The Dark Earl (51 page)

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Authors: Virginia Henley

Tags: #Romance, #Historical, #Fiction, #General

BOOK: The Dark Earl
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He carried her upstairs, put her down on their wide bed, and propped pillows behind her. “I have to go into Stafford on business, and while I’m gone, I want you to have a rest. I’ll be back in a couple of hours. Here’s Kouli to keep you company.”
“Darling, hand me a couple of the books I brought from London.”
He ran his fingers over the titles. “Which would you like?”
“Any two will do, so long as one of them is
Tom Jones
.”
He raised his eyebrows, pretending to be shocked.
Harry giggled. “I find that men christened Thomas are the very devil!”
He brought her the books and dipped his head for a lingering kiss.
Oh, Harry, you are going to be over the moon when you see the centaurs are back in the Tower of Winds.
 
 
When the farm wagon got to the Stafford coaching inn, it took all five men to lift and load the black marble centaurs. On the way back, Riley sat next to Toby, who was driving the wagon. He was itching to drive the big Staffordshire workhorses, but decided he’d better leave it to someone with experience.
Thomas sat in the bed of the wagon with Ramsey and Vickerstaff. The trio kept a firm grip on the treasured statues to keep them steady. Thomas couldn’t keep the grin from his face. It had taken many years of searching and, once he learned their location, an enormous amount of dealing before he regained possession of the centaurs.
At long last they are returning to Shugborough where they belong.
 
 
Before the wagon drove through the gate, Thomas thought he could smell something burning. The horses slowly clopped past the daffodils in the riverside garden, and the house came into view. Black smoke billowed up from the mansion. All the men saw it at the same time and cried out their alarm. “My God, Shugborough’s afire. We have to save the house!”
Thomas was off the wagon in a flash. “To hell with Shugborough. Harry can’t walk!” He ran as if all the demons in Hades were after him. He dashed between the columns on the portico and when he opened the front door, a cloud of black smoke met him. He could hear the high-pitched sounds of women’s voices—panicking and shouting that seemed to come from the kitchen area. He could not take the time to investigate, but as he bolted toward the stairs, he bellowed, “Get out! Everybody get out!”
He took the stairs two at a time. The higher he went, the thicker the smoke seemed to be. In the hall outside the master bedchamber, the smoke was drifting in menacing gray swirls. It caught in his throat, and it was difficult to take a deep breath, which did nothing to keep his fear for Harry at bay.
He flung open the bedroom door, and was gripped by panic when he saw the bed was empty. Then he heard her cough, and saw that she was on the floor. Her legs prevented her from crawling, but she was pulling herself toward the door using only her hands.
He swooped her up in his arms and began to run.
“Thomas, I knew you’d come for me. Set me down outside and go and fight the fire. We cannot lose Shugborough!”
When he reached the ground floor, he could now hear men’s voices mixed in with the women’s. He could hear someone issuing orders. He was totally focused on getting Harry to safety and didn’t stop running until he reached the stables, where he set her down on a pile of hay in one of the stalls. The only person there was Toby’s young son.
“I want to go and fight the fire, m’lord.”
“I forbid it,” Thomas declared. “Shugborough’s people are what matters, not the hall. I charge you to look after my wife until I return.”
“Go around the back, Thomas, I think it must have started in the kitchen.”
“No time for that,” he explained. “I have to find Kouli.” He was off and running before she could reply.
Back inside the house, Thomas thought the smoke was not quite as thick, but he reasoned that was because it would now be dispersed over a wider area, and a greater number of rooms. He retraced his steps to the master bedchamber. The Persian cat had been with Harry when he had left for Stafford.
He entered the bedroom, calling the cat’s name, but there was no response, and though Thomas circled the entire chamber, there was no sign of Kouli-Khan. He knew that Harry would be distraught if the cat perished, so he searched the bedchambers in the same wing. His heart sank when he came up empty. He knew he should abandon the search and join Shugborough’s people, who he guessed were doing their best to fight the fire and keep it from destroying the entire house.
At the last minute, an idea occurred to him.
Kouli may be hiding under the bed.
Thomas tied his neckcloth around his nose and mouth, went down on all fours, and crawled beneath the bed. He saw the cat huddled in a corner in abject terror. He grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and dragged it toward him. Kouli dug her claws into his hand, but when Thomas did not let go, the cat transferred her claws to his coat and clung tightly.
He ran downstairs and did not stop until he reached the stables. He pried Kouli from his jacket and dropped her into Harry’s lap. “If you stay here in the stables, you’ll be safe.” He was panting heavily. “I’ll go and see what I can do.”
 
 
When Thomas arrived at the back of the hall, he found that the entire house staff, plus Ramsey, the stable grooms, and Riley, had formed a bucket brigade from the outside pump to the kitchen. He saw that the stillroom had burned away completely, and the fire had spread to the kitchen. But because the house was covered in slate, the flames had taken much longer to get inside and do irreparable damage.
The fire had managed to burn through two large window frames and the kitchen door. The iron stove and the immense cooking range were still intact, along with the cast-iron cooking pots and pans. Though the oak table and butcher blocks were on fire and the kitchen chairs were now piles of ash, Thomas was surprised to see that the slate floor was unmarred, the porcelain sinks—though black with soot—were undamaged, and though the walls were smoldering, they were still standing. Thomas was extremely relieved that the fire had not burned through the ceiling to their bedchamber above. There was an abundance of smoke upstairs because it had risen through the chimney of the kitchen fireplace.
Thomas wielded the buckets of water alongside his staff until every last lick of flame was out and nothing was left smoldering. Everyone sank down on the floor to catch his or her breath.
“I thank all of you from the bottom of my heart,” he panted. “You have saved Shugborough. Your loyalty and devotion to me and to the house are beyond belief. The sensible thing would have been to save yourselves. I owe every single one of you a deep debt of gratitude.” His gaze traveled about the kitchen. “This can all be restored. The damage looks far worse at the moment than it really is.”
He gazed around the room and began to laugh as relief set in. “If any of you have strength left to climb stairs, we’d better throw open all the windows and doors to rid the rooms of smoke. We’ll be smelling the stuff for weeks.”
Riley, Ramsey, and Vickerstaff followed him from the kitchen, while the women stayed behind to clean up the mess.
 
 
Early the next morning, Harry gazed at her sleeping husband. Her heart overflowed with tenderness for him.
He loves me far more than he loves Shugborough.
She prodded him awake. “Come on, slugabed, I refuse to wait any longer to see the damage. I let you put me off last night with the excuse that you were tired, but the real reason you wouldn’t carry me to the kitchen was that you didn’t want me to be upset.”
“That is exactly the reason, my shrewd, tattooed beauty.”
“Thomas, I am not a delicate flower who wilts in the face of adversity. In any case, Rose told me what to expect. I know the stillroom is completely gone. Apparently, Mary Trudgett had pressed the honey from the wax combs, and was in the process of melting the beeswax to pour into the candle molds.
She accidentally knocked over the crock of honey and it covered everything. In her agitation, the flame she had lit to melt the beeswax spread to a keg of brandy and set it ablaze. It was like a river of fire, and Mary did the right thing to flee from the wooden stillroom and cry the alarm.”
Thomas dressed himself and then brought Harry her petticoat and stockings.
She took them from his hands. “I can do this,” she insisted.
“Yes, I know. But it deprives me of a great deal of pleasure.”
The corners of her mouth went up. “You are full of blarney. Sometimes I suspect you have Irish blood.”
He grinned. “It’s Welsh—Celtic; same thing, really.” He helped her into her dress, fastened the buttons up the back, and kissed the nape of her neck.
“I suppose it is. You share many similarities with my father. Another dark, dominant, dangerous devil, according to my mother.”
“And then some,” he said with a wink.
Thomas stoically carried Harry into the kitchen. The burned-out windows and door had been boarded up, and all the ash and soot had been cleared away. He watched her face with trepidation, and saw her eyes flood with tears. “Not a delicate flower, indeed!”
Harry tried to smile through her tears. “I think of Shugborough as a living, breathing thing. I can feel the house’s pain.”
He kissed her ear. “That’s because you’ve been in a lot of pain yourself recently. You are sensitive at the moment, and I wouldn’t have you any other way.” He set her feet to the floor and stood behind her to hold her steady. “Actually, we were extremely lucky. If Shugborough hadn’t been encased in slate, the whole place would have gone up like an inferno. We will have it repaired in no time.”
“But, Thomas, what will we use for money?”
“The sheep shearing produced more wool than last year, and I hear the price of wool has gone up.” He lifted her and carried her to the breakfast room.
Before the food arrived, Harry put her hand over her husband’s. “How are
you
feeling, Thomas? Your great fear of Shugborough catching fire has been realized. It must have been extremely traumatic for you, darling.”
“When I saw the house was on fire, my priorities immediately fell into their rightful order. Saving you was all that mattered. Shugborough took second place.”
“Nay, Kouli took second place. Shugborough came last.”
“Perhaps my deep-seated fears of Shugborough burning have been laid to rest.”
Harry picked up her fork and waved it like a magic wand. “I hereby decree all bad dreams are in the past. From now on, we will only dream about the future.”
Mrs. Stearn brought in their breakfast, and Harry immediately reached under the table and fed Kouli a piece of bacon.
“When your father returns from Ireland, I intend to swallow my damnable pride and ask him to advise me about investments and stocks, although truth to tell, that is the riskiest form of gambling that exists.”
“I warrant there is a great deal of money to be made if you are shrewd. If your
damnable
pride will allow you to take a woman’s advice, I would recommend
iron.
Thousands of items in this modern day and age are made from cast iron. Woodstoves, kitchen ranges, pots and pans, park railings, fire grates, and locomotives. Just promise me you won’t put your money in coal?”
“You are the most audacious female I have ever met. Now, begod, you fancy yourself as my financial adviser.”
“Oh, I don’t just limit myself to finances. I’m willing to advise you on any subject you fancy, Lord Bloody Lichfield.”
“Well, in that case, I would value your opinion on something I brought from Stafford. If you don’t like it, we’ll get rid of it.”
Thomas picked her up and carried her outside. He crossed the velvet lawn and headed toward the Tower of Winds. He set her down just inside the entrance.
“Thomas! Oh my God, it’s the
centaurs
!” She raised her arms and took five steps toward them.
“Harry, you are walking!” He ran to her, swooped her up in his arms, and twirled her about. “The minute you saw the centaurs, you forgot about your legs.”
“I did. Isn’t that amazing?” She laughed with relief. Then she took a few more steps, and placed a loving hand on the black marble.
“Oh, you are my magic man. How did you ever get Marlborough to give them up?”
“I won the damn things, of course.”
Harry reached up and kissed him. “Bugger and balls, you are a wicked devil.”
Chapter Twenty-seven
 
“T
homas, put me down.”
“But, Harry, I enjoy carrying you.”
“I want to walk into Shugborough unaided.”
“You just want to show off to the servants. You love being the center of attention.”
“Of course I do! So let’s come to a compromise. I will walk on my own until I want to go upstairs. Then you can pick me up and carry me.”
“You win, my beauty.” He put her feet to the ground. “I was just teasing you. I think you know just how thrilled I am that you can walk again.” He stepped back and allowed her to go into the house unaided.

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