smiled at her, a mocking smile that made her even angrier. ‘Rest now, Regan.’ His words seemed to imply she was going to need it.
She waited until she heard the sound of the key turning in the lock before going over to the window. Goodness, it was a long way down! Come to think of it, it was a long time since she had climbed even a tree, and a drainpipe certainly didn't have the footholds of a tree. Still, there was no other way she was going to get out of here before tomorrow, before her wedding. And if that wasn't incentive enough to climb down ten floors, let alone three, she didn't know what was! Especially when the proposed bridegroom was Andreas Vatis.
Just what sort of person did he think she was, that she would meekly accept being forced into a marriage with a man who made no secret of his hatred of her? Well, whatever he thought he was wrong, there was nothing meek about her, and never would be.
She changed into denims and a sleeveless vest-top for her climb. She would have to get out on the ledge first, the nearest drainpipe was a couple of feet away. Getting out on to the ledge was easy enough, but after that it wasn't quite so easy. A look down at the ground made her knees shake. It certainly was a long way down! If she should fall …!
That just didn't bear thinking about. She made sure her balance was right before reaching out for the pipe, finding it was farther away than she had thought and having to make a grab for it at the last moment. It gave a terrific groan as it took the whole of her weight but didn't seem to be loosened at all. Its fastenings to the wall were her only footholds, and now that she was actually on it it was difficult to stop herself from falling.
It was a slow climb down, but she seemed to be making it. All she had to do when she reached the ground was——
‘My God!’ she heard a male voice rasp beneath her. ‘What do you think you are doing, Regan?’
She looked down over her shoulder, and the ground seemed to spin dizzily beneath her. Andreas Vatis—it could only have been her tormentor!—stood on the gravel driveway looking up at her, those luminous green eyes incredulous.
She looked back at the wall, trying to stop the sudden spinning of the world. She was still about twelve feet from the ground, out of arm's reach and yet too far from her bedroom window to climb back. So much for her certainty that she would be able to climb down without a hitch!
‘What does it look like?’ she asked through gritted teeth.
‘You are either very stupid or very brave,’ he ground out angrily.
‘Or just desperate,’ she said shakily.
‘Come down from there,’ he ordered. ‘Now!’
‘What do you think I'm trying——’ That angry look round at him was her undoing. Everything started to spin once again, and at the same time her left foot slipped from its precarious perch. ‘Oh no——’ she had time to cry before she began to fall.
The ground suddenly wasn't twelve feet away any more, it was painfully close. And she lay upon it like a broken doll.
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