The musician shook his head. “I cannot tell you, Sir. The smoke was so thick, as she said. It was hard to see…”
“She was behind us. A man was helping her, but I think she fell,” the other young woman added.
Kenneth stared at her. He’d seen her before but could not quite put a name to her face. “Who? Who helped her?” he demanded.
“Judith, who? Who was it?” Sally demanded.
The young woman—Judith—looked around, her eyes wide and her hair hanging down in clumps around her head. Then, she raised one trembling hand. “That man,” she said, pointing at a tall, lanky man who’d just staggered out of the building.
Kenneth darted toward him and grabbed him by the shoulders. “Where is the woman? The young woman you were helping,” he bellowed.
The man raised his head, and Kenneth was taken aback at once by the strong smell of alcohol on his breath. The man’s eyes shone with inebriation. “I… She… I lost her… It was meant to be fun. All of it. I…” He blinked rapidly, and Kenneth realized there was no point in questioning him.
“Your Grace, she must be still inside. Find her, please,” Sally sobbed.
Kenneth inhaled sharply, regretting it at once when the biting smoke forced a cough out of him that shook his entire being.
“You can’t go in there,” Leonard warned.
“I must. I must!” Kenneth shouted as realization dawned on him.
It was torture. He had to. He had no choice. He had to save her. He couldn’t explain it, but the thought of Joanna alone in that inferno was unbearable. He could not leave her in there.
He turned to the inebriated man again. “Where was it you last saw her?”
“I… I… It was just brandy. I meant nothing by it…” the man slurred.
Kenneth’s hands itched to grab him by the lapels and shake him, but the young woman named Judith spoke up again.
“She was near the alcove by the stage,” she said, but then she fell in a violent coughing fit.
“Leonard, make sure they are looked after,” Kenneth called, and then, with fear tightening his gut, he rushed back into the burning building.
Shouts rose among the crowd, including Leonard’s protest, but Kenneth could not stop. He paused at the door to steady himself and then plunged into the smoky abyss.
The fire crackled all around him, and black smoke obscured his vision. The once-majestic ballroom now resembled a nightmarish landscape. The fire had spread to the adjacent curtains, and even the walls and some tables near the stage had caught fire.
“Joanna!” he shouted, pressing a hand to his mouth between shouts to preserve oxygen.
He saw movement somewhere in the distance and headed that way, only to find two of Almack’s employees searching for people left behind.
One of them grabbed him by the arm. “You need to leave, My Lord.”
Kenneth tore his arm free from his grasp. “I need to find Lady Joanna. Have you found anyone?” he shouted over the roar of fire.
When no answer came, he headed further inside, making for the alcove based only on memory.
“Joanna!” he shouted again. His heart pounded in his ears as he called out her name, the desperation in his voice cutting through the din.
“Kenneth?”
The voice was weak, drowned out by the crackling and whooshing of the flames, but it was hers. Unmistakable.
“Joanna?”
His heart dropped in his stomach when he saw her on the ground, struggling to get to her feet. He rushed toward her, his breath catching in his throat as he pulled her into a tight embrace.
“Joanna, are you all right?” he asked, his voice high-pitched and panicked.