Haslemere snorted. “A memorable moment, by the looksof you today.”
“I have no idea what you mean,” Gideon replied, pinching his lips together. There were times when Haslemere’s acute powers of perception were a great nuisance.
“Not a thing.” Haslemere gave an innocent shrug. “Unless it’s that you’re a damned fool if you don’t declare your love for her, make her your marchioness, and be done with it, that’s all.”
A half-hearted protest rose to Gideon’s lips. Not because he didn’t intend to make Cecilia his marchioness, but becausesheshould be the first person to hear him say it, not Haslemere. “I wasn’t going to—”
“Of course, you were. For God’s sake, Darlington. Do you think I don’t recognize that absurd, besotted expression on your face?” Haslemere laughed. “We’ve known each other since Eton.”
“You’re a bloody menace, Haslemere. Youdo know that?”
“I’m aware, yes. It’s good fun, being a menace.”
Gideon’s lips twitched. “Your talents are wasted in Kent. London must miss their most dashing rake by now. I thought I’d take Cecilia there, after we’re married.” He was looking forward to exploring the city with her. He used to love London, before he became the Murderous Marquess. Perhaps if he saw it through Cecilia’s eyes, he could learn to love it again. “She’s never been.”
Haslemere shot him an uneasy look. “Yes, er…about that, Darlington.”
Gideon frowned. “What is it?”
“Well, the thing is…damn it, this is deuced awkward, Darlington, but Cecilia is…that is, she isn’tquitewho youimagined she—”
“Lord Darlington!”
Gideon was staring at Haslemere, but now he snapped his head around, his brow furrowing. That had sounded like Duncan’s voice, but he’d given explicit orders for Duncan to remain at Darlington Castle today—
“Lord Darlington,” the voice called again. “My lord, wait!”
Gideon caught a glimpse of red hair, and alarm rose in his chest. ItwasDuncan, in the last place he should be, galloping toward them from the direction of the castle, waving his hat over his head to catch Gideon’s attention. “Something’s wrong, Haslemere.”
“Miss Cecilia sent me,” Duncan panted, leaning over his horse’s neck and struggling to catch his breath. “She bid me to fetch you at once, my lord. There’s something amiss up at the castle, and—”
“Christ, Darlington. Look.”
Gideon turned at the cold dread in Haslemere’s voice, and found his friend staring at the castle in horror. “What? I don’t see—” But in the next breath hedidsee, and his heart gave a sickening lurch in his chest. Smoke was issuing in a thin, black stream from one of the secondfloor windows.
Cassandra’s bedchamber window. Her apartments—the apartments attached to Cecilia and Isabella’s bedchamber—were on fire. For a frozen moment Gideon could only gape at that ominous thread of smoke, his throat working. “Where is everyone, Duncan? Are they—”
“They’ve all gotten out, my lord. I looked back when I rode off to fetch ye, and I saw them all gatheredon the drive.”
Gideon snatched up Duncan’s reins, jerking his horse closer so he could look directly into Duncan’s eyes. “All of them? Are you absolutely certainof it, Duncan?”
Duncan swallowed. “I didna get a close look, but I-I think so, my lord.”
“Fetch the rest of your men, Haslemere, and bring them back to the castle to help us fight the blaze.”
Haslemere shot off in the direction of the woods, snow and bits of torn ground flying from his horse’s hooves. Gideon took off toward the castle at a flat run, Duncan right behind him, but the castle seemed to recede into the distance with his horse’s every stride. His gaze was locked on the window, his lips moving in a prayer to a God who’d taken his wife and son from him—a God Gideon believed had long ago forsaken him.
Please. Please don’ttake them, too.
As they drew closer, he began counting heads, the frantic prayers still pouring from his lips. Mrs. Briggs, and Amy, with Isabella clutched in her arms, and Fraser beside her, yes, they were there, four of them were there, but—
Cecilia. She was missing.
Gideon leapt from his horse before he’d brought him to a stop. “Cecilia?Where is she?”
Amy whirled around at the sound of his voice. She was sobbing as if her heart were torn apart, tears streaming down her cheeks. “The White Lady! S-she’s got Cecilia trapped with her in Lady Cassandra’s bedchamber! I didn’t want to leave her there, my lord, b-but she begged me to get Isabella and Mrs. Briggs out—”
Gideon didn’t wait to hear more, but burst through the doorway and into the entrance hall. The fire hadn’t spread to the ground floor, and there wasn’t much smoke yet. Wild hope flared in his chest. There was still time to get Cecilia out.
