Page 17 of A Duke to Restore her Memory

“What was that?” Daniel’s face was white and stricken with shock as he turned to Sebastian. “It sounded like a blast from hell itself.”

Daniel had only just called at Newquay Hall. The two gentlemen were taking a turn around the gardens.

Sebastian had been about to start teasing his friend, asking him about stealing kisses from Lady Frances Lewis when the explosion occurred, causing the ground to shake beneath them and a statue to topple over in front of them, crashing into two clean pieces.

“There has been an explosion at one of the mines,” said Sebastian, in a grim voice, starting to run towards the house. “Heaven knows what damage has been done. We must get there immediately.”

Daniel nodded, matching his stride, his face set in a determined line. That was one thing about his old friend – he was fiercely loyal and wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty.

The ladies were running out of the house by the time they reached the front door. He noted that Georgina was with them, which was unusual. Lydia looked sick and stricken – his sister was deathly pale with fright.

“The mine?” she cried, rushing to him. “An explosion?”

He nodded grimly. “Yes. We must get there as quickly as possible, assess the damage … and help where possible.”

“I will go to the kitchen and get Cook to make some baskets,” said Lydia. “The volunteers who come to help will need sustenance.”

“Good,” said Sebastian, already rushing towards the stables to get on his horse, with Daniel in hot pursuit. He kept shouting over his shoulder to her. “Make sure there is hot, sweet tea as well, Lydia, for the surviving miners. They will be in shock.”

The gentlemen got on their horses and were about to start riding out when Sebastian pulled in his reins tightly. Georgina had just run into the stables, looking frantic.

“What is it?” cried Sebastian.

“I must come with you to help,” she cried, gazing up at him, her eyes wide with distress. “I will do whatever I can. You will need every bit of help you can get, Your Grace.”

He hesitated, frowning, as he gazed down at her. A fallen mine was dangerous and no place for a woman, really. It was unstable and might collapse further. He was just about to tell her to go back to the house and perhaps help in the kitchen with the baskets when she reached up, taking his arm, gazing at him intently.

“Please, Your Grace,” she said in a beseeching voice. “I promise I will do as you say. I will not get in the way.”

“Let her come, Newquay,” said Daniel quietly. “I have a feeling Georgina will not get in the way.”

“Very well,” said Sebastian, his demeanour grim. “Get your horse quickly. We cannot afford to wait long for you.”

Georgina’s eyes lit up before she raced to the stable for her horse. Within minutes, she was astride the beast, and they were all heading out over the open green fields towards the mine.

It was utter chaos when they finally got there. Injured miners – some of them very badly injured, howling in pain, clutching limbs – were being carried out of the mine and laid on the grass to be helped.

He noted that Dr Watson and another of the district’s physicians, Dr Davies, were already in attendance, barking commands at the volunteers rushing to do their bidding.

Sebastian’s eyes slid to the right. A cold shiver went down his spine, followed quickly by a rush of pure grief and furious anger.

A row of miners was laid out on the grass there … white sheets covering their heads and bodies. The miners who had lost their lives in this explosion. And he had no doubt that more would be added to the row before the mine was finally secured.

“I am so sorry,” whispered Georgina, following his gaze, resting a comforting hand on his arm. “So very sorry.”

Sebastian’s eyes filled with tears of grief and frustration. His throat was so thick with emotion that he couldn’t speak at all. But somehow, having Georgina there was soothing him, taking away the intensity of the pain.

He knew it would come again later to claim him, but for the moment, he could handle it.

He nodded abruptly, staring at her intently for a moment, feeling like he was drowning in the sympathy within her eyes before he tore his gaze away.

He dismounted, tethering the horse, rushing towards the fray. One of the mine managers, Oliver Grier, turned to him, curtly nodding his head.

“Your Grace,” said the man, his voice filled with weariness and his face streaked with dirt and blood. “It is a tragedy.”

“What happened?” He noticed that Daniel and Georgina had walked to his side and were listening intently, as well. “What on earth happened, man?”

Grier sighed deeply, a look of pain crossing his face. “I … I do not know,” he whispered, his pale grey eyes misted with tears. “One moment it was business as usual … and then, I saw the flare of a match in the darkness … and the next thing I know, I was thrown to the ground. My ears were ringing so badly I could not hear.”

Sebastian swore beneath his breath, running a hand through his hair. Someone had lit a match in the mine – which was expressly forbidden.

They knew its safety risks. He always ensured the managers drummed all the safety instructions into the miners, under pain of death. If a miner was even caught with a match on him while on duty, he was sent home and severely penalized.

A chill wind tore through him. But it looked like those safety instructions had been ignored today. His hands balled into fists at his side. A wave of ferocious anger swept over him, so powerful that he had difficulty containing it.

The only way he did contain it was by forcing himself to breathe slowly and remind himself that this was no time for anger. That could be expressed afterwards at the inquiry he was going to hold to get to the bottom of how such carelessness had been allowed to occur and how it might be prevented from happening in the future.

For now, they just needed to deal with this crisis – attend the injured and bring the dead above ground.

“Your Grace?” It was Georgina, pale and wide-eyed, addressing him in a low, solemn voice. “It looks like the physicians need some nursing assistance. May I help them?”

Sebastian suppressed his shock at her question. “Yes, of course, Georgina. I am certain that your assistance would be very welcome.” He hesitated, frowning. “But it is confronting, mucky work. Are you quite certain you want to do it? You will need to have a strong stomach to deal with blood and the like …”

“I am sure I will be fine,” she said determinedly. “And if I start to feel faint or overwhelmed, I will simply sit down and rest for a while.” A shadow of a smile crossed her face. “It is better to try and fail than never try at all. Do you not agree?”

“I do,” he said softly. “Thank you.”

She nodded, bobbing a small curtsey, before turning and rushing away to where the injured men were lying on the ground. As he and Daniel kept questioning the mine manager, he couldn’t help turning to watch her occasionally.

His heart turned over in his chest as he watched her, realizing that his admiration for her was growing by the second.

She had thrown herself into the fray, helping the physicians, even ripping the skirt of her gown to assemble makeshift bandages. She was dirty and smeared in blood, but she didn’t stop. Not for a minute.

His heart turned over in his chest again. He was almost entirely convinced that she was a gentlewoman now, if not a lady of rank, but she was acting in a way that no gentlewoman he knew acted.

Mostly, in crises like this, ladies helped by organizing refreshments like Lydia and Frances were doing. They rarely got their hands dirty like Georgina. They had been brought up to be very delicate – to swoon and faint at even the slightest sight of blood.

How tenacious she is. How determined and fearless. She truly is just the type of woman I have always yearned for – selfless, compassionate, and capable. She embodies everything I have ever wanted in a wife.

His breath caught in his throat, and he froze, as the thought swept through his mind. At that moment, Georgina looked up, wiping sweat off her brow with the back of her arm.

Their eyes met and locked across the grassy field. He felt a jolt unlike anything he had ever felt before.

If she were a woman of rank, who I could seriously consider, I would not hesitate. I would not hesitate for even a moment to pursue her.

Hastily, he turned away, breaking the connection between them, his heart pounding painfully. He couldn’t consider her – he must not even let his mind journey down that train of thought, even for a moment.

His heart filled with profound sorrow. The weight of his lofty title felt as heavy upon his head as a king’s crown. Society expected – no, demanded – that he marry someone of near, if not equal, rank.

There was no way on earth that he could seriously court and consider marrying a woman who had no position in this world – a woman who might be the daughter of a tinker or a tailor.

He had never wished to be anyone else in this life – had never felt that the responsibilities and expectations of his high rank were a burden in any way.

But now, he felt it keenly. Fervently he wished that he was just an ordinary man, free to choose who he wanted for a bride. For a moment, he indulged in the fantasy of it.

How happy I would be. How perfectly happy I would be.

“Your Grace?” Oliver Grier’s voice cut through his fantasy. “Are you quite alright?”

Sebastian took a deep breath. “Perfectly, thank you, Grier.” Firmly, he pushed the thought of Georgina aside, focusing on the manager of the mine. “Can we go over again exactly what happened in the lead-up to the explosion? We must get the details exactly right.”

He forced himself to concentrate as Grier went over the lead-up to the explosion and then went over it again. Daniel had the idea of sending for parchment and quill, and when it arrived, they wrote the manager’s account of the events down carefully before moving on to other miners who were shaken but not injured, writing down their accounts, as well.

Eventually, the mine was cleared. Slowly, his heart in his mouth, he strode over to where the dead lay, counting the bodies. Fifteen men had lost their lives in that mine. Fifteen men would never return to their families. And other men were close to death, as well.

It was a tragedy of epic proportions. And he was responsible. It had happened in one of his mines. The weight of it was like a shell on his back, weighing him down unbearably.

Suddenly, he felt a presence at his side. It was Georgina. She reached over, patting his arm sympathetically, gazing at him with a look of pity on her face.

“I will seek justice for them,” he whispered, his voice thick with tears. “And I vow to look after their families until my dying day.”

“Of course,” she whispered, her green eyes flickering. “I would expect nothing less from you.”

Their eyes met and held again. He wanted to close his eyes and rest his head on her shoulder. He wanted no one but her … and the tragedy was, he could never have her.