded from the interior of the coach:
"There is no need for this. It wasn't planned. Stop at once, all of you. I demand that you stop!"
The riders drew in their own reins and began to raise their pikes to the slope.
I put my sword between my teeth, drew both pistols from the saddle-holsters, cocked the flints and fired.
One of the pistols discharged and flung a rider straight out of his seat. The other needed recocking, having failed to spark, but before I could see to it, I heard the voice again.
It was a woman. "Stop!"
I would let them debate her orders. In the meantime I had a little time hi which to begin my descent. I sheathed my sword and looked down the hillside. I had planned to skirt this party and continue down the road if possible. It would mean driving directly through the pikes, but I believed I could do it fairly easily.
I prepared myself, while giving the impression that I was relaxing my guard.
The door of the coach opened.
A handsome woman of about thirty, with jet-black hair and wearing scarlet velvet, clambered swiftly onto the coachman's seat and raised her arms. She seemed distracted. I was impressed by her bearing and her beauty.
"Stop!" she cried to me. "We meant no harm to you."
I grinned at this. But since I now had something of an advantage and did not wish to risk either my life or my horse more than necessary, I paused. My loaded pistol was still in my gloved hand.
"Your men attacked me, madam."
"Not upon my orders." Her lips matched her costume. Her skin was as delicate and pale as the lace which trimmed her garments. She wore a matching broad-brimmed hat with a white ostrich feather trailing from it.
"You are welcome," she said. "I swear to you that it is so, sir. You came forward before I could present myself."
I was certain that all she was doing now was to change tactics. But I preferred these tactics. They were familiar enough.
I grinned at her. "You mean you had hoped that your servants would frighten me, eh, madam?"
She feigned puzzlement. She spoke with apparent sincerity, even urgency: "You must not think so. These creatures are not subtle. They are the only servants provided me." Her eyes were wonderful. I was astonished by them. She said: "I apologise to you, sir."
She lowered her arms, almost as if she appealed to me. She struck me as a woman of substance, yet there was an engaging touch of despair about her. Was she perhaps a prisoner of those men?
I was almost amused: a lady in distress, and myself a knight-errant to whom the notion of chivalry was anathema. Yet I hesitated.
"Madam, your servants disturb me by their very appearance."
"They were not chosen by me."
"Indeed, I should hope that's so." I retained ray pistol at the cock. "They were chosen by Death long since, by the look of 'em."
She sighed and made a small gesture with her right hand.
"Sir, I would be much obliged if you would consent to be my guest."
"Your men have already invited me. You'll recall that I refused."
"Will you refuse me? I ask," she said, "in all humility."
She was a clever woman and it had been some years since I had enjoyed such company. It was her eyes, however, which continued to draw me. They were wise, they were knowing, they contained in them a hint of deep terror and they were sympathetic, I thought, to me in particular.
I was lost to her. I knew it. I believe she knew it. I began to laugh.
I bowed to her.
"It is true, madam," said I, "that I cannot refuse you. Boredom, curiosity and what is left of my good manners drive me to accept. But most of all, madam, it is yourself, for I'll swear I see a fellow spirit and one as intelligent as myself. A rare combination, you'd agree?"
"I take your meaning, sir. And I share your feeling, too." Those wonderful eyes shone with ironic pleasure. I thought that she, too, could be laughing, somewhere within her. With a delicate hand she brushed hair away from the left side of her face and tilted her head to look at me. A conscious gesture, I knew, and a flirtatious one. I grinned this time.
"Then you'll guest with me?" she said.
"On one condition," said I.
"Sir?"
"That you promise to explain some of the mysteries of your castle and its surrounds."
She raised her brows. "It is an ordinary castle. In ordinary grounds."
"You know that it is not."
She answered my grin with a smile. "Very well," she said. "I promise that you shall understand everything very soon."
"I note your promise," said I.
I sheathed my pistol and turned my horse towards the castle.
I had taken my first decisive step towards Hell.
Chapter II
I GAVE THE lady my arm and escorted her through her courtyard, up the steps and into her castle, while her horrid servants took horse and coach to the stables. Curiosity had me trapped.
Lust, half-appreciated as yet, also had me trapped.
I thought to myself with a certain relish that I was, all in all, thoroughly snared. And at that moment! did not care.
"I am Ulrich von Bek, son of the Graf von Bek," I told her. "I am a Captain of Infantry in the present struggle."
Her perfume was as warm and lulling as summer roses. "On whose side?" she asked.
I shrugged. "Whichever is the better organised and less divided."
"You have no strong religious beliefs, then?"
"None."
I added: "Is that unusual for men of my kind in times like these?"
"Not at all. Not at all." She seemed quietly amused.
She took off her own cloak. She was almost as tall as I and wonderfully formed. For all that she gave the impression of possessing a strong and perhaps even eccentric will, there was yet a softness about her now which suggested to me that she was presently defeated by her circumstances.
"I am Sabrina," she said, and gave no title or family name.
"This is your castle, Lady Sabrina?"
"I often reside here." She was noncommittal.
It could be that she was reluctant to discuss her family. Or perhaps she was the mistress of the powerful prince I had originally guessed as owner. Perhaps she had been exiled here for some appalling crime. Perhaps she had been sent here by her husband or some other relative to avoid the vicissitudes either of love or of war. From tact I could ask her no other questions on the matter.
She laid a fair hand upon my arm. "You will eat with me, Captain von Bek?"
"I do not relish eating in the presence of your servants, madam."
"No need. I'll prepare the food myself later. They are not permitted to enter these quarters. They have their own barracks in the far tower."
I had seen the barracks. They did not seem large enough for so many.
"How long have you been here?" She glanced about the hall as we entered it.
"A week or two."
"You kept it in good order."
"It was not my intention to loot the place, Lady Sabrina, but to use it as a temporary refuge. How long has your home been empty?"