Her bridal shoes held her back, but their dainty ankle straps would take precious time to release—time she didn’t have. Scrambling up the path, she had almost reached the cliff-edge when she heard the sound of hysterical yapping—unmistakable yapping. She stopped short, panting for breath, and swung around to scan the rocks in an attempt to find Fudge. And then she saw him—a small barrel of loyalty, attempting to keep Claudia and her lover at bay. Sensing Annalisa’s abrupt halt, the old dog turned to look at her. Wagging his tail uncertainly, he came trotting after her. It seemed to Annalisa then that the whole scene played out in slow motion as Claudia dipped down to pick up the red ball and took aim…
It smacked against the rocks and Fudge stopped to watch, his head lifting and falling as he followed its hypnotic progress. It bounced once, twice, and then disappeared completely down a jagged gap—with the old dog careering after it.
‘Better get down there after him before he drowns,’ Claudia called across to Annalisa. ‘Oh, and don’t worry about signing this.’ She waved the contract at her. ‘I’ll just take the necklace instead.’
Annalisa could only ball her hands into impotent fists as she watched them go. Ramon’s chauffeur must have worked for Claudia’s father at one time, she thought, furious with herself for not thinking of it sooner. She channelled her mind determinedly to the present. ‘Don’t worry, Fudge. I’m coming!’
But even as she was scrambling over the rocks with her underskirt scrunched up around her waist she managed a fierce smile. Claudia belonged to the past. Ramon and their child were the future.
Annalisa inched her hand cautiously through the rusted grille to feel around and realised that Fudge had blundered into some sort of underground cellar. When he had fallen he’d dislodged the cover. The hinges were so stiff it took all her strength to lift it, by which time her hands were cut and her nails smashed to smithereens. Lowering herself down gingerly, she found a foothold on some treacherous steps. Blunted by slime into more of a slope, they made the rescue of the old dog doubly perilous.
Just when she made out his luminous brown eyes she heard an ominous clang as the cover slammed shut again. And then she noticed the basement was flooding with seawater. If she didn’t take care she’d slide straight down and they’d both be trapped. Hardly stopping to think, she began to unhook her sturdily constructed couture bodice. Tugging it off, she unfastened the straps on her white satin shoes. Using the heels to scrape away at the build-up of moss and lichen, she made a reasonably flat surface, laid the bodice down and stepped onto it. The cover yielded easily now she had a firm foothold, and she made a bundle of the bodice, putting it on the ground to wedge the grille open if it should fall again.
Fudge’s howls told her he was getting tired. Waves were sweeping into the cellar and at any moment he could be lost. She needed a rope…something to attach to his collar to bring him back up the steps. Casting around desperately in the gloom, her eyes lit upon her sodden petticoat. The lace edge was perfect for what she had in mind. Ripping the pearl-strewn trimming off its filmy lawn base, she twisted it into a rope and tested it.
‘Perfect,’ she murmured with satisfaction.
Taking her time over each step, she slowly descended into the cellar and knelt down in the murky water next to the shivering dog.
‘Annalisa! Annalisa! Thank God! What on earth are you doing?’
‘Ramon!’ Rocketing back on her haunches, Annalisa stared up at the circle of sunlight above her head. ‘Fudge fell down…’ She watched as he quickly discarded his short formal jacket and tugged off the traditional wedding shirt embroidered with the black silk into which she had so painstakingly added the last few stitches.
‘How is he? Is he hurt?’ he called.
‘No. He’s fine,’ she called back. ‘I’ve got him here with me.’
‘Stay exactly where you are,’ Ramon instructed. ‘Don’t move.’
‘How did you find us?’
‘Maria Teresa,’ he explained shortly, lowering himself in. Testing the steps, he chose to swing over the side, clinging on by his hands and then dropping into the water beside her. He dragged Annalisa into his arms. ‘She ran all the way to the church to find me, poor woman. As soon as she told me what had happened I went to find you.’ He stopped, burying his face in her hair. ‘I didn’t know what had happened to you…I was so frightened.’
‘You—frightened?’ But when she pulled back and saw the depth of the pain in his eyes she linked her fingers behind his neck and softened against him.