“He’ll be a good neighbor to us,” Richard said thoughtfully. “Your littlest sister, Annie, is delightful, and your sister Jane was a pleasant surprise.”
“That was the real shock,” Callie said with a grin. “She seems to have done a good job of running Marcus’s household these last few years. As she said, marrying the local vicar will give her plenty of opportunities to boss people around as well as keeping an eye on Rush Hall to ensure that it continues to run smoothly.”
“And she laughed when she said it! A sense of humor is not something I ever associated with Jane.”
“She’s improved with the years.” Callie chuckled. “She’d probably say the same of me. I like that I can be friends with my sisters and brother. For so long, I didn’t believe I’d ever see them again.”
“Yet here we are.” Richard tightened his embrace, rocking her a little. “That location you chose is perfect for building a better version of Kingston Court. Since the dell faces south, the new house will be warm and bright all year round and the hills will protect us from the winds.”
“It will be a happy house,” Callie said with a flash of intuition that felt very true. “We’ll have three children, and they’ll all be hellions like we were!”
He chuckled. “But we’ll be much better at handling them than our parents were with us.”
That also felt like truth. “I’m thinking about the floor plan for the new house, but I have some ideas for the dower house, too. We’ll probably be living there for a couple of years and it can use some improvements.”
“Whatever you like, Catkin. I’m just glad that we’ll be able to move in tomorrow. I’d settle for a dovecote in order to get away from Kingston Court.”
She slanted a glance. “The floor of the dressing room wasn’t that bad, was it?”
“Entirely acceptable for a night or two, but winter is coming. I want a warm bed with a warm wife.” He grinned. “Fortunately, I’ve already got the warm wife.”
“All I need is the warm husband,” she said provocatively. “Having a real bed is optional.”
“You realize that if you keep rubbing your delectable backside against me, we won’t be getting any sleep for a while?”
“My wicked plan has succeeded!” Laughing, she turned in his arms and raised her face for a kiss. His hair was silvery pale in the moonlight and he was so handsome she could barely breathe. But it was the tenderness in his eyes that melted her heart. “My Lionheart. . .” she whispered.
The world shattered into flame, pain, and darkness.
* * *
The explosion in the bedroom behind them threw Gordon and Callie hard against the balcony railing. They teetered precariously on the verge of pitching over into the lake. Instinctively he locked her in his arms and wrenched them to the left. His head banged hard into the railing before he came down on top of her as burning debris blasted through the open door.
Dazed, he rolled away from Callie after the rain of shattered wood and stone ended. She lay limp and bleeding in the angle between the balcony floor and railings. Terrified, he checked her throat for a pulse and found one. Her breathing was regular, but she was unconscious and blood trickled down her temple.
When he scrambled to his feet, the balcony lurched underneath him and he realized that it was about to tear loose from the tower and plunge down the cliff. He had to get them off before that happened, but where could they go? The grandest bedchamber in Lancashire had become a flaming holocaust. Though the walls were stone, the floor and furnishings were wood and fabric and they were being consumed by hungry flames. The bed and its hangings were ablaze, and as he watched, the left front corner of the heavy bed sank into the floor as the floorboards beneath burned away.
Towering flames completely blocked the entrance to the room, and the drop below the balcony onto the stony cliff would surely kill them both.The stairway within the walls. Stone was much more resistant to burning and the old stairs were within reach.
Grimly aware of the acrid scent of gunpowder, he turned back to Callie. She was still unconscious so he savagely ripped the blanket that had been protecting them from the cold in half. Hands shaking, he fashioned a sling large enough to hold her limp body and arranged her across his chest.
He had to enter the bedroom to reach the staircase, and the heat was vicious. Behind him, he heard the balcony tearing away and crashing noisily down the cliff until it splashed into the lake. He protected Callie’s face with one arm while he dashed the half dozen steps to the wardrobe.
Gasping from the lack of air, he wrenched the column that controlled the wardrobe and swung the heavy piece of furniture toward him. He had to duck his head when he stepped onto the small landing at the top of the stairwell. The stale air smelled damp and unwholesome, but it was blessedly cool.
He dragged the wardrobe back into place behind him. He was immediately in Stygian darkness, but it felt safer to have something between them and the fire.
He banged his head and swore when he took the first step down, so he forced himself to stop and take a deep, slow breath. He must focus on descending this cramped, slimy set of stairs while keeping his head low to avoid bashing his wits away. It was frightening to move at what felt like a snail’s pace, but to go faster would only court disaster.
The narrow staircase turned to the left, so he used his left arm to keep Callie close and skimmed his right hand along the rough, damp stone wall. He estimated they were perhaps halfway down when Callie stirred in his arms.
“Richard?” She pressed a hand flat against his chest. “What happened?”
“The bedroom exploded,” he said tersely. “If we’d been inside, we’d be ashes by now. You were knocked unconscious. Do you have other injuries?”
There was a pause while she took inventory. “My head is aching, my wits are scrambled, I have rather a lot of bruises, and my left ankle hurts. But nothing significant, I think.” She drew a ragged breath. “Did the coal seam fire cause the explosion?”
“No, but that might have been how it was intended to look.” He paused to rest and draw breath. “I smelled gunpowder. Someone was trying to kill us.”
