She clung to it and realised that her headlong fall had stopped.
She gazed upwards and to her joy the Earl’s dear face appeared over the edge of the cliff.
“Tamina! My darling girl. Oh, dear Heavens! Do not move. Not an inch.”
“Ivan! You came back for me.”
“Did you think I would ever leave you? This is all my fault!”
“Oh! – ”
Tamina gave a little cry as the root began to ease out of the mud.
“Ivan!”
But he had vanished.
Tamina stood as still as she could, refusing to look down at the wicked rocks and crashing waves far below.
Even in this time of desperation, part of her heart was singing with joy. He had called her his darling girl!
He must have forgiven her for misleading him.
Her feelings for him were returned!
He loved her! Even if her life was about to end, she knew that
