Page 94 of Too Wanton to Wed
Her face blanched the moment she put it together. “What are we going to do?”
He thought it over. “Nothing yet. This sanctuary has withstood centuries of English history, so it can certainly withstand an afternoon of village idiots. Besides, there’s so many layers of board between us and them, a battering ram couldn’t break through. We have time.”
“I don’t know,” she said quietly, her expression doubtful. “I have a lot of faith in the ingenuity of evil men.”
Their fingers entwined. They stood together in the dark, side by side, ears cocked for danger. The voices grew louder, stronger. Indistinct conversation was punctuated by the occasional “Stake the demon!” or “Burn in hell!” Perhaps Violet was right. This might not be over quickly. The mob showed no signs of waning.
“Papa?” came Lily’s shaky voice from the other side of her bed curtain.
“Yes, sweetling?”
“I smell smoke. Is something on fire?”
His heart stopped as the acrid scent began to sear his nostrils.
Violet gripped his fingers almost hard enough to snap bone. She jabbed the index finger of her free hand across the room at the boarded-over window.
Tendrils of smoke curled in from fine cracks between the boards. Bits of glass cracked and shattered. The edges of the mural closest to the source began to blacken from the heat and flame.
“Papa!”Lily’s voice took on an edge of panic.
He tugged Violet forward. “Gather all the remaining liniments and tie them together with the cloth.”
Nodding, she ripped a strip of linen to bind one of the folded sheets and did as he asked.
As quickly as he could, he applied a thick layer of fresh ointment over his daughter’s burns before carefully wrapping her in one of the ice-cold linens and lifting her into his arms.
“Violet, can you tie the liniments to my waist?” he asked.
“No... too unpredictable.” She fashioned a small loop with another strip of linen, double-knotted it to the first, and slipped the bundle over his wrist. “There. Now it won’t fall off. What else can I do?”
“It’s too dangerous to stay here... ” He glanced at the billowing smoke and tried to come up with a plan. “I’ll take Lily out through the library. You head to the main wing and find Roper. Have him meet us out back with the carriage.”
“Done.” She raced unlock the door.
Before crossing the threshold, he leaned forward for one last kiss goodbye. Whatever happened, he did not want to die with another missed opportunity on his conscience.
“I saw that,” Lily whispered up at him once they reached the catacombs.
“Good,” he said, grinning down at her. “I hope you see it a lot more.”
They were almost to the library when Violet came racing after them, her lungs heaving.
“Can’t,” she coughed, thumping at her chest. “Fire. Smoke.”
Fear slithered down his back. Roper was resourceful, he reminded himself. Everyone on his staff was resourceful. They were fine. Everyone was going to be fine. Yet panic crawled beneath his skin.
Violet held open the library door then hurried past him to unlock the secret exit. She eased the door open the tiniest crack and peered outside before nodding and motioning him and Lily through.
“They must all be over by the sanctuary,” she whispered, as if the frenzied mob might somehow overhear their voices and come running with their pitchforks and torches. “It’s clear.Hurry.”
He tugged the linens up over his daughter’s face and stepped through the door. By the sudden tensing in Lily’s limbs, the multiple layers of wet cloth were still not one hundred percent capable of shielding her from the slowly setting sun. In another hour, perhaps, the world would be bathed in darkness. But for now, they needed shelter.
“Let’s go.” Hunching over to give Lily as much protection as possible, he pushed toward his rose garden. “Out past the back lawn.”
Violet hurried ahead and glanced over her shoulder with a frown. “I don’t see anything except the woods!”
“Exactly.” He kept moving forward. “The trees will provide shelter, at least until the fire comes too close. If we’re lucky, we may even stumble across one of my overfed horses.”
