Fire.
The house was ablaze and…
She’d whirled from the window and to the dresser in which Alexandra’s bedsheets were kept.Water splashed as she hastily emptied the washstand pitcher into the matching basin to soak a sheet and scarf she’d dumped inside.
Shouts sounded – Elks’ voice — as he became aware of what was transpiring.
Someone banged on her bedchamber door.
“Get yourself to safety,” Samantha yelled.“I’m coming.”
“But—”
“Go!”The command was delivered as she collected Alexandra and wrapped her in the wet sheet.
A whimper conveyed the baby’s disapproval and swiftly gave way to a louder cry as she came more fully awake.The wet sheet would be cold for Alexandra.Uncomfortable, but a necessary precaution against the heat Samantha feared they would have to pass through as they left the house.
Having tied the equally wet scarf around her nose and mouth, she approached the stairs.Anxious shouts came from every direction.Smoke was already visible near the landing, drifting upward like a filthy fog.
The fire was spreading fast.
Holding Alexandra firmly in her arms, Samantha started down the stairs, and was met by Stewart, one of the footmen, who was going the opposite way.
She stopped, deliberately blocking his path.“What are you doing?You have to get out.”
“Not while there are still people upstairs.”He coughed while attempting to cover his mouth and nose with his arm.“I’ve got to warn the rest of the servants.”
“No.”Samantha could see the tragedy this could lead to – Stewart vanishing up the stairs and getting trapped.This, being their last interaction.The guilt she’d have to live with when every servant here was her and Adrian’s responsibility.
But with Adrian gone…
She made a swift decision and thrust Alexandra toward Stewart.Instinct made him grab her.“Take her to safety.Now.”
“Mrs.Croft, you can’t—”
“Get out,” she snapped, already moving away from the footman, away from her wailing daughter, and away from the certainty of survival.“Go!”
Without glancing back, Samantha hiked up her nightgown and bolted back the way she’d come.She ran past the nursery and her bedchamber, toward the service stairs at the back of the house.If she could get the servants who slept upstairs down to the kitchen, then they could exit through the service entry.
She entered the stairwell and was greeted by the approaching clatter of feet on the stairs.A shouted warning, “Fire,” informed her it was Turner.The servant who doubled as groom, when he wasn’t assisting Adrian or Murry, came into view.
His surprise over spotting her instantly gave way to horror.“Mrs.Croft.You have to get out of the house.”
“And so I shall” – she started climbing the stairs – “as soon as I’ve made sure everyone has been evacuated.You should go.Leave it to me.”
“And die at Croft’s hand?I think not.”Turner’s footfalls fell heavily on the steps behind her.“Where’s your daughter?”
“With Stewart.I told him to take her to safety.”
“You should have stayed with her,” Turner insisted.“Ward and I were already sweeping the house to make sure no one gets left behind.”
“Thank you, but everyone who works here is my responsibility.And Croft’s.”She reached the uppermost landing and pulled the door leading into the male servants’ quarters open.“We’ll not abandon any of you.”
She started banging on doors and thrusting them open.Turner did the same and was able to rouse the two hall boys who slept.Pierson, the other footman, who’d heard the ruckus, was hastily getting dressed.
“Take the stairs all the way to the kitchen,” Turner told the three servants while Samantha tried the door that lead to the women’s side of the servants’ quarters.“Use the nearest exit, then go to the front of the house so you can be accounted for.”
When the door didn’t budge, Samantha rammed her shoulder against it.Nothing.She banged on it with her fist.“Anyone in there?”
