Page 11 of Benefactor to the Baroness (The Seductive Sleuths #3)
R osemary waited in the carriage as Lady Kerry ran through the sheeting rain to pound on the door of a nondescript brick building. With so many bodies cramped in a small space, it quickly warmed, although Quinn still trembled in Olivia’s arms. Peter sat so close to his brother that Olivia essentially had both boys on her lap.
Annie threaded her fingers through Rosemary’s. “You won’t leave us here, will you?”
The question slipped between Rosemary’s ribs and plunged into her heart.
“You could let us go,” Annie continued. “We’ll be fine on our own. The boys just need some fresh air and they’ll be all right.”
Before Rosemary could come up with some manner of placating response that wouldn’t make her feel guiltier than she already did, she glimpsed something in Annie’s eyes. It was subtle, but Rosemary had helped raise three precocious children and recognized scheming when she saw it.
“Clever,” Rosemary said, squeezing her fingers around Annie’s before pulling away.
Annie rolled her eyes. “That usually works with adults.”
Rosemary nudged Annie’s shoulder with her own. “I’m not like most adults.”
The girl grumbled and crossed her arms.
A creak signaled the opening of the door, and the children leaned away as Lady Kerry entered, looking like she had dragged herself out of the river, both from the sodden state of her cloak and the lack of color in her face.
“They’re full,” Lady Kerry said. She shoved into her seat beside Rosemary, causing the carriage to rock slightly. Some of the damp from Lady Kerry’s cloak soaked into Rosemary’s dress. Rather than complain, she gathered her skirts and tucked them beneath her legs.
“Where do we take them, then?” Olivia asked.
“You could let us go,” Annie said. “We’re used to sleeping on the streets. We’ll find a place.”
“No!” Peter cried. He flung his body over his brother. “It’s fine for you, Annie, but Quinn isn’t strong enough.”
“Oh,” Annie said, shrinking in her seat. “Sorry, Peter. I forgot about Quinn.”
Olivia gently pushed Peter off her lap. “We will not return you to the streets, darling. There must be some other option.”
“My townhouse,” Lady Kerry said. “It’s not ideal, but it will have to do.” She wiped droplets of water from her face with the back of her hand, although Rosemary could not tell if it was tears or the rain.
Then Lady Kerry exited the carriage again, presumably to tell the driver their new location, although she could have done so without braving the rain a second time.
“This has exceeded even my lofty expectations,” Olivia said as she shuffled the shivering bundle in her arms. “Do you think she regularly hosts groups of orphans? I admit, I’ve never considered the possibility.”
“We’re much better company than fancy ladies and gents,” Annie said. “We’ll even help with the chores, won’t we, boys?”
Peter mumbled something as he stared at his brother. Xavier stared determinedly out the window. Winter picked at a loose thread in a blanket.
The thought of the children running around Lady Kerry’s home dressed in servants’ livery was both amusing and sobering. The sad truth was, unless they were lucky enough to be adopted or find employment, they might never escape living on the street. Even the few who were adopted might still perish before they reached adulthood from cholera or tuberculosis.
Lady Kerry’s foundation was trying to do good by sending orphans across the ocean, but as the baroness re-entered the carriage, Rosemary wondered if Halifax was really so different a fate for these children than London.
*
Annie clutched Rosemary’s hand as they ascended the narrow, carpeted staircase to the second floor of Lady Kerry’s townhouse behind Olivia. There were no paintings decorating the walls, no lavish pieces of furniture crowding the entryway, no servants bustling about. It was as if they had entered the ghost of a home. Even the children, who had yammered away like magpies in the carriage, were silent.
They walked down a dark hall and came to a door, which Lady Kerry opened. Ten metal-framed beds filled the space, each holding a gray blanket and a small pillow.
“I keep a small staff,” Fontaine said, as if sensing Rosemary’s confusion. “My lady’s maid, Jones, recently left to be married, and I have not yet replaced her.”
They walked down a dark hall and came to a door, which Lady Kerry opened. A huge, four-poster bed filled the room, along with a dressing table, chair, and several other pieces of sturdy-looking furniture.
“There are several guest rooms on this floor,” Lady Kerry said. “You can take whichever you want.
Annie released Rosemary’s hand and ran down the hallway squealing, followed by a much more stoic Xavier. Peter followed Olivia like a chick as she deposited her bundle on the bed. He then joined his brother and lay beside him.
“Lady Lowell—” Lady Kerry said before the other woman shushed her and crawled onto the bed with the two boys, clutching them to her sides like a mother hen. The sight was enough to make Rosemary’s throat grow thick as she remembered the time Angelica had come down with a fever and Rosemary had caught both Basil and Saffron out of their beds long after midnight, cuddled together in the same position.
Time passed so quickly. It felt like yesterday that she’d been the guardian of her nieces and nephew, and now Basil was gone, and both Angelica and Saffron were happily married.
There was nothing left for Rosemary to do.
“Let’s leave them,” Lady Kerry whispered. “I’ll send for the foundation’s physician.”
They stepped out of the room and Lady Kerry closed the door softly.
Rosemary should have murmured the appropriate words, stepped away, and returned to her home. She had done exactly what she’d told Lady Kerry she would do. But the combination of Lady Kerry’s lost expression and the way she had her arms wrapped around herself spoke of vulnerability.
Rosemary shouldn’t have cared. She had been very careful to avoid forming emotional attachments since living on her own. Once one started down the path of worrying about people who were none of one’s concern, it was difficult to stop. She’d seen Saffron lose herself in anxiety too many times to make that mistake. At the same time, she’d experienced enough lonely nights to make it difficult to walk away from Lady Kerry when she looked so despondent.
“Will Quinn…” Rosemary’s voice was tight. She cleared her throat and tried again, whispering so the children would not hear. “Do you think Quinn will survive?”
Lady Kerry sighed, and at that moment, she seemed a decade older. Like a woman who had lived through all the horror and injustice the world had to offer but refused to let it break her.
“I see,” Rosemary said. She forced her eyes wide to keep back the tears that threatened to burst free. It didn’t matter that they had gone to such great lengths to free Quinn and the others from the workhouse. Children died every day. There was no reason for Rosemary to become overcome with emotion.
Lady Kerry removed a handkerchief from her pocket and dabbed at her damp cheeks. “The foundation will do everything possible for Quinn.”
After a tense moment, in which Rosemary wasn’t sure if she should offer sympathy or change the topic, Lady Kerry shoved her handkerchief back into her pocket and lifted her chin. “It’s too late to find somewhere else to take them, and Mr. Newton might reclaim them if they return to the streets.” Her lower lip trembled. “I have no choice. I can’t leave.”
Unfamiliar sensations stirred in Rosemary’s chest. Even though Lady Kerry’s insistence on doing everything herself was absurd, Rosemary had to admire her dedication. She had opened her home to orphans just as Rosemary had accepted her nieces and nephew. They were more similar than Rosemary wanted to admit. For that reason, she knew she couldn’t leave Lady Kerry on her own.
Saffron’s words from the previous day returned. Her niece had so casually dismissed the idea of her aunt engaging in anything exciting. Perhaps that was Rosemary’s problem. She was always so careful, unwilling to risk experiencing the same hurt she’d seen her nieces suffer through, no matter the cost of her caution.
Perhaps it was time for that to change.