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?”

“I was tipped into your famous oubliette,” I said. “My servant is still down there.”

“But the oubliette, it was just a legend,” he said. “Nobody 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 oubliette, 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 assembled 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.