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“I am warning you. I will do anything for my daughter. How she acted today scares me as she is losing herself because of you. You have already ruined our lives, and, at least for the sake of her future, convince my husband not to make this announcement. You will stay as Miss Smith. Promise me that.”

“As much as I understand and sympathize with you, I cannot promise that. Whether he declares me as his daughter or not at the party, the truth will speak for itself. What difference would it make if I stopped him? You need not accept me as a part of your family, and I can clearly see that I never could. But you must accept that Lord Anderson will never let go of me now or in the future. I…” she stopped suddenly and slowly turned around.

Lady Anderson looked behind Elizabeth, horrified to see that the shed had caught fire.

“Good Heavens! How could this happen? Move now,” she cried and ran to open the door, which appeared to be stuck.

Elizabeth was horrified to see that piles of hay stacked inside the shed had caught fire, and the flames kept spreading.

“I think one of the lamps must have fallen. Do not worry; we will get out of here,” she cried. Elizabeth tried hard to wedge the door open, but it seemed stuck, and Lady Anderson yelled for help.

“Beatrice should not be far away; she can hear me for sure,” she cried and called out to her daughter.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth tried to contain the flames by throwing water stored in the shed, but nothing helped, and slowly, she began to realize the seriousness of the situation.

We could die in here. Oh! God!

Lady Anderson looked terrified as the flames blazed up to the shed's roof.

“Why is no one coming? It is all your fault,” she cried in fear.

Elizabeth spotted an old glass window behind some boxes at the end of the shed and hurriedly removed them. She struggled to open it as the hinges were rusty.

With every passing second, the flames spread faster, and smoke engulfed the shed.

Elizabeth prayed that someone would come for help and tried to break the window open with a metal rod she found. Lady Anderson was unable to do anything as she was about to faint because of the smoke and collapsed to the floor.

“Lady Anderson, look at me; we will get out of here alive. I am trying my best to break this window. I promise we will get out of here,” she cried.

“I cannot breathe,” she said feebly, barely able to open her eyes.

Elizabeth took the rod again and hit the glass window with all her strength, and it cracked. She struck it a couple of times again, and it broke.

“Hurry, we need to leave,” she cried and helped Lady Anderson stand.

“Here, stand on this box, and you can reach the window,” she said, almost dragging Lady Anderson to the window.

“You want me to leave first?” Lady Anderson asked wide-eyed.

“Yes, do not waste time; hurry,” Elizabeth cried as the flames were very close.

She helped Lady Anderson climb out, and suddenly, one of the wooden planks on the roof caught fire and collapsed right next to Elizabeth; as much as she tried, she could not stand any longer as the smoke filled her lungs, and she fainted.

The moment Lady Anderson escaped, she looked behind and was horrified when Elizabeth did not follow her out.

She tried to look into the shed but could not spot her inside.

“Elizabeth, where are you? Can you hear me? Please climb out; what happened?” she cried in fear.

Suddenly, she heard someone behind her, and it was her husband.

“Good Lord! Augusta, are you hurt? Where is Elizabeth?” he asked in horror.

Other servants had gathered to control the fire.

“She helped me escape through that window, and I thought she would climb out, but I cannot see her. Help her, please!” she cried.

Lord Anderson immediately climbed in. Thewhole shed was filled with smoke,andhe could barely see anything. In panic, hecalled out to Elizabeth. He finally saw her lying on the floor, unconscious and very close to the burning plank.

No! I will not allow anything to happen to you.

“Elizabeth, open your eyes; I am here. I promise to get you out of here,” he cried beside her, but to his horror, she never opened her eyes.

He called out to his men to break open the door, and they did. He covered her with her coat, took his chance, carried her through the flames as quickly as possible, and escaped.

“Mark, what happened to her? Good Lord!” Lady Anderson cried.

“Elizabeth, I beg you; please wake up,” Lord Anderson begged as he dabbed her face with water, but there was no word from her.

“Send for the doctor, now!” Lord Anderson cried as he carried her indoors.

Lady Anderson stood rooted to the spot, unable to believe what had happened.

She saved my life!

***

His heart had almost stopped when he received a note from Ashton Park stating that Elizabeth was unwell.

“What happened, Lord Anderson, what happened?” Darcy cried as he ran up the stairs to Elizabeth’s room.

Lord Anderson fought to control his tears.

I almost lost her, just as I lost Sarah!

“Someone say something: what happened to her?” Darcy yelled.

“She is well, Fitzwilliam. She just opened her eyes,” Lady Martha said, quickly explaining the accident.

“How could this happen? How could something like this happen?” he cried as he rushed inside Elizabeth’s room.

He could finally breathe when he saw her smile at him feebly.

“Elizabeth!” he cried as he kneeled beside her bed and held her hand.

“Do not be upset; I am well,” she said, coughing between words.

“What happened? Has the doctor seen her yet?” he asked with anger.

“He did; she is well but needs to rest. She fainted as she inhaled a lot of smoke.”

“How could you let this happen? I left her here as your responsibility,” he asked, his eyes blazing with anger.

However painful the situation was, Lord Anderson was grateful that Elizabeth had found someone who loved her beyond his own life.

“Fitzwilliam, please calm down,” Elizabeth said, trying to sit.

“No! Do not strain yourself. I was so scared; you know I cannot live without you,” he cried.

“I am not hurt. Please do not be upset. It was an accident; it was no one’s fault.”

“Why did you leave the house?” he asked, unable to understand anything.

Lord Anderson touched Darcy’s shoulder.

“Let us not distress her. She needs to rest.”

Darcy pursed his lips as he was very angry with him. He looked at her, but she was barely able to stay awake. Her beautiful eyes lacked sparkle, and he sensed she had experienced something terrifying.

“Are you in pain?” he asked.

“No! I am just tired, and everything feels like a bad dream,” she said feebly.

“You must sleep and do not worry. I have no intention of leaving Ashton Park tonight,” he said with resolve, watching Elizabeth close her eyes.

He reluctantly left the room along with Lady Martha and Lord Anderson.

“Do not worry, Mr. Darcy. I will stay with her tonight,” Lady Isabella said, and he nodded.

***

“Where were you?” Lady Anderson asked her daughter.

“What sort of a question is that? I was in my room, crying because of you. You insulted me in front of that girl.”

“Beatrice, the fire started moments after you left. How come you never heard us?” Lady Anderson asked.

“I did not see anything or hear you,” she replied dryly.

Reluctantly, Lady Anderson left her daughter and headed downstairs when her husband summoned her. She entered the room nervously and understood Darcy’s temperament from the look on his face.

“How is she?” she asked her husband before anyone could ask her anything else.

“She is better but has inhaled a lot of smoke,” Lord Anderson said with pain.

“Augusta, why were you both there? I was under the assumption that you took Beatrice to the village,” Lady Martha asked.

“I did, we just returned and …” Lady Anderson hesitated.

“And what?” Darcy asked with impatience.

“Beatrice was upset and ran into the gardens once we returned. And she tried to lock herself in that shed, but I caught up to her. I do not know how Elizabeth arrived there, but we got into an argument. I asked Beatrice to leave, and she did. Suddenly, the shed caught fire.”

Darcy looked at Lord Anderson sternly, challenging him to question his wife.

“Do you realize how ridiculous this sounds? Why did she have to run there?” Lord Anderson asked.

“Because she was upset about the engagement party. How did you find us?”

“One of the stable boys alerted us. I cannot believe it. You should have brought her back to the house instead of arguing in that shed. How could you be so irresponsible?”

“I never expected something like this to happen. I still do not know how the shed caught on fire, but... but…” she stammered.

“What is it, Augusta?”

“She saved me instead of saving herself first. She could have easily climbed out of the window. I had almost fainted, but she helped me escape. Mark, if you had not arrived there, she could have died,” she said in a low voice, watching Darcy wince.

“I cannot accept this. How could the shed catch fire? Something is wrong,” Darcy cried, determined it was not an accident.

Just then, Lord Ashton entered.

“Is Elizabeth all right?” he asked with concern.

“She is,” Lord Anderson replied.

“We were able to put out the fire. This was not an accident; I examined the remains of the fire, and the burned-down door was latched. That is why they weren’t able to open it from inside. Someone set the fire and latched the door,” he said to everyone’s horror.

“That is, it! I have had it; who dares to harm her here?” Darcy yelled.

“Fitzwilliam, please calm down,” Lady Martha said.

“Don’t ask me to calm down. Are you asking me to rejoice that she is alive? She could have been hurt for life; imagine what she underwent in those flames. I will not spare anyone responsible for this.”

Suddenly, Lady Anderson sank into the chair.

“Mark, send for Beatrice,” she said without emotion, and the room was stunned by her request.

“You cannot possibly suspect her; how could your own daughter do this to you,” Lady Martha said with disbelief.