“I really don’t care, dearest. I imagine he’s here because the world knows that Paris is the center of a society that is, to put it mildly, indulgent. And since Lord Rohan has an interest in indulgences, it only makes sense. ”
“He’s exiled from England. He can’t go back or he’ll be executed. ”
Elinor raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really? Whose husband did he murder?”
“No one,” Lydia said.
“He’s a terrible man, miss,” Nanny Maude said. “Consorts with devils, he does, and drinks blood, and…”
“He was at Culloden!” Lydia blurted out. “He was not even twenty years old, fighting for Bonnie Prince Charlie, and he saw his entire family slaughtered. He barely escaped with his life. ”
There was a shocked silence. And then Nanny Maude cleared her throat. “I always said there was good in the lad. Indeed, and I tried to tell you so. Handsome, too, and I expect a good woman would put a stop to these parties of his. ”
Jacobs said nothing, merely nodding his head approvingly. Finally Elinor spoke, and her voice was raw.
“Does that excuse him for the rest of his life?” she said. “Does that give him the right to destroy other lives?”
Author: Anne Stuart
“Whose life has he destroyed?” Lydia demanded.
And she could hear her sister’s answer as if she spoke it out loud. Mine, she cried. Mine.
Lydia’s muffled coughing woke her, and for a moment Elinor lay there, not moving. Something was wrong, she felt it in her bones, and she sat up, squinting in the darkness around her. Her eyes burned, her throat ached, and she heard the ominous crackling sound, far too close. Horror filled her—fire in these rickety old parts of town were disastrous, spreading through streets and alleyways, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop them.
She shook Lydia, scrambling from the bed, her eyes burning. “The house is on fire,” she said. “We have to get out. ”
Lydia was already alert, grabbing her robe and pulling it tight around her as Elinor went for the door. Smoke was pouring in under the doorjamb, but the wood itself was still cool, and she yanked it open, only to be momentarily blinded by the wall of smoke that billowed in.
“Nanny!” she screamed, fighting her way through the smoke, stepping out into the hallway just as Jacobs stormed by. He was heading for Lady Caroline’s bedroom. She heard the laughter then, her mother’s silvery voice chuckling merrily, and the sound raised the hairs on the back of her neck.
Jacobs kicked the door open, and flames poured out of the room. He didn’t hesitate, charging into the fire, and a moment later he emerged, a small figure bundled in his arms. He headed for the front door, looking back at them. “Follow me!” he shouted from above the noise of the crackling flames.
“Mama!” Lydia cried, but then from beyond the flames the voice came again, singing a bawdy sailor’s song in a hoarse, scratchy voice.
“He’s got Nanny Maude,” she said. “Go with him. I’ll see to Mama. ”
“No, I won’t leave you!” Lydia said, but Elinor simply shoved her toward Jacobs, and he was strong enough to catch her arm and drag her to the door, even as he held Nanny Maude’s slight figure. He seemed to be having trouble with the flimsy front door, and a moment later he simply kicked it down, charging out into the cold night air with the two women.
“‘There was a jolly tinker, who lived in Southern France…’” her mother sang, the hoarse sound a shadow of the once-light soprano that had captivated so many men. Ignoring the flames, Elinor pushed into the room. Lady Caroline was curled up on the floor, crooning, as the flames ate through the silk covers of her bed and started up the bedposts.
“Mama!” Elinor cried, trying to move closer. There was a river of flame between them, and if she jumped across there was no guarantee she could get back. Her mother was so slender and frail she could easily pull her to safety, if she could just be persuaded to reach out.
Lady Caroline’s glazed eyes focused on Elinor. “Where’s my daughter?” she croaked. “Where’s my Lydia?”
“She’s safe, Mama. You need to come with me, and I’ll bring you to her. Just stand up and come to the edge there, and I’ll lift you over. ”
Lady Caroline’s cackle matched the noise of the fire. “You look like him. Like your father. He wants to kill me, and you do too. Get me Lydia. I’m not going anywhere without Lydia. ”
The path of flames widened, eating up the flooring between them, and Elinor’s panic increased. “You don’t want to hurt Lydia, Mama. If she comes back in this house she could die. Just stand up and walk over here and I’ll bring you out safely. Trust me, Mama. I’ve never done anything but love you. ”
“Love?” She laughed heartlessly, and by a cruel twist of fate she was once more lucid. “What do you know of love? No one’s ever loved you in this life. No one ever will. I won’t go where it’s cold. It’s warm here, and it’s cold outside. ”
“Mama!” The smoke was so thick Elinor could barely see her, but her bare feet could feel the flames getting closer, and if she waited much longer she wasn’t going to get out of the house alive. She couldn’t leave her there, wouldn’t…
A strong arm came out of the darkness, snaking around her waist and lifting her up. She shrieked in protest, but the stranger paid no attention, scooping her into strong arms and moving through the burning house. Rafters fell behind them, and she could hear her mother’s screams of laughter as they burst through into the cold night air.
She found herself dumped down on the snow with little ceremony, and she tried to run back into the house, but the hands that hauled her away were painful, and she turned in rage, and even the sight of Francis Rohan looking back at her had no effect on her. “I have to save her!” she cried as her mother’s screams and laughter echoed into the night.