“Me too.”Samantha’s voice was tight, and then she added.“Had I let Stewart go back inside the building, there’s a good chance Sarah and Mrs.Parks would both be dead as well.”
A chill swept Adrian’s spine.“As well?”
Samantha stared at him, her face a mask of inexpressible pain.“Susie, the scullery maid.I couldn’t convince her to leave.She…caught fire and…I saw her leap through one of the windows.”
“Good God.”That side of the building had been obscured from his vision.
“Stewart might not have made it either.He was heading back into the building when I made him turn around and take Alexandra to safety.Access to the stairs was cut off shortly after.”
He hugged her to him.“You did the right thing.”
As much as he hated it, Samantha possessed the necessary skill to do what she had done.After all, she was no ordinary woman running into a burning building.
He knew Sarah and Mrs.Parks would not be alive had Samantha not risked saving them.They owed her their lives while he owed her an endless amount of respect.
“It’s good to see you,” Edward said, his anxious expression conveying all the concern he himself had endured since learning that Samantha remained in the house.
“Thank you for your help,” Samantha told him and Turner.
Adrian echoed the sentiment.“Had you not been here…”
A thought he dared not finish.
Instead, he wrapped one arm around Samantha’s shoulders, then dropped his gaze to the ground below where the fire brigade continued their futile battle, and to the crowd of onlookers gathered around.
He spotted Kendrick, then Stewart who held Alexandra.Elks remained a shorter distance away together with a few other servants.
Adrian prepared to turn away, to get Samantha and the other women indoors, when he caught sight of someone else.A lone figure apart from the rest.
Every hair at the nape of his neck stood on end.Blood rushed to the top of his head, exploding into the kind of rage that could level kingdoms.
Because there was no dismissing the devil he saw.Or the way in which the man touched the brim of his hat while his gaze remained locked with Adrian’s.
Finn O’Leary.
A flash of white teeth and then he was striding away, disappearing into the night, just as he’d done nearly two months earlier.Only this time, Adrian had no pistol to aim in his direction.
What he did have, however, was the certainty that the Irish bastard was behind tonight’s fire.
And that he’d intended for Adrian and Samantha to burn.
25
Dressed in a borrowed gown and comfortably seated in a cushiony armchair, with a blanket over her lap, Samantha sipped the tea she’d been served.Edward had invited her and Adrian to stay with him and Melody for as long as necessary.When Adrian tried to argue, suggesting they could easily lodge at Mivart’s, Edward insisted.
For which Samantha was glad.
She preferred the comfort of an actual home over impersonal rooms at the hotel.Recovering from her most recent ordeal would likely be easier with Edward’s servants fussing over her.Slabs of meat to alleviate the bruising on the right side of her face and torso had promptly been produced upon her arrival.
A cool bath containing sodium bicarbonate was also provided for her hands and feet.Even though the damage to these extremities was nowhere near as bad as she’d feared it would be, with no signs of blistering, she’d still spent a good half hour soaking them just in case.An aloe vera ointment was applied immediately afterward, a light gauze added to trap the ointment against the skin.
It was hard to imagine being so well cared for at Mivart’s.
Plus, being here allowed her a rare opportunity to spend time with Melody in a way she’d not done in years.Not since Melody left Clearview House to become Lady Heathbrooke’s companion.
“I wish I could have helped you,” Melody said from the adjacent armchair.
Samantha had picked this spot when they’d entered the parlor.The small seating arrangement sat at the opposite end of the room from the open fireplace.
