"Why don't you have the rope around yourself?" I cried when I got Rebecca into my arms.

"I would have crushed her if I fell. Get to the tower."

I held Rebecca tightly. "Everything's all right now, poppet. Just hold on to me."

With no rope, Sean hung onto the side of the roof with only his quivering muscles and his cane between him and death.

"Go." Sean's voice was weak, blood was everywhere.

I prayed harder than I'd ever prayed and I glared at him determined not to lose him. "Not without you."

Balancing against the bell tower, I untied Rebecca and slid the rope back down to Sean. Whether I was delusional or not, I felt balanced enough on my perch to hold Rebecca a moment until I was sure Sean was safe.

"Blimey, Cassie! Don't move."

Looking up, I saw Bridget in the opening and heard Stuart coming around on the roof.

"Give me, your hand," Stuart said.

"No. Get Sean up first."

"Bloody hell."

Stuart and Sean spoke at the same time.

Anchoring himself on the roof with his body and holding the rope, Stuart reached down and grabbed Sean's wrist. This gave Sean enough leverage to grasp the rope. Moments later, both men were up on the ledge with me.

"Now get them inside," Sean said to Stuart.

I didn't argue. Minutes later I was handing a whimpering Rebecca to Bridget.

Bridget gathered Rebecca to her, comforting the child with soft words and secure arms.

Turning with tears in my eyes, I watched Sean limp back into the tower, blood on his face and shirt and so weak he had to lean against the wall to stand. His cane no longer sported the deadly blade.

The fool. I loved him. Had likely loved him from the moment I saw the man beneath the myth, but now could no longer hide from the truth of it.

I turned to Sean, wanting put my arms around him, to touch him in some way, just to feel for myself that he was alive. "You're hurt."

"Not so hurt that I can't hear what in the bloody hell is going on." His angry tone brought me to a halt.

Stuart handed Sean a handkerchief and Sean pressed it to his head.

"Why do you have Jamie's knife?" Stuart asked, picking the knife from where I'd left it.

I stared at the knife as if it had turned into a cobra. "I wish I knew what in the bloody hell was going on too." I prayed I could find a place to sit before I fainted. "Rebecca, can you tell us how you got onto the roof?"

"Poppet? Can you help us?" Bridget added softly.

"H-h-horse-man," Rebecca said. "H-h-horse-man take me to heaven. W-w-want Mum. Not h-h-heaven."

"Who is the horseman?" I asked.

Rebecca started to cry again. As my gaze met everyone else's, I saw no answers, but only more doubt into Rebecca's story about Mary being taken be a horseman.

"I think someone put Rebecca on the roof because they want her dead."

From the look in Sean's eyes, I knew I had better start talking fast if I expected to live longer than the next minute. Fortunately, my ringing of the bell earlier had wakened those in the castle and I heard a rumbling of people coming, Mrs. Frye, the earl, Sir Warwick, the Murphys.

"It would be best continue this discussion in the library, privately," Stuart said.

Sean snapped his gaze to Stuart. "Do you know what's going on?"

Stuart looked hard at me. "She seems to know more than anybody."

I thought by the time I'd dressed and walked to the library, I would have decided what to say, but I entered the room without a clue. My biggest dilemma was how much of the truth I wanted to reveal, and what price was I willing to pay to tell it. I knew I loved Sean, but I didn't know what I would do about that. Sometimes loving meant leaving before you could hurt that person, or before he had to hurt you.

I expected there to be more than just Sean in the library. There wasn't.

He turned from where he stood in front of the lit hearth, a drink in his hand. He'd changed as well, and had a bandage in place on his left temple. His face was pale, his expression tight with pain.

"Stuart and Bridget are with Rebecca and Prudence." Sean accurately interpreted my panicked glance about the room. "If what you said is true, then I don't want the child alone, and Prudence is so petite, physically she'd only be a slight hindrance to a man bent on murder. I poured you a scotch, Cassie." He motioned to a side table that sat within warming distance of the fire. "I suggest you drink it."

"Thank you." I moved to the chair and quietly settled myself, but didn't touch the drink. My hands were shaking too badly.

He moved to the chair opposite me and eased himself slowly into it. His limp was more pronounced than before, his expression pained, his green eyes haunted. He had his dragon-headed cane with him, and must have noticed my staring at it.

"There's a release just under the handle that frees the blade."

I nodded. "How badly were you hurt tonight?"

"I'll heal. But what almost happened to Rebecca would have been irreparable. Start talking, Cassie."

I hesitated. Once he knew of my dreams, would he send me away?

"We won't leave this room until I have all the answers." His voice brooked no argument.

Deep down, I always feared that once a man knew I wasn't normal, he would turn away from me. Maybe that is why I always stayed safely within "Cassiopeia's Corner". "I had a dream of Rebecca falling from the roof and knew I had to get there fast."

He leaned forward, a muscle ticking in his tight jaw. "Tell me everything, Cassie. Don't make this harder than it has to be. I want all of it now. Nobody has a dream and wakes knowing it was real."

"I do. Ever since I was very little, but never like tonight." I told him about the few dreams I'd had growing up and of my grandparents' death. I didn't mention Mary.

"So how was tonight different than before?"

"I never saw how they died before. I would dream of them, know something was very wrong, and I would call to them, but I would never be able to reach them and they would never answer. They only disappeared into darkness. When I woke, I'd have this sense of dread deep inside me. Then the news of their death would come. But tonight, it was different, a...a lady called to me, told me to come with her. When I followed, I felt a dark evil and I saw Rebecca clinging to the roof before screaming and falling."

"No one was on the roof with her in your dream?"

"No."

"Did you see how she got there? What do you make of this horseman?"

"No. And I don't know what to think of the horseman, but I do think he is real, and I think he's trying to harm Rebecca."

"Other than setting up a guard for her, I can't do more to protect her unless she can tell us more. Or you can. Have you had other dreams that reveal things to you while you've been here?"

"Yes."

He narrowed his gaze at me, demanding an answer. "Cassie?"

"I've had three other dreams this past month, two about you that were what normal people must dream, and then another one with the lady who called to me tonight. She led me up the stairs from the center hall to a set of doors. I later learned the doors were to Rebecca's room."

"And from this you surmise someone is trying to kill Rebecca? For what bloody reason? She's a child without even an inheritance or a surname."

"She had a teacher recently."

Leaning back, he shut his eyes as if grieved. "Mary."

"Were you close to her?" My pulse waited for his answer before racing on.

Sean's eyes opened and narrowed. "No, not in the way I am to you."

I swallowed, unsure of how to interpret his answer. He must have read the question in my heart. "Cassie, she was a friend who died in a drowning accident."

"Are you sure? I think she met a different end, and I think Rebecca may know something. And I think the murderer is trying to kill her before she recovers enough to tell what she knows."

"Good God, woman." He rubbed his bloodshot eyes. "This is too far-fetched. Your dreams I can relate to because just as I was getting ready to leave the castle tonight, a voice inside of my head kept demanding that I go to you first. But murder..." His voice broke. "Again?"

I knew he referred to Lady Helen.

"Who do you think is a killer?" he rasped harshly, his eyes burning with intensity.

"I don't know who. Someone who knew Mary. Someone who lives here. You tell me."

"Do you think it is me? I've been associated with the murder of a woman before. I knew Mary. I live here."

"No. Not you."

"I was awake and dressed. I could have left Rebecca on the roof. How can you be so sure?"

"I just am. I know it now, whether I knew if for sure before. You risked your life to save her."

He shrugged. "I could have done that to save myself from blame, once you knew Rebecca was on the roof, I'd have had no choice."

"No. You didn't do it, and you can't convince me otherwise."

He studied me a moment, his expression intense but unreadable. "Stuart, then?"

"I don't think so."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Perhaps I'm being foolish in thinking a murderer would be recognizable. But I sense Stuart cares too deeply for Rebecca to harm her."

"Then what of the other servants?"

"The only one who shows any anxiety about Mary is Jamie."

"He wouldn't deliberately harm-"

"He is stronger than he realizes, and he could have killed Mary by accident. His behavior has been rash."

"That doesn't explain Rebecca. And he's been gone since yesterday."

"What if he doesn't want to hurt Rebecca himself, but make sure she has an accident? He wouldn't be responsible that way. Finding his knife in the bell tower has to mean something."

"The plot you suggest is too complicated for Jamie to reason out."

A noise in the corridor brought Sean to his feet. I'd left the door open.

"Who's there? Show yourself immediately!" Only the sound of muffled steps answered. I stood, thinking to go look, but Sean managed to make it to the door quickly, despite his injuries. A frustrated palm to the door jamb told me the corridor was empty.

He swung, advancing toward me. "Who are you, Cassie Andrews?"

I stepped back, then decided to hold my ground. I lifted my chin. "Just a woman escaping a scandal, a woman who happens to have odd dreams." I couldn't seem to force the truth out. Not like this.

He waited until he was nearly touching my body with his before he stopped and spoke. "I don't think so. Why weren't you afraid for me?" He brushed my cheek with the back of his finger, making my breath catch at the luring lilt and deeply sensual tone to his voice. It was such a change from the way he'd spoken moments ago.

"What?"

"Given your history of portentous dreams, why didn't you warn me of danger if you dreamed about me?" He pressed closer, sending my pulse racing. I danced to the side and grabbed the drink he'd fixed for me. Taking a burning sip, I nearly choked as the fire swirled its way inside me, warming the flames he'd already fanned. Irrationally, I gulped some more, until I could delay no longer. "They were a different kind of dreams."

Moving closer again, he nudged my chin to meet his gaze. "How so?"

"I'd rather not say."

"I think I have a good idea," he said dryly, turning from me. "You also make me forget any and all resolves to stay away from you in a heartbeat. Go pack your things, Cassie."

I blinked with shock and gulped the last of the drink as my stomach wrenched itself into a knot. He was going to send me away.

"I'm not leaving," I said fiercely. "Not until I know Rebecca will be safe. No matter what you do." And I wasn't leaving until I discovered who'd murdered Mary and where she was buried. In the dream Mary had said she was in a dark place, nothing but stone now.

He turned toward me, eyes hauntingly sad.

"Send you away, lass? Though I should for your sake, I haven't the strength just yet. You can't leave here until I know you're safe. Whether it's an excuse to selfishly keep you just a little longer or not, you're not going anywhere." He didn't touch me, but his gaze stripped me bare. "You're like the wind, lass."

"What do you mean?"