The Perfect Arrangement (The Not So Saintly Sisters #4) - Annabelle Anders Page 0,48
trusted him.
Was love enough?
“I won’t die, Bernadette. I’m not going anywhere.” Saying the words out loud, he swore to himself he’d do everything he could to make good on his promise.
Bernadette nodded against his jacket and sniffed before pushing herself away and wiping her face with a handkerchief. The two of them hadn’t demonstrated any outward sign of emotion to one another since becoming adults. They should have. He ought to have turned to her when Calvin was killed. He ought to have made it so that she was comfortable turning to him.
All sorts of awkwardness settled between them, and all he could think was that he needed to tell Lillian she had been right. And he needed to tell her it was possible he was wrong.
A flicker of hope flared into a small flame.
“Shall we join my wife for dinner, then?”
Bernadette bit her lip and then shook her head. “I will apologize to her tomorrow, if you don’t mind. I promise I’ll apologize, but I am… embarrassed.”
Already, they had talked to one another more in one night than they had in two months. They had finally communicated and managed to clear the air between them.
He needed to do the same with Lillian!
He nodded. “Shall I have a meal sent up?” He was already backing out the door.
Bernadette shook her head at his sudden anxiousness to be away from her. “That would be lovely, Christian. Go to your wife and explain to her that she is going to be stuck with you much longer than originally planned.”
It was exactly what Christian wanted to hear.
But he was to be disappointed when he returned downstairs. Lillian was not in the withdrawing room nor the library.
“She’s returned to her mother’s,” his butler informed him. “She received a missive from the duchess of Crawford. Your duchess mentioned fetching something from her mother’s house.”
Not caring that his jacket was wet with his sister’s tears, nor that she was likely to return any moment, Christian spun on his heel and marched out the front door. He didn’t want to wait. Now that he had hope, he wanted to share it with Lillian as soon as possible.
His feet hit the walkway purposefully, his mind swirling in wonder almost. If he was going to refuse to allow the curse to have power over him, then he had to make some changes.
And those changes involved her. They involved becoming a husband in every sense of the word. Those changes involved dreaming together, planning for the future.
His ears perked at the ominous sound of drums beating a call to arms—and bells. Shouting and the sounds of hooves echoed in the distance, growing louder, before one of the fire brigades and its fire engine went tearing down the street.
In the direction of Crawford’s House.
A cold chill stole down his spine and, seeing an orange glow in the sky, Christian took off at a sprint.
Chapter 13
Testing the Curse
When Christian finally tore around the corner to where his mother-in-law’s house sat, heat from the inferno met him from over one hundred feet away. Not only was Lady Crawford’s house aflame but practically the entire block.
A few fire brigades had been organized and were handing buckets off, and a man stood atop one of the fire engines with a hose spraying water into one of the homes. It was more than apparent, however, that all they could hope for was containment.
Where was Lillian?
Christian rushed around one of the fire wagons, stepping heedlessly through puddles of water. All the while, his eyes frantically searched for the small, blonde-haired figure of the one woman whom he was not prepared to lose.
Whom, he realized, he would never be prepared to lose.
“Lillian!” He shouted her name as he pushed his way through a crowd of onlookers.
Growing more panicked with each step, he checked the huddled clusters of evacuated residents, some wrapped in blankets, others dressed for dinner but all of them staring in horror at the destruction of their homes.
Where was she?
The grumble of thunder sounded, but it did not herald rain. One of the houses collapsed on itself.
Lady Crawford’s house was fully engulfed but remained standing. If she was inside…
He ran toward it.
“Hey, Mister! Stay away from there! No one will be going in to save you!” One of the firemen called out in warning, but Christian ignored him.
“My wife…” Scorching heat grew in intensity as he moved closer and then climbed the steps to enter.