Page 85 of Trapped with her Cruel Duke

“I would like that very much,” she said.

But as the words left her lips, Christian’s smile dropped, and he spun around in his seat.

“Louise,” he said sharply, all the softness in his manner evaporating in seconds. “Do you smell smoke?”

CHAPTER 33

Christian rose as Louise jumped to her feet. He ran to the door and out into the corridor, looking around for the source of the smell.

His heart pounding, he saw a faint orange glow coming from one of the corridors opposite him. He grabbed Louise’s hand and pulled her along with him. But as he opened the door, he found the morning room ablaze.

Christian stepped back; the heat of the flames was already too much for him to get closer. One of the settees and a large chunk of the corner of the room was on fire. He coughed as the smoke billowed out into the corridors, and he stepped back, pulling Louise with him.

“We must get out of the house,” Louise urged, pulling him toward the door, but he stopped her.

“My mother. We must get her out.”

Louise’s eyes widened, and she nodded. “I shall get Jack, you go get your mother. I shall ensure that the servants escape unharmed.”

Christian gripped her wrist, panic thrumming through his veins at the thought of leaving her.

“Be careful. Do not come near this part of the house again.”

They were both coughing now as the smoke began to fill the wide entrance hall.

“You do the same,” she said.

For a suspended moment, they stood staring at one another. Christian was sure that Louise was worried for his safety, but time was of the essence. With a final nod of reassurance to his wife, Christian ran to the stairs and up to the first floor of the house.

He looked around frantically as smoke began to spread into the halls and slither beneath the doors.

He ran to Marcus’s room and hammered on the door. He heard rapid footsteps inside before Marcus, half-dressed and clearly having been abed, opened the door, staring at him in alarm.

“Christian? What is it?”

“The house is on fire. We must get Mother.”

Marcus was all action suddenly, running to a chair to pick up his coat and ringing the bell repeatedly. They sprinted across the landing to their mother’s suite, and Christian burst into the room, hearing a shrill cry from his mother’s chair beside the fire.

She stood up, her eyes wild, looking between them in confusion.

“Mother, we must get out of the house. It is on fire!” Christian ran forward and collected a thick shawl from the chair beside her, before helping her out.

“On fire?” the Dowager Duchess echoed, aghast. “How?”

“I do not know yet, but we must get you to safety.”

Marcus stepped forward, taking their mother’s arm. “Where is Louise?” he asked with concern.

“She has gone to fetch that damned kitten and ensure the kitchen maids get out safely,” Christian muttered as they reached the corridor. “Marcus, can you see to Mother? Do not come back into the house under any circumstances and take her down the back stairs. I must see to the staff and my wife.”

“Of course, go!” Marcus barked.

Christian set off at a run down the wide stairs and into the hallway. Several servants were carrying pails of water to the morning room, many of them young girls and boys who worked as footmen and maids in his house.

“Go outside!” he shouted. “Do not risk your lives for this. Take the water outside, and if you can douse the flames from there, do it, but do not breathe in the smoke. Out, out!” he bellowed and ushered them toward the front door.

Satisfied that they were carrying the water outside and were not immediately at risk, Christian ran to the kitchens, where he opened the door to chaos.

---