CHAPTER THIRTY-THREEThe unthinkable had happened. We had been found out. The first we knew of it was when we stepped out of the carriage into the gathering dusk to see a footman hurrying down the steps towards us. Rather to my surprise, he hissed something to Mark on the box before bowing to us and remarking woodenly that the Count awaited us in the library.
It was the tone of his voice rather than the actual words which caused Katalin and I to exchange glances of alarm. Being well brought up, we did not question him, but went on into the castle with sinking hearts. Mattias, however, had no such scruples. “Hopping mad, is he?” he asked ruefully behind us, and the footman answered in the affirmative, still perfectly wooden. Katalin looked at me again, her eyes dilating.
“Shall we go and c
