The lip lifted in a snarl.

"That's right," I said, suddenly realizing, "go ahead and bark. Woof woof."

I flicked snow at it, making it step back. I even stuck my fingers through recklessly and waggled them. It c.o.c.ked its head suspiciously but it didn't bark. Then in desperation I started to sing. I'm not the world's best singer and my singing once made the dogs at home start to howl. "Speed, bonny boat, like a bird on the wing," I sang. "The Skye Boat Song," one of my favorites.

"Are you all right, miss?" Queenie shouted.

"Just singing," I called back down. "Join in."

"I don't know it."

"Then sing something you know."

"At the same time as you?"

"It doesn't matter."

We sang. She, I believe, was singing "If you were the only girl in the world" while I continued with "The Skye Boat Song." It sounded terrible. At last the dog put his head back and howled. The song echoed up from the well and the howl echoed from those walls.

Then I heard a human voice, cursing the dog.

"Help!" I called. "Get me out."

A face appeared on the limits of my vision. The woman gasped, crossed herself and went to back away.

"Get help!" I shouted after her in English and French. "English princess."

She went. The dog went. I hung there, fighting back disappointment. She thought I was some kind of evil spirit or something. She had run away. They'd probably avoid this place for years after this. Then I heard the most blessed of sounds: several raised voices. And men stood over me, one of them carrying an ancient shotgun, the others with sticks, their faces taut with fear.

"Help me, please," I said. "Fetch Count Dragomir. I English princess." This was a slight exaggeration but I knew the word was the same in all the languages.

They were talking furiously among themselves, then suddenly one of them came back with a crowbar, the grille was pried open and hands pulled me free. At that moment Count Dragomir came striding into the courtyard. His face registered horror and shock as he recognized me.

"Mon Dieu. Lady Georgiana. What has happened to you?" Lady Georgiana. What has happened to you?"

"I was tipped into your famous...o...b..iette," I said. "My servant is still down there."

"But the oubliette, it was just a legend," he said. "n.o.body ever discovered it."

"It exists, trust me. My servant is in it and the opening is too small to get her out. Send down some hot tea or soup or something to her and then we'll try to find the opening in the castle."

Dragomir was already barking commands.

"We'll soon get you out, Queenie," I shouted. "Help is on the way. Don't worry."

The sound echoed so strangely down the shaft that I wasn't quite sure she understood me. "My dear Lady Georgiana, come inside and let us warm you up," Dragomir said, opening a door into some kind of outbuilding. "Some hot coffee and blankets."

"We have to get my maid out first," I said. "Take me back to the castle immediately, please."

"Very well. As you wish." Dragomir escorted me across a couple of courtyards, through a door in a wall and up some steps and we were back in the castle proper.

"How did you happen to fall into this...o...b..iette, Highness?" he asked.

"I was following Princess Maria Theresa," I said. "She went ahead of me and . . ." I couldn't bring myself to say to him that she had taken me that way deliberately so that I would step on the wrong slab and fall. I was now quite sure that she and Vlad had planned the murder of Prince Nicholas together. I didn't know which of them administered the poison, but one of them did. The problem was that we were all a.s.sembled for her wedding-two royal families, plenty of important personages and plenty of opportunities for a diplomatic incident. If only I could locate Darcy, he'd know what to do. But my first task was to rescue Queenie.

"I'll show you the oubliette," I said and led Dragomir through the halls until we reached the right spot. I was just searching for the door in the paneled wall when I heard the sound of feet behind me. I turned to see two of Patrascue's men bearing down on me.

"Please to come with us," one said in atrocious French. He grabbed my arm.

"Wait," I said trying to shake myself free. "Where are you taking me? We must save my friend first."

But another man grabbed my other arm and I was swept along the corridor at a great pace.

"Wait a minute. Slow down and listen to me," I shouted but to no avail. The third man went ahead and flung open a door. I was borne inside and came upon a tableau. The king of Romania and Siegfried were sitting in high-backed chairs on one side of the fireplace. The king of Bulgaria, Nicholas and Anton sat on the other. In front of them stood Darcy, his arms being held by two policemen. And beside him stood Patrascue.

Chapter 31.

Bran Castle Sat.u.r.day, November 19

As I was thrust into the room, the tableau moved and they all turned to stare at me in horror.

"What is the meaning of this?" the king demanded, rising to his feet. "My dear, what has happened to you?"

"She was obviously attempting to flee and she was caught by my men," Patrascue said before I could answer. "Now we have apprehended both the suspects. The case is complete. You can proceed with your wedding with confidence and serenity."

"What are you talking about?" I demanded.

Darcy gave me a long look that warned me not to say too much. "This idiot has told Their Majesties that Pirin was poisoned, and what's more, he has got it into his head that you and I were paid to come and carry out the murder."

"It is too obvious for someone of my experience and talent," Patrascue said. "Mr. O'Mara thought he would cleverly pretend to drive away with the body before I had a chance to examine it. I expect he has tried to hide the evidence. And Lady Georgiana denies that she hid the vial of poison in the trunk in her room. But they cannot fool Patrascue. I ask myself, why are they really here? Why should she come to this wedding instead of a member of the British royal family?"

"I am a member," I said. "The king is my cousin."

"But why send a mere cousin to represent the English people, when the king could send one of his own children?"

"Because I asked my daughter to invite her," the king said in a voice taut with annoyance. "My son let it be known that he had selected her as his future bride and we wanted her to have a chance to know us better. So you will please treat her with the same respect you accord to us. Is that clear?"

Patrascue gave the merest hint of a bow. "Of course, Majesty. But if she is involved in the cold-blooded murder of an important man, surely your son would wish to know the truth about this before he entered into marriage with such a woman."

"Of course I'm not involved," I said.

Siegfried came over to me. "Georgiana, did these men hurt you? You look terrible. You are bleeding."

"Not these men," I said. "I fell into a dungeon. Count Dragomir did not believe me but there really is an oubliette in this castle. My maid is still down there."

"An oubliette in this castle? Surely it is just a legend."

"I a.s.sure you it's very real," I said.

"How did you come to stumble upon this...o...b..iette?" the king asked.

I hesitated. I was in a foreign country about to implicate its princess. What if n.o.body believed me? It would be easy enough for the king to agree with Patrascue that Darcy and I were the guilty ones. But if I were her father, I'd want to know the truth, wouldn't I? Maybe I could make her confess somehow.

"Would you ask your daughter to join us, Your Majesty?" I said. "I believe she can help prove my innocence."

"Of course. Please tell the princess her presence is required in my private sitting room." One of Patrascue's men bowed and departed.

"Perhaps you are innocent, Lady Georgiana," Patrascue said. "Perhaps it is this Mr. O'Mara who hid the poison in your room to implicate you while he fled with the body. We have heard rumors about Mr. O'Mara. He is a ruthless man and very interested in making money, is this not correct? A certain scandal at a casino?"

Darcy actually laughed. "The scandal was that I was chucked out because I kept winning. They thought I was cheating. Actually I was just d.a.m.ned lucky. The luck of the Irish, don't you know? But let me a.s.sure you that I'm the son of a respected Irish lord. Killing people for money is not something I'd do. Killing people because they annoy me, on the other hand . . ." He stared hard at Patrascue. If the matter hadn't been so serious I would have laughed. Darcy didn't seem to be particularly worried.

"Then why are you here, Mr. O'Mara? I understand from interviewing the other young men that you are not a particular friend of Prince Nicholas."

"We were good friends at school," Nicholas said angrily. "The rest doesn't concern you."

Suddenly it struck me that Nicholas might have antic.i.p.ated some kind of trouble at this wedding and Darcy had been invited to protect him.

"But understand that he is here at my invitation and I have absolute confidence that he has nothing to do with the death of Field Marshal Pirin. The whole suggestion is ludicrous. You should be looking for-"

He broke off as Matty came in, looking puzzled and concerned. When she saw me, a relieved smile crossed her face.

"There you are, Georgie," she said. "I wondered where you had disappeared to. We were all looking for you."

I smiled back. "Oh, I think you know very well where I went to, since you sent me there."

"What do you mean? One minute you were following me up the stairs, but when I reached the top, I turned around and you weren't there."

"Maybe that was because I was in the process of falling down the oubliette," I said.

She gave a tight, nervous laugh. "Oubliette? There's no such thing. Believe me, we hunted for it when we were children, didn't we, Siegfried?"

"Then allow me to show you," I said. "My maid is still trapped in the dungeon below and it's about time someone rescued her."

I marched them back through the halls until I recognized the place where the door had to be.

"Would you please show us the door in the paneling, Your Highness?" I asked Matty.

She shrugged, stepped forward and pushed open a section of the wall.

"You'll see a staircase leads up from here," I said, "and one of these flagstones tips an unsuspecting victim down into a dungeon. I'm not sure which."

"But I go up and down this way all the time," Matty said. "It is a shortcut from my room to the main floor."

"Then, Your Highness, would you like to try them out for us?" I asked.

"Of course." She walked confidently to the staircase and ascended the first couple of steps.

"You see?" She turned and smiled. "There is nothing here but an ordinary pa.s.sageway."

"There must be a k.n.o.b or a lever or something that triggers the mechanism," I said. "Look on the walls. Princess Maria was ahead of me, and-"

Matty looked up sharply. "One minute. You don't think that I sent you into this dungeon? That I brought you here to trick you?"

"I'm afraid that's exactly what I think," I said. "I'm sorry, Matty, but you didn't really want to introduce me to Vlad, did you? You wanted him to stay hidden."

"What?" Matty's father roared. "Vladimir? That boy is here, in the castle? When I forbade you to see him again?"

"No, Father. Of course not," Matty said. "Here's not here. I don't know what Georgiana is talking about."

"Come down here, young woman," the king commanded. "Come out into the light where I can see your face. I always know if you are lying to me."

"Father, please, not in front of these people." Matty came back down the stairs. Patrascue's men, who had crammed themselves into the narrow hallway, stepped aside for her. There was a lot of jostling and moving and as she stepped down from the bottom step the floor suddenly tilted beneath her. Matty screamed as she started to fall. Hands reached out to grab her and she was dragged back to safety. We stood staring at the black cavity below us.

"Now do you believe me?" I asked. "Queenie?" I shouted. "Can you hear me?"

"Is that you, miss?" a voice echoed up, sounding distant and hollow. "I'm still here."

"We'll have you out in a jiffy," I shouted back.

"Your Majesty, what is happening?" Count Dragomir appeared behind us. "Is there really an oubliette? After all these years! I thought it was just a legend."

"My maid is still down there," I said.

"I apologize, Lady Georgiana. We will have her brought out instantly."

The king turned to him. "And I ask you, Dragomir-did you know that Vlad was in the castle?"

"I did not, Majesty," Dragomir said angrily. "I made it clear to him that he should stay away."

"I want the castle searched in case he is hiding out," the king said. "You will set every available man to this task, is that clear?"

"Yes, Majesty," Dragomir said in a flat voice, "but Vlad gave me his word and-"

"He's not here, Father," Matty shouted.

"Every available man!" the king thundered. "And as for you, madam"-he turned to glare at his daughter-"I want to know the truth from you. Return to my study this instant. We can't have matters like this shouted up and down the halls for everyone to hear."