Chapter 28
Amelia couldn’t sleep. Not after what had transpired tonight with Richard. So, she readied herself, pulled on a pelisse and woke the driver to take her to Somersby Hall.
She couldn’t possibly think at home, not when Richard had been in her bed. Her head pounded and her heart ached. This is what you deserve after getting involved emotionally with the earl.
When she arrived at Somersby Hall, the old butler greeted her in his nightclothes. She thanked him and went up to the makeshift nursery. Being here brought purpose to her, and a sense of peace.
She would make this her home.
Their home, she thought, as motherly instinct kicked in and she looked at the precious baby sleeping soundly. The wet nurse quietly peeked in.
“I’m just visiting,” Amelia whispered to her. “How are the children?”
“They are all finally asleep,” the young nurse said.
“That’s good.”
Just then, she felt a tug on her pelisse. Looking down, she saw Francis Bell looking up at her.
Amelia lowered. “What is the matter, darling?”
Rubbing her eyes, Francis said, “I can’t sleep.”
“Come,” the nurse said. “I will tuck you in.”
“No,” she said. “I want Mummy.”
Something in Amelia ached when Francis said those words. How often had she wanted her mummy after she had been sent away?
“When is Mummy coming back?”
Amelia didn't have to heart to tell her the truth. “I am not sure, darling. Would you like me to tuck you in?”
Francis’s lips quivered, and she teared up.
Amelia dried her tears. “It will be all right, Francis. Your sisters are here. I am here.”
“Can I sleep with you?”
The nurse intervened, “Oh, honey, Miss Knight—"
“It’s all right,” she said to the nurse, then looked at Francis. “Yes, you can.” Then Amelia picked her up in her arms and said goodnight to the nurse. The young girl wrapped her arms around Amelia’s neck and Amelia nearly choked with emotion.
Once they were in the master bedchamber, Amelia tucked Francis under the blanket and lay next to her. “Go to sleep, darling.”
Just then, the little curls bounced as Francis faced her. “Are you going to marry Mr. Richard?” That was the name she’d called him when he first brought the girls here.
Amelia nodded.
“Good,” she said, smiling. “If Mummy doesn’t come back, will you be my mummy? Mr. Richard can be my papa.”
“We can talk tomorrow.” She kissed the child’s forehead and blew out the candle.
Several hours later, Amelia woke to shouting outside in the hallway. In a dreamy daze, she opened her eyes. It took a moment for her to realize where she was and who was next to her. Francis was still sound asleep. Then she noticed something strange. A burning smell of acid and wood mixed together.
Smoke, she said to herself in horror. “The children. The baby.” She woke Francis and the little girl started to rub her eyes. “We have to go, Francis.” Lifting the girl, Amelia carried her down the now-empty hallway.
The footman approached her and told her she must get out.
“What’s happened?”
“Fire, miss. It’s spreading fast,” the footman said. “The townspeople are here trying to put out the fire, but it isn’t helping.”
“I need you to take Francis outside to safety.” The girl resisted, but Amelia reassured her she would join her soon. Then she ran to the room where the girls were sleeping together. She woke them one by one.
“Beatrice,” she said, walking over to the eldest of the sisters. “There is a fire,” she told her as calmly as possible given the situation. “I need you to take the girls outside.”
Beatrice quickly gathered the girls that were half asleep and walked out of the room and down the narrow hallway. By now, the smoke was starting to fill the hallway. Choking, the girls scurried down the hall and walked down the stairs.
“The baby!” Amelia realized she’d forgotten the baby. Running to the nursery down the hall, smoke pinching her lungs, she covered her mouth, calling for the nurse. No answer.
Chaos ensued as she heard the men downstairs calling out to see if anyone was still in the house. She ran into the nursery and saw no baby. No nurse.
Running back into the hallway, she saw the three-legged dog barking at the end of the hallway. Running to the frightened dog, she scooped it up and ran down the hallway. The smoke was becoming thick, and it stung her eyes. Fear engulfed her. Taking no time, she ran up the stairs to the third floor and into the hallway. She could hardly see. Coughing, she called out to the nurse. Grabbing her skirt, she placed in over her mouth to keep smoke from getting into her lungs.
Oh, please, please be all right.
Oh, my God. She saw hellish flames coming toward her like a wave on the ceiling. Fiery red. She stood there staring, momentarily unable to move. Move, damn it, her mind ordered. Move.
“Where are you?” she said, choking. Just then a figure approached from the thick smoke. It was a young footman. “We need to get you outside, miss.”
“I need to find the nurse, the baby.”
“I will search for them, miss. Go outside.”
She ran down the hallway with the barking dog in her arms and by the time she reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw the red hellish flames approaching her. Finally outside, she saw a crowd of townspeople. Some watching. Others trying to help.
Several men were running inside and out with buckets of water, while women stood on the grass watching the fire eating away the house as the smoke thickened.
There was a loud crackling and a sizzling sound, followed by shattering glass. Amelia looked up to see the fire was spreading from the back of the house as the intense inferno arose from the roof and side windows. She could feel the heat from where she was.
Half of the upper floors were engulfed in fire now. The sky looked like hellfire, creating a bright light for miles. With each crack, each tumble as it ate away at the structure, her heart died inside.
She looked up to see the nurse holding the baby. “The baby is all right, miss.”
Amelia took baby Bell into her arms and looked at the frightened girls, all watching her.
No time to cry.
“Is everyone out of the house?” she asked the housekeeper who was standing nearby with the scullery maid.
“I believe so,” she answered, looking at the blazing fire.
As the fire consumed Somersby Hall, Amelia’s heart was stripped of the dream that had kept her going for the last decade.
A home to call her own.
She watched the house slowly crumble into hot flames, and her heart broke into tiny pieces.
She felt defeated. Truly defeated.