How long she stood there in the darkness feeling her heart thumping within her breast, her breath coming quickly from between her parted lips, she had no idea.
It must in fact have been quite a long time before she felt that her feet were back on the ground and she could breathe naturally.
Then she opened the door and slipped out into the corridor.
Regardless of who might see her, she ran as quickly as she could past the main staircase and along the corridor on the other side of it until she reached the staircase that would lead her up to the schoolroom floor.
Only when she could sit down at the table, putting her elbows on it to cover her face with her hands, could she think of what had happened to her and know because the Marquis had kissed her that she would never be the same again.
