The Hidden Mistress - An Erotica and Romance Paranormal/Historical Novelette Read Online Free PDF Page A

cautious step, Marie made her way down the corridor. The faces on the paintings seemed to glare down at her. Soon she glimpsed a doorway, no more than a dark opening inside deep shadow. Walking armed in there would be dangerous if she slipped, so she snapped off a burning candle and brought it with her, doing her best to keep the rapier from dragging on the floor.
    She knew this was an insane thing to do, but she would not hide under her blanket if the baroness needed help. For some reason, Sophie’s hard eyes and strange behaviour during the dinner came back to her. Could there have been a drama between the baroness and Sophie? There had absolutely been a tension in the room, although Marie had not suspected that it could have led to a fight.
    She passed through the doorway and found herself in a colossal round room. Looking up, the glimpsed the ceiling some twenty metres above. The doorway exited on a landing, from which stairs along the walls lead up and down. The steps appeared sized for giants; they had to be at least five metres wide. Two oval windows let in enough moonlight for Marie to make out polished silvery railings.
    Just as Marie stopped and tried to decide whether to go up or down, the scream came again, this time high-pitched and cut short. It was definitely a woman’s shout. Marie stood shivering while the echo faded away into silence. From here, she could tell that the sound had come from upstairs.
    There was no time to waste. Lifting her candle and her rapier, Marie padded up the stairs while she tried not to think about what awaited her. Perhaps there was a murderer making his way through the building, pausing at every room to slit the throats of everyone inside. Blood might cover the walls, the floor, even the ceili –
    Stop it , she told herself. Her mind was growing feverish. What mattered was finding the source of the sound, and make sure no one came to harm.
    She reached a new landing and stopped at its doorway. Inside she saw a wide corridor, its ceiling so high it was lost in shadow. The doorway was partially concealed by a heavy curtain secured with a thick rope. Marie had seen such curtains before; they were used to stop draughts from travelling through the corridors. Leaning against the wall, she hid as well as she could behind the curtain, then she peered out and listened.
    All was silent. No one moved in the corridor. There were no lights, but at the end of the corridor was a cathedral-like leaded window that tapered off into a sharp top. Part of the moon was visible, its light turned by the coloured glass panes into a soft red and blue glow. From where Marie stood, she could glimpse two large doors on each side of the corridor. Apart from two sets of plate armour, mounted so that they faced each other between the doors, there was no other furniture or decorations.
    A new scream erupted from one of the rooms, and Marie almost dropped both candle and sword in shock. Short but sharp, the shout had been filled with what sounded like mortal dread. The hair on the back of Marie’s neck tried to lift off her scalp. Never before had she heard such a tormented wail. If the baroness had guards, they were deaf or already dead.
    Taking a deep breath, Marie lifted the rapier. She tried not to picture the nightmare that might wait for her in one of the rooms. This might be the most harebrained and absurd decision she had ever made. Still, she had to act. Someone’s life was at stake. Whatever went on had to be stopped, and fate had chosen her to do it. She would run up to the nearest door, force it open and order the attacker to give up. Preparing herself for the worst, she took a deep breath, and moved forward.
    A new shout came from one of the rooms, but this time the scream was different. It was muffled, longer, and... wrong .
    Marie froze. Standing absolutely still, she blinked in the faint light. She could not figure out what had made her so unsure – if anything, the continued screaming should