But he had thrown away his right to interfere, so Daniel could only fiddle with what remained of his press and wait for Georgina to appear. He just wanted to see her, to be certain she was holding up all right. He knew she was in there. He had seen her at lunchtime talking with the workers on the front lawn. He bet her father had never bothered to do that.
He didn't know how good a plant manager Georgina would make, but she would make a darn good personnel manager. Peter should have married her. He could have managed the factory, and she could have dealt with the employees. Together, they would have made a fortune.
The idea of Georgina turning to his brother for comfort made Daniel grit his teeth and go back to cleaning the ink from the piece he held in his hand. He ought to let her go, but he couldn't—not until he was certain she would be happier without him.
It was pure male conceit that made him think she might be better off with him than without him. He knew that, but still he sat, staring out the window, waiting for Georgina to show her face. He didn't expect her to be smiling. He didn't know what to expect. He just wanted to keep an eye on her for a few days and make sure Artemis kept his promises.
It was still light out when he looked up and saw the first curl of smoke coming through the factory window. Daniel wasn't certain he was seeing right, and he put the piece down that he was working on and tried to get a better look. Normally, he could see distances much better than up close, but he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Did they have a fireplace in there? Would they operate a stove after everyone but Georgina had left?
Trying not to panic, Daniel set himself an easy pace out the door and down the stairs. That jump from the train last night and the resulting long hike to civilization had worked at his weak leg muscles. He didn't want to go tumbling headfirst down the stairs.
By the time he reached the street, his heart was pounding like a frantic drum. The smoke could have been just an illusion in the warped glass. Georgina might not even be in there. There was no reason to believe there was a fire in a factory that had been there for decades. No reason at all.
Except for the flame now leaping through the window where the smoke had been earlier.
Screaming fire at the top of his lungs in hopes that someone would hear, Daniel ran for the office across the street. Couldn't Georgina smell the smoke?
He heard other shouts behind him, heard the harsh gallop of a horse as someone raced for the fire department. Fire in these old buildings could be deadly. He would have help in minutes, but he couldn't wait that long.
Smoke poured from the office as Daniel flung open the front door. Heat washed over him in waves, but there was no sign of fire in the lobby as yet. Covering his mouth and nose with his handkerchief, Daniel shoved past the chairs and secretary's desk and made his way to the tiny room in the back of the building, Georgina's office.
By the time he flung open the door, he was coughing heavily and sweat poured off him from the heat. Smoke made the dim interior even murkier, and it took a moment to focus. He prayed she wasn't here. Surely she would have smelled the smoke and left earlier. Surely she wouldn't have gone into the factory to investigate the source of the fire. If there was a Lord in the heaven above, He wouldn't let someone like Miss Merry die in an inferno like this.
He found Georgina with her head resting on her arms on the desk as if she had gone to sleep and hadn't awoken. Daniel gripped her shoulders and called her name, but she didn't stir. Panic raced through his veins as swiftly as the trail of fire coming through the wall. He hadn't rescued her once to lose her this way.
There wasn't time to think or grieve or pray. Pulling Georgina into his arms, Daniel started back for the door, only to see another trail of flames creep up the wall to the ceiling. Whatever was burning on the other side of that