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Bree blanched.

“Yes, but as I understand it, most of the victims were claimed during the panic to escape when people became wedged in the turn of the staircase.” Gage scraped his hand back through his still-damp hair.

“We’re fortunate everyone remained calm during the incident today, or else the outcome might have been far worse. ”

He was right. We had been very fortunate. For I’d felt the tenor of the crowd shifting toward panic more than once, and yet thanks to the coolheaded response of several individuals who had counseled patience, the agitation had been contained.

There was a rap on the door, heralding the arrival of the tea, I believed. Until it was whisked open before Bree could take more than two steps toward it and my sister rushed in.

“Oh, thank heavens,” Alana exclaimed on catching sight of me.

“Lord and Lady Cromarty,” Jeffers intoned somewhat belatedly from the doorway as my brother-in-law, Philip, crossed the threshold at a somewhat slower pace. Though I didn’t blame our butler for his inability to deter Alana. My sister was a force to be reckoned with.

“When I heard about the floor collapse during the auction of the late Lord Eldin’s effects and learned you were there , I feared the worst.” She plopped down onto the end of the settee by my feet in a flurry of flounces, her eyes narrowing accusingly. “Why didn’t you send word?”

Normally such an indictment from my often-overbearing sister would have rankled, but I was too weary to be riled.

In any case, it was obvious the prospect of my being harmed was what had truly overset her.

As my older sister, she’d been looking after me my entire life.

Particularly after our mother died when I was but eight years old.

Now seeing that I was alive and unscathed, she was seeking to mitigate her alarm by provoking me.

“We’ve only just been examined by Dr. Graham and finished bathing the dust and debris away,” I answered evenly, my voice still rough from the particles I’d inhaled.

Alana reached out her hand to grip mine where it rested in my lap. Her deep lapis-lazuli blue eyes, the same shade as mine, ached with worry. “How severe is it?”

“Nothing that won’t heal in a few days’ time,” I assured her. My gaze shifted to my husband. “I believe the worst we suffered was a laceration to Gage’s arm.”

Bree caught my eye then as she and Anderley retreated toward the adjoining bedchamber door. “Emma?” she mouthed, asking if I still wished her to bring me my daughter. I nodded.

The tea arrived, and Jeffers took the tray from the maid and carried it into the chamber to set it on the low tea table. “I’ll fetch two more cups,” he informed me, catching my eye. I could tell there was more he wished to say—perhaps about the other victims—but that would have to wait until later.

As Jeffers departed, Philip sank into the second armchair. “Terrible calamity,” he said as he adjusted the tails of his coat. “I heard there’s been at least one death.”

“Yes, a banker named Alexander Smith,” Gage replied.

Philip shook his head sadly, and I noticed the silver at the temples of his brown hair had become more pronounced, though he’d only recently turned six and thirty.

Not that it detracted from his good looks.

I had always suspected my brother-in-law would age well, simply growing more dignified in appearance.

A fact that would aid him if he ever made a bid for a cabinet position or even prime minister one day.

As the Earl of Cromarty, he was already an active member of the House of Lords.

But for now, I knew he didn’t wish to spend any more time away from his wife and four children than he had to.

Jeffers returned with two more cups, asking if we required anything else.

“No. Thank you, Jeffers,” I said, dismissing him when I would have rather asked him to stay, but Alana was already agitated enough. She didn’t need to hear about anyone else’s injuries.

“Shall I pour?” she asked me, already moving to the edge of the settee to do so.

“Please.”

I took a moment to appraise her dress. Alana was nothing if not stylish and always impeccably attired at the height of fashion.

However, I couldn’t help but feel that fashion—that mercurial term—was growing rather more and more ridiculous.

With each year, the width of the sleeves at the shoulder continued to grow, now tripling the breadth of space a lady occupied, but then narrowed abruptly from the elbow to wrist. Admittedly, the pattern of her gown’s fabric was lovely, consisting of a series of wavy cornflower blue stripes interspersed with fern green leaves and cherry blossom pink dots.

However, the scallop-edged epaulettes over the shoulders and high-necked collar, all fashioned of the same white lace as the bodice, seemed excessive, as did the large gold brooch fashioned at the throat.

They put me in mind of wings, as if Alana was a great swan, waiting to take flight.

I strongly suspected my sister would not appreciate the analogy.

“I presume it was an accident,” Philip was saying to Gage.

“More than likely,” Gage replied, his voice even rougher than mine. “Though one that should never have happened.”

Philip nodded in understanding. “Negligence on the builders’ part.

The laws are hopelessly antiquated when it comes to the construction of new domiciles, let alone the upkeep of older ones.

Especially when the house’s construction is contracted by an individual and is therefore under their inspection and approval.

One would think that would make the home superior to those built merely on speculation, but sometimes the individual is persuaded to cut costs or in their own ignorance allows improper methods and inferior materials to be employed.

” He sighed. “It is something that may need to be raised in Parliament if it is not addressed by the cities and burghs.”

Alana handed both men their cups before carefully passing me mine. “Then you both…fell through the floor?” Her eyes were wide as she struggled to voice the query.

I had been doing rather well not to dwell on the event and the tumult of emotions roiling inside me. But confronted with my sister’s earnest concern and the gentle touch of her hand against my leg, they bubbled a little closer to the surface.

My gaze shifted to meet Gage’s, and I was forced to swallow, lest I choke on my response. “Yes.”

“That must have been…terrifying.” Words seemed to fail Alana again.

Much as they failed me. “It was,” I whispered.

She lurched forward suddenly, wrapping her arms around me. It was all I could do to move my cup aside so as not to spill my tea all over her pristine white lace. “I’m so glad you weren’t severely injured.”

I returned her embrace awkwardly with one arm, struggling not to burst into tears.

When I felt my teacup being lifted from my hand, I looked up to see that Gage had taken it from me, allowing me to clasp my other arm around Alana’s trim waist and lower my head so that it was buried in the fabric across her shoulder. There was plenty of it.

She smelled of roses and the same French perfume our mother had always worn.

All at once, I was four and twenty again, hiding away at Philip’s Highland estate, cowering from the world and the repercussions from the scandal that had erupted after my first husband’s death and the revelation that I had drawn the anatomical sketches for the definitive anatomy textbook he was working on, though not by choice.

By the time I’d realized Sir Anthony Darby’s intentions in asking for my hand in marriage—so that he could force me to create detailed renderings of his dissections, claiming them as his own rather than share credit with a male illustrator—it was too late.

The only trouble was that Sir Anthony’s anatomist colleagues had known that he was a notoriously poor draftsman.

As such, they’d deduced rather quickly when the unfinished manuscript was passed into their hands upon Sir Anthony’s death my role as the illustrator.

Not only had the other surgeons expressed their shock and horror that a gentlewoman had dared take part in such a gruesome undertaking, but they’d also dragged me before a magistrate, accusing me of unnatural tendencies and suggesting I was guilty of all sorts of heinous crimes.

When the press and populace had found out, I’d been slandered and vilified, labeled another Burke and Hare—two criminals from Edinburgh who had murdered people from the street and sold their bodies to the anatomists for dissection at their private medical schools—though I was nothing of the sort.

No one had been interested in hearing the truth.

They had all still been too terrified by the idea that there were other Burkes and Hares at work in various cities across Britain.

If not for Philip and Alana, and my brother, Trevor, I would have undoubtedly found myself imprisoned in a lunatic asylum, just as Sir Anthony had threatened dozens of times if I did not cooperate.

My family had secured my release and sheltered me while I struggled to heal and the scandal of my involvement with my late husband’s unsavory work died down.

They had saved me, in more ways than one.

Most of the time, that all seemed a long time ago, though just four years had passed since Sir Anthony’s death.

It had been two and a half years since I’d met Gage and set on the path of this new life.

I was not that cowering, withdrawn, terrorized woman anymore.

But there were still moments, like now, when I wished I could shrink behind my sister’s skirts.

Or in this case, even her sleeves would be enough to conceal me.

Neither of our eyes were dry when she pulled away.

Gage and Philip were both ready with handkerchiefs.

I dabbed at my eyes and opened my mouth to say something, but the words caught in my throat as I was overcome by a cough.

I clasped the handkerchief over my mouth, leaning forward as I tried to get my barking under control.

Alana rubbed my back and helped me ease upright once my hacking had subsided. Then Gage passed me my tea as they both urged me to drink.

“The physician said I should recover within a few days,” I assured Alana hoarsely, seeing her concerned expression.

“You must have inhaled a lot of dust.” Philip’s voice was soft with compassion.

“We all did,” I said.

There was another soft rap on the door, and I turned eagerly to see Mrs. Mackay entering with Emma.

“She’s fresh from her bath,” she said, perhaps to explain the delay.

I passed my teacup to Alana and reached out for my daughter.

She came to me easily, burrowing against my chest. It was nearly her bedtime, and sleepiness already weighed heavy on her, for she eyed her aunt and uncle guardedly.

I brushed her damp curls back from her face and pressed a kiss to her sweet-smelling forehead.

Tears briefly burned my eyes, threatening to fall again as I was overwhelmed by a swelling of love for my child, but I blinked them back.

Cradling her close, I uttered a silent prayer of thankfulness that I was still there to hold her.

Alana leaned forward to offer Emma a gentle smile as Mrs. Mackay slipped away. “My, how big you’re getting! I saw you but a week ago, and yet I swear you’ve grown another inch,” she cooed as Gage asked Philip something about the upcoming parliamentary session.

“Aye, we’ll have to return to London soon,” Philip answered. “As soon as the roads improve from the winter thaw and spring rains.”

“But not before Emma’s birthday,” Alana assured us.

“There are several bills for which Lord Grey and the Whigs will need my support. And we’ll be nearer to Berkshire to fetch Malcolm when he’s finished with his latest school term.”

“You must be anxious to see him,” I said to my sister, knowing how difficult the past year had been for her, sending her eldest child away to school for the first time.

“I am,” she confessed. “And so are his younger sisters and brother. Especially Jamie. Who, I should warn you, is quite excited for Emma’s party. I’m afraid he also thinks it’s for him.” She shared a chagrined look with Philip. “Quite insists on it, in fact, no matter how many times we correct him.”

I chuckled at my two-year-old nephew. “Well, his birthday is only one day before, so I suppose that’s hard to understand.” I peered down at my daughter’s sweet face, who was silently watching and listening. “I’m sure Emma won’t mind sharing.”

Upon hearing her name, she tilted her chin so that she could look up at me.

“Do you?”

She merely blinked her wide blue eyes with their long lashes.

The others laughed, uncertain what this response indicated, but I understood that it meant she was close to dropping off to sleep.

“I’m afraid I need to tend to Emma,” I told them.

Many ladies hired wet nurses to see to their infants’ needs until they were nearly two, but a growing number of women among society were choosing to nurse their children themselves. I was among them. Just as Alana had tended to her children. So I knew she and Philip would comprehend.

“Of course,” Alana replied immediately. “We should be going anyway.” She reached out her hand to clasp mine once more. “I’m just so relieved your injuries aren’t worse. I will call again in a few days.”

“I’d like that,” I murmured.

Then with a final squeeze of my fingers, she pushed to her feet to stand next to her husband.

Philip cast a warm smile at me. “Take care, Kiera.” He offered Gage his hand. “Send for us if you need anything.”

“We will,” Gage assured him, escorting them toward the door while I began to coax Emma to open her drooping eyes with soft kisses and tickles.