I'm a damsel, I'm in distress, I can handle this. ~ Walt Disney Company.

Chapter 50.

Damsels in Distress.

Raj had never been to Bath on his own, and he could feel the stares he got as he went about the city. It wasn't every day you saw a man walking around, dressed in the traditional garb of India in England.

Of course the stares of people where the last concern of his at the moment. He needed to discover where Catrin Llewelyn was staying. In their rush and panic, neither Elwyn nor Charles, nor even Raj himself had paused to think that they didn't exactly know where Catrin was staying. She was supposed to send a letter once she and Mrs. Fairfax had taken up lodgings, but of course Raj had traveled long before it.

At last Raj decided that the best thing to do would be to find the stepmother, because no doubt the woman knew where her stepdaugher was staying. He knew that she had traveled here with Lady Morton, wife of the Earl of Worthington. It was a prominant name in society and after some inquires, he was able to discover her lodgings. The hard part was how to pull the information out of them.

But fate was smiling on Raj that day, and as he approached the fancy home where the ladies were staying he spotted a familiar face. It was the little girl who had let him in the day he had rushed to fetch Charles to save his master. He couldn't remember her name, but felt sure she would recongnize him and hurried over.

"Little girl," he called out to her.

Fanny turned and let out a gasp. "Oh, I remember you. You're that fellow 'oo came to fetch Mr. Errol."

"Yes, I am he. Master Errol sent me here to see you mistress, but I don't know where to find her. I came to the house of Lady Morton hoping they would give me some clues, and then I caught sight of you."

"I was just 'ere to pass on a note to Mrs. Llewelyn," Fanny explained. "We've only arrived and already seen 'er. She called on Mrs. Fairfax and be'aved wery kind. Mrs. Llewelyn wanted Miss Catrin and Mrs. Fairfax to come and see a music concert with 'er and Lady Morton today, but I've been sent with a note to say they cannot make it. Our Miss Catrin seems to 'ave taken ill. I've ne're seen 'er so pale afore."

Raj took a deep breath. He did not like the sound of that. "We must hurry," he stated. "Take me to the house."

The alarm in his eyes was quickly caught by Fanny. She motioned for him to follow her and they turned several streets before coming to a small but tidy house. Fanny knocked on the door and when it opened let Raj in first.

"Amy," she addressed the girl who had let them in. "Where is Miss Catrin?"

"I believe she's in the sitting room, why?"

"The man...oh, I don't know yer name, sir."

"Raj, child. My name is Raj."

"The man Raj wants to see 'er. 'E comes from Master Errol."

"Follow me, sir." Amy said. They walked up a narrow flight of stares and into the sitting room. It was a small room with little space to boast of, but the furniture was arranged in a neat and comfortable fashion so that you would be comfortable despite the crampness. Catrin sat in the corner, she held needle work in her hands, but was staring out the window.

One glance told Raj just how unwell she was.

"Miss Catrin," Amy called.

Catrin turned her head and rose to her feet at the sight of Raj.

"Raj," she called to him in a weak voice. "You come with news from Charles?"

Raj, despite knowing it was very improper of him, but filled with concern for the girl who was so loved by his master's cousin, walked up and grasped her hands.

"Sahib Charles sent me here, Miss Llewelyn, to warn you that your mother wants to end you life."

It was shocking news and hit Catrin so hard she had to sit down.

"I...I...I beg your pardon," she sputtered.

Raj sat down beside her. "There is a story," he said. "About how the name of Llewelyn came to own it, and why the manor is entitled to the eldest child and not the eldest son. Long ago a wicked stepmother hung her stepson on the great oak that is known as the Old Hanging Tree. She wanted her own son to inherite the manor. However her deed was discovered by the unfortunate heir's sister, who related the news to their father. The father, filled with anger, made a new will, giving the manor to his daughter, who married a man named Llewelyn, hence the name. And from then on the manor was passed down to eldest child, that is why you are heiress."

Catrin slowly nodded, wondering what he was leading too.

"My master's uncle is a man who knows everything about the places around him," Raj continued. "He has once told my master that according to the will of the first Llewelyn of Derwen Goch, it says that if the day comes when the manor is left without any heir, only a person with the name of Llewelyn can make any claims to the estate."

Once more, Catrin nodded.

"Miss Llewelyn, you are the heiress, but if something were to happen to you, the manor would be heirless, and your stepmother, though having no relation to you, just so happens to share you name. She is the wife of your late father, who has no direct descendents besides you. Can't you see, if you are to die, she has first claim to the entire manor!"

He gazed deep into her eyes, hoping she would understand. Catrin tried to, but so many things didn't make sense.

"But if that is so why didn't she kill me right from the start?" She pointed out. "Why go around trying to marry Beatrice and keep me hidden if all she had to do was end my life? And is Mamma really capable of doing such a thing? I know now that she saw me as competition right from the start, but to try and murder me?" Catrin shuddered at the thought.

"I can explain nothing, Miss Llewelyn, all I can say is look at you. People come to Bath to be cured, and you were healthier in the foul air of London than here. You have been seeing a lot of your stepmother."

"But she came by only once, and it was to see Mrs. Fairfax about Beatrice. We hardly saw each other, except when she invited us to the concert. I was not going to attend with her as it was, and when I felt sick this morning it was a perfect excuse."

Raj gave a shrug. "I was told she is a shrew woman. Look at how she has treated your stepsister, and Miss Morton is her flesh and blood daughter. I remember how she came to us with torn up hands, I remember it well. Seeing you are you are now, I have no doubt Mrs. Llewelyn is givng you poison, no doubt bit by bit, building it up and building it up, until at last there is too much. No one will understand what killed you. It is the woman's weapon, the king of poison and poison of kings."

Catrin let out a little gasp. "Arsenic! You believe she is giving me arsenic?"

"What else?"

Her head was beginning to spin and Catrin leaned back. Could Mamma truly have been putting poison in her drink? Would she really do that? And out of the blue? For twenty years she put up with Catrin and now decides to kill her? How much better to have done it while Catrin was tucked away at the manor, it would have been a simpler, quieter affair.

But asking questions was useless. Now she had to make up her mind what to do.

"Please, Miss Llewelyn," Raj pleaded. "Get away from Bath. Get as far away from this woman as you can. Sahib Charles will never forgive me if something where to happen to you. He sent me here to take you away, take you back to Derwen Goch. The housekeeper there is your friend, the servants care for you more than for second wife of the former master. They will help you. I cannot go back empty handed, I cannot. Mrs. Fairfax will surely understand! Get away while you are still alive, while there is still a chance of your body fighting the poison."

Catrin glanced up at him. Run away? Run away like Beatrice did? Be a fugitive? Hadn't she been that long enough?

Slowly Catrin shook her head. "Raj, I do not want to spend my whole life running from Mamma. I do not want her to be something big and frightening all the time. Dragons aren't there to be tolerated, they are there to be defeated. If you tolerate them you just end up locked in that tower for the rest of your life. Poor Papa, if he only knew what sort of woman he married, but perhaps she would not have become like this if he had lived longer." Taking a deep breath, Catrin got up. "I will leave for Derwen Goch, but first I will confront my stepmother."

Her words had Raj leaping to his feet. "No, Miss Llewelyn, no!"

"Of course I am! I will go there right now. I will look into her eyes and make her understand she is playing with fire, and is about to get burned. It's about time that woman fell into her own trap. I hoped she would just live and let live, but since she will not, I shall take matters into my own hands. I may be the damsel in distress, but today I have also become my own knight."

Raj tried to protest, but to no avail. Catrin called Fanny to help her dress and within then next half hour was driving in a cab to the home of Lady Morton. Raj had insisted on coming with her and it was quite a surprising visit for Mrs. Llewelyn, who was home alone when they called.

"Cadi!" She exclaimed, rising from her seat when Catrin entered the room. "I recieved your note, and goodness me, you do not look well. Quite under the weather indeed."

"More like under your poison," Catrin icily replied.

It hadn't been an answer or a tone Mrs. Llewelyn had seen coming and for a few seconds she was speechless. "What are you talking about, Cadi dear?" She sputtered at last. "What poison?"

"There is no need for us to play ignorant, Mamma," Catrin retorted. "You have decided to kill me. I don't know if it is because I have cut you off, or perhaps because Beatrice has run off and you have no back-up plan, since she will not help you and I will not help you. Whatever the reason, you are hoping to kill me off and lay claim to the manor. But look at me, Mamma, I still live. Arsenic can be battled off if the dose is small enough, and so far you have not given me enough to kill me."

Catrin, despite feeling very weak, took a few steps closer to Mrs. Llewelyn. "And I promise you this, Mamma, you will never kill me. Even if you put enough poison to kill a giant, I will not die. I will not die just to spite you. I am not the poor little stepdaughter, helpless and alone. I am Catrin Llewelyn, heiress to the manor, and one who will not give it up without a fight! What is more, if I have decided to fight, be sure I have decided to win.

Just like my anscestor before me, I will not allow some stepmother to take that which never rightfully belonged to her. You cannot kill off the rightful heir to try and replace it with your own. You may be Llewelyn in name, but I am Llewelyn in blood, and I will protect that which has been passed down from generations. I will leave, Mamma, I shall go far from you and never think of you again, but you, Mrs. Llewelyn, Mrs. Morton, Miss Ellsworth, you shall remember be as long as you live. Remember me as the girl you could not break, that thorn in the flesh you could not get rid of, that princess you could not keep locked up.

Yes, Mamma, I will live, and I will bear children; children who will have the Llewelyn blood in them, and they will play at the old hanging tree, where one such as you tried to do what you have attempted, and failed, just as you have. Admit it, Mamma, you failed, you have been failing miserably all this year."

Mrs. Llewelyn took a deep breath, her eyes filled with rage. She wanted to speak, but Catrin wasn't through yet.

"Before I go, however, I will demand an explantion as to why kill me and why now. Give it!"

No one dared order Mrs. Llewelyn around, but in her anger she didn't quite notice this.

"Thorn in my flesh, I like how you put that, Cadi. I was ready to let you have the manor as long as you didn't get in the way of my daughter. But you had to go and steal the one thing I meant for her. Lord Woodworth was meant for Beatrice! BEATRICE! You took him from her, from me! Did you think I was going to let you get away from it? And then, in gratitude for raising you, hiring fine tutors to coach you in dancing and art and music and langauges you cut me off with a meager little sum, and are so self righteous about it! Did you think I would let you get away with it? You want the truth? I'll give you the truth. Yes, there was arsenic, and there will be more. Let us see who breaks in the end. Just wait, little lady, just wait. I will break you, I will end you! Llewelyn Manor will got to Beatrice, that will be your compensation for taking Lord Woodworth from us. And I, I will dance on your grave."

Catrin chuckled. "I think not, Mamma, I think not. You have said these words in the presence of a witness," she motioned to Raj. "We have a confession and a threat from you own lips. Do not think for a moment that we will not hesitate to use it. If I die, which I have already said I will not because I must spite you, but if I do die, you will be first suspect. And there are a lot of other truths that will come out. You have just admitted to attemping and threatened to continue to attmpt murder. Murder, Mamma! Cannot you not realize the seriousoness of it all? I would be very, very, careful if I were you."

Mrs. Llewelyn caught her breath. Only now did she realize she'd said more than she was supposed to. Raj had been so quiet, almost hiding in a corner, she'd forgotten about him.

"I will tell the servants at Derwen Goch what you have threatened," Catrin continued. "They will of course be on my side. If you decide to return to the manor, I do not think they will take kindly to you. In fact they will view your arrival as my death sentence. I will tell my betrothed, I will tell his cousin, who the Earl of Llys Gwyn and has returned to his lands. I will tell Mrs. Fairfax, and Amy and Fanny. Many people will know, Mamma. Who knows, if it humors me I shall tell all of society what you threatened. So once again, be careful, be very careful."

A slight smile played on Catrin's lips. "With that warning, Mamma, I shall depart. Farewell. I doubt we will ever meet again."

Catrin gave a little bow and turned to go. Raj lagged behind and spoke up.

"I am servant to the Earl of Llys Gwyn, who is a personal friend of the Duke of Wellington, not to mention cousin to the man who is to marry your stepdaughter. He sent me here because he guessed you were going to kill Miss Llewelyn. You can be sure he will mentioned it to his friend, the Duke, who may in turn tell many people about it. He may even mention it to your brother-in-law. I would heed your stepdaughter's warning if I were you." Giving her a hard glare, he followed Catrin, who was just deparing out of the room. Mrs. Llewelyn was left alone, filled with anger and rage and a certain amount of fear.

Who would have thought that one day her own schemes would turn against her and she would be utterly powerless to stop it. Everyone knew her stepdaughter had cut her off, everyone knew her daughter had run away, everyone knew Lord Woodworth had been disowned for refusing to marry Miss Morton, that Miss Morton had run away the night after she had turned down Lord Woodworth, who had gone and gotten enganged to Miss Llewelyn. She had hoped to cover up with a mask of goodness, but Cadi had just stolen that mask from her, and in the presence of a witness.

For the first time she tasted the fruit of defeat, and it was bitter to the heart.

Catrin and Raj in the meantime, had left the house without incident, but just as she was about to climb into the cab, Catrin felt the world beginning to spin. She tried to gain control of herself but it was no good and if Raj had not been there to catch her, she would have tumbled to the cobblestone road in a sensless heap.

***

Beatrice took a deep breath. She had agreed with Heulwen that they would run a quarter past midnight. It was already ten past, that meant it was time to get rid of the guard who sat at her door.

"I really hope this works," she muttered as she took the sleeping draught and poured it into the empty basin. After this she took a piece from a shredded sheet Heulwen had smuggled earlier and soaked it in the solution. When this was done she crept up to the door and waited.

Soon footsteps could be heard and Heulwen's voice spoke,

"I've come for Miss Morton."

"Why?" The guard demanded.

"The colonel has just returned and wants her. He awoke me at this ungodly hour and sent me to fetch her. I must ready her...if you follow me."

"Can't he come up to her himself?"

"If you wish you can go and ask him that yourself."

There was a slight pause. "Alright. Have you got the key?"

"Would I be up here without it?"

There was some shuffling and then a snap. The door opened and the guard barely had time to step back to let Heulwen in before Beatrice jumped at him and gagged his mouth with the sheet. He strugged and thrust her off, but the strong concentration got the better of him and he slumped down in a heap.

"That was a rather loud tumble to the ground," Heulwen pointed in a nervous whisper.

"What can we do about it?" Beatrice muttered. "Come along, help me."

Together the dragged the unconscience guard into the room and locked him inside.

"Where to now?" Beatrice asked.

"Follow me."

The tiptoed barefoot down the corridor, carrying their shoes in their hands.

"Is Lady Blethyn asleep?"

"Yes, I put the draught into her evening glass of honey and milk. There is one serious concern, however, Colonel Blethyn is gone, but he has a habit of returning at odd hours of the night. He could discover everything."

"Then we had better hurry."

They got to the other attic room and crept inside. Beatrice unlocked the windown while Heulwen retrieved the long rope she had made by tying sheets together.

"Well, Rapunzel," Beatrice turned to Heulwen, "Let's let down your hair and hope the witch doesn't come round to cut it."

With a nervous laugh the the girls lowered the rope down.

"I'll go first," Beatrice offered. "I've often pulled stunts like this before."

"So have I," Heulwen giggled. "But you are the one to be married off against your will, so you should be first."

Climbing up to the window, Beatrice cautiously grasped the rope and began her descent. She passed by the windows of Lady Blethyn. The shutters with closed for the night and it was impossible to peak inside.

"No doubt she is terrified of someone coming to haunt her for all her sins," Beatrice giggled silently to herself. At last she was on the ground. She tugged a bit at the rope to get the message to Heulwen and in a few moments the long haired beauty was climbing down as well. In no time the girls were together on the grassy lawn, which was wet with the nighttime dew.

"We cannot go to your brothers just yet," Beatrice stated. "They will be the first to be searched. Let us go to Derwen Goch. We can hide out on the manor and send word to them to fetch us. It is a long walk, however, so let us get going."

Heulwen gave a nervous nod and the two girls set off, hoping against hope that they would make it to the safety of the manor mansion before Colonel Blethyn returned and realized his captive treasure had made a run for it, taking his mother's prized maid with her.