“ONE HUNDRED POUNDS! Going, going . . . sold to the Marquess of Blackthorne.”
The room erupted in applause, and Jack, smiling, bowed. Lady Wiggleswade glowered at him.
Old bat. As though he wanted to wager a hundred pounds for an afternoon with his own bear. He should have let her win. She probably would have fainted at the first sight of Blackjack.
Lord Addison approached, holding out a hand in congratulations. The baron was saying something about making other arrangements for his young son to meet the bear, but though Jack accepted the man’s hand, he barely heard Lord Addison. He glanced around for Maddie, wanting to see her sweet smile, her approving gaze.
He saw her cousins, but the spot Maddie had occupied earlier beside Lady Valentine was still empty.
Jack scowled.
“Excuse me, my lord.” Knowing he was being rude to Lord Addison, and not caring, he turned his back on the baron and stalked toward Maddie’s cousins.
“Congratulations,” Lady Westman said when he neared. “Maddie will be pleased her item raised so much.”
“Where is she?”
Lady Westman’s brow furrowed. “She said she was going to the kitchen to request more tea cakes. I’m sure she’ll return in a moment.”
“I’ll go check on her.”
But Maddie wasn’t in the kitchens. And his cook hadn’t seen her. Jack climbed the stairs and strode quickly back to the ballroom, scanning the room for Maddie. The auction was over now, and the guests were standing about, making it difficult for him to find his petite wife.
He saw Lady Valentine, looking equally anxious. As soon as she spotted him, she rushed over. “My lord, did you find her?”
“No. She hasn’t returned?”
“No.”
“Fire!” a shrill voice carried over the din of voices.
“What the devil?” He’d just been in the kitchens. There was no fire. But panic had overtaken the guests and it was too late to soothe them.
“Fire! Run!”
There was a screech and then a momentous clatter as the hundred or so guests stumbled over one another to reach the exit doors.
“Devil take it!” Jack grabbed Lady Valentine’s hand and yanked her to his side. He bent to help an elderly lady, who’d been knocked to the floor, back to her feet and handed the woman to Lady Valentine. “This way.”
Pulling Lady Valentine behind him, Jack carved a path to the doors, slamming them open and pushing Lady Valentine through. There were only two sets of double doors, the doors to the dining room having been locked, so he ran to the sash windows that overlooked the side garden. One by one he threw them up, opening the house. One set of windows was stuck, and he kicked the glass, breaking it in an effort to provide more escape routes.
“Slow down!” Jack ordered, grabbing a man elbowing his way through. “Go slowly.”
Next he headed back toward the inside doors. As he moved, he scanned the crowd for Maddie, stopping several women with hair the color of hers to peer at their faces as they rushed by. Where the hell was she?
And that’s when he smelled the smoke. Dear God, there really was a fire. The crowd seemed to realize it as well, and their pushing and shoving became more frenzied and vicious. Torn between keeping order and finding the source of the fire, he chose the latter, ducking out of the ballroom and into the crowded passageway.
Smoke burned his eyes and nose. Disregarding instinct, he turned toward the source of it. The smoke billowed from the back of the house, from his library.
“Maddie!” he yelled. “Maddie!”
Past the ballroom there was no crowd, and he only had to fight the smoke to find his library. But the damn door was closed and locked, and he had to jam his shoulder into it. “Maddie!”
The door was warm. He felt its heat even through the thick material of his tailcoat.
Please God, don’t let her be inside. Please don’t let me be too late.
Jack moved back and ran at the door, ramming his shoulder into it. The door shuddered but the thick wood held. Swearing, he rammed it again. This time he heard a crunch and the door gave way. Flames, bursts of searing red and orange, licked at him. Coughing, he stumbled forward.
