Secrets of a Scandalous Marriage

CHAPTER 20

Something crashed through her window. Kate, immediately roused from her slumber, bolted upright in bed. Her heart pounded wildly, a scream silenced on her lips. She glanced frantically around the room.

Smoke.

Fire.

Amid the shattered glass in the center of the room, a large chunk of wood was burning.

They were under attack. This time she did scream.

She pressed the back of her hand to her mouth, biting it fiercely. She scrambled up, tossing the sheets aside, the smoke from the burning wood already making her eyes water. She raced over to the broken window, and a bit of glass on the floor sliced open her foot. She grabbed at it, clenching her jaw. What was that noise? A glance out onto the street revealed a mob of people screaming and yelling, throwing things, and chanting.

“Murderess. Murderess. Murderess.”

Kate covered her mouth with her hand to stifle her scream. They were coming for her. They would kill her. And they were destroying James’s house. Oh God. She never should have come here.

She must escape. But first she must ensure James and the servants were safe. She turned to run. The long hem of her white nightgown caught on her bleeding foot, and she stumbled. She fell to the floor, the smoke clogging her lungs. She coughed fiercely.

The door to her room blasted open with a sharp crack. Kate’s head snapped up. James strode through the smoke and debris, his face a mask of anger. He looked like an avenger.

He should toss her to the mad crowd, Kate thought for an awful second. It would be one way to be rid of her and her disruption to his life.

“You’re bleeding?” He motioned to her foot and the bloody hem of her night rail.

“I’m fine,” she answered.

He ripped a blanket from the bed, tossed it over her, and pulled her to her feet with a gloved hand. Once she had her footing, he wrapped the blanket around her, spun her into his arms, and pulled her forcefully from the room.

“I’ve already seen to it that the servants and Themis are safe with the neighbors, the fire coaches are coming and the guard has been called. Come with me,” he commanded in a voice that brooked no debate.

Kate nodded. Eyes burning, still coughing from the smoke, she followed him from the room. He led her by the hand. They hurried down the back staircase and out a side door that adjoined a small fenced yard. James’s horse was there, already saddled. He boosted her up and swung up behind her. Fear clutched Kate’s heart in its frenzied grasp. She barely felt the freezing cold night air. All she could hear were the frantic screams of the mob, see the reflection of the orange haze of fire from the corners of her eyes. Please. Please. Let this be a dream.

A sharp yell sounded from the front of the house. Kate turned to see a smaller group of the mob that had broken apart. The men ran to the side yard, yelling, hissing, throwing things. “There they go!” they yelled, trying to catch the attention of the larger group, but the chaos was such that only a handful of the others heard. James tugged the reins and guided the horse in the opposite direction. They bolted out of the side yard, down the back alley and past the mews. Several of the mob members chased them on foot, but they were soon lost behind them as James and Kate galloped through the cold light-gray morning streets. They took two sharp turns and eventually came to a stop in the back of another fine town house. James swung down quickly and pulled Kate with him, holding her in his strong, warm embrace. He quickly ushered her inside.

The next hour was a blur. They had arrived at the Marquis of Colton’s town house. Arrangements were made to borrow a coach to travel to James’s country estate.

Kate sat huddled in a corner on a chair, a bigger blanket wrapped around her. Lily busily treated the cut on Kate’s foot, wrapped a bandage around it, and provided her with a pair of shoes and some stockings. Then she packed Kate a bag, ensuring she had enough warm clothing for the trip, and soothed her with a cup of hot tea.

“How did they find you?” Lord Colton asked James.

James’s face was a mask of stone. “I suspect someone must have seen us return from the farm yesterday.”

Colton nodded grimly.

Lily’s eyes were filled with tears. “I’m just glad the two of you and all the servants and Themis got out safely, but oh, James, your beautiful house.”

James didn’t answer. Kate fought the tears that filled the backs of her eyes. James’s hair was mussed, his face darkened with soot, his eyes were red-rimmed. He’d never looked more of a mess. He’d never looked more handsome. She could only imagine the state of his perfect house at present. Oh God, what had she done? Just her mere existence had placed him and his possessions in danger.

She closed her eyes. She couldn’t think about any of that now. She was safe. James was safe. That’s all that mattered at present.

Kate finished her tea, and Lily helped her clean up with a warm cloth. Within minutes, Colton’s coach was prepared, and James and Kate were ushered inside with a bundle full of clothing and food to last them for their trip to Hamphill Park.

The coach door slammed shut, and Lord Colton called to the coachman to be under way. The coach took off at a fast clip, and Kate was jolted back against the velvet cushions. No, this was no dream. She was on her way to James’s country house. They’d been chased out of town by an angry mob.

They rode in silence for the first hour, both too shocked and tired to say much. Kate leaned against the pillow Lily had given her and tried to sleep. But all she could think about was James’s beautiful house, his beautiful life, and how it had been destroyed because of her. The mob knew she’d been staying with him, and his reputation would suffer. If they dug around enough, they might even discover he owned the printing press.

“Your house,” she finally murmured, her voice cracking.

“Pardon?” came his reply.

“Your beautiful, perfect, orderly house, destroyed.” Tears clogged her throat. “Oh, James. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s just a house, Kate.”

“But you love your house.”

“Don’t worry about that. Get some rest.”

She lifted her head from the pillow and met his gaze. “How can I not worry about it? Your life, it’s in chaos now, because of me.”

James pinned her with a penetrating stare. “Kate, my decision to take you in was just that, my decision. I knew the dangers and the possible consequences.”

Kate rubbed her eyes with her balled fists. “But you couldn’t have thought this would really happen. The pamphlet cannot be worth it to you.”

He rested his head against the back of the velvet squabs. “Let me worry about that.”

She pressed her head to the pillow and forced herself to close her eyes. “I cannot help but think your life would be so much simpler if I had never come into it.”

His voice was steady, calm, clear. “I’m beginning to think simple isn’t as wonderful as I’d once believed.”