Lucy said, “And Zamiel said, Who are you? His voice was like thunder—”

Charlotte said, “And Peter said, Peter Kelmar, a freeborn huntsman.”

Lucy said, “And Zamiel said, A huntsman? I do not harm true huntsmen, or those they protect. Go in peace!”

Charlotte said, “And then Zamiel wheeled his horse around and the hunt rose up into the sky and they all flew away….”

“And do you know?” said Lucy. “Peter only had one bullet with him—and that was the silver one! And he’d shot that through the door letting us out!”

“Oh, the fool,” I said. “What was he thinking of?”

“No, he’s not!” said Charlotte. “He was really brave.”

“That was the bravest thing I ever saw, when he stood up to Zamiel,” said Lucy. “If he hadn’t done that…”

“Where is he now?” said Hannerl. “Has he still got the horse with him?”

Charlotte explained where Peter was hiding, and Hannerl hastened out. She’d bring the horse back to the stable, she said, since Peter’d be too busy and the owner would be worried about it.

Eliza sat back thoughtfully. “What are you going to do now, though?” she said. “I suppose Miss Davenport could take you in—I know she’d like to, but the law’s very strict about that sort of thing.”

“It’s got to be relations or nothing, that’s the law,” said Max. “You got any cousins anywhere?”

“No one,” said Lucy. “Count Karlstein’s our only relative.”

“Was,” I said, before I could help it. They looked at me in surprise; and I told them, in my turn, what had happened just after midnight in the tower. I missed out some of it, though—I said that their uncle had had an apoplectic fit and died at once. They listened without speaking, without moving, without taking their eyes from my face. And when I’d finished, they said nothing, but looked down at the floor; and Lucy said in a small voice, “We are alone, then.”

“Oh, nonsense!” said Ma loudly. “You’ll always have a welcome here, my dears! You don’t think we’d turn you out and wave good-bye, do you?”

“It ain’t as simple as that, ma’am, begging your pardon,” said Max. “See, being an orphan meself, and in the profession, like, I know a bit about it. If there’s no relations living, they’ll have to go into an orphanage. That’s the law. But they ain’t bad places,” he went on, turning to the girls. “We had a rare old time in Geneva when I was a lad. We used to play ’em up something terrible, those old biddies who ran the place. There was one time—”

“Hush, Maxie,” said Eliza. “We’ll think about all that later. When’s this contest going to start?” she asked Ma, trying to sound bright and cheery, and not really succeeding. Lucy had tears in her eyes, but she blinked them back and pretended to be interested in the contest, too, and Charlotte was too tired to feel anything.