Page 155 of The Missing Sister

‘You simply cannot know that.’

‘Ican,’ Ambrose replied firmly. ‘I’m fully aware I cannot change the world, let alone save it, but perhaps a small act of charitycouldchange one life at least.’

‘I see.’ James sipped his soup thoughtfully. ‘Does this mean you are intending to adopt the baby currently sleeping upstairs? You certainly seemed to bond with her this morning.’

‘Lord, no! I wouldn’t know where to begin,’ Ambrose chuckled. ‘However, it does seem to me, that with my help from the sidelines, a solution to this puzzle appears to be sitting right under our roof.’

‘Which is what exactly?’

‘We have a woman who has just lost a beloved baby. And a newborn orphan who needs a mother and her milk. The only thing stopping them from being joined together is money. What if I suggested to Maggie that I would cover all costs for the baby, and add a little bit extra to help her and her family too? What do you think?’

‘I’m not sure what I’d be thinking, to be honest. You’re saying you will pay Maggie to adopt this baby?’

‘In essence, yes.’

‘Ambrose, that sounds like bribery. For a start, we don’t even know if she would want someone else’s child.’

‘The look in her eyes when she tended to her tells me she would.’

‘Maybe, but Maggie also has a husband, who may well have other views.’

‘You know him? What is he like?’

‘From what I’ve seen of him at Mass, John O’Reilly is a good God-fearing man. There’s certainly no gossip of trips down to the village to haunt the pubs, and trust me, I would have heard about it. All the same, bringing up an unknown man’s child may not be an idea he would be willing to consider.’

‘Then we must speak to him. What of the rest of her family? What are their circumstances?’

‘They have their eldest, Ellen, who is ten, their son John, who is eight, then two girls of six and two. I’ve heard chatter that Maggie and John married for love, against both their parents’ wishes, and they are devoted to each other.’

Ambrose smiled. ‘Fortune and love favour the brave.’

‘That’s as may be, but it doesn’t help put food on the table. The family has some pigs and chickens and a few cows on a couple of acres of land. They live in a dark, cramped cottage with no electricity or running water. Ambrose, I don’t know if you appreciate the stark poverty that some families hereabouts have to endure.’

‘James, I know that I am privileged, but I’m not blind to the deprivations of others. It seems to me that however poor, the O’Reilly family have the foundations that would enable them to give this child a stable future, with a little help from me. And we must act fast. Maggie said this morning she’s told no one of the death of her baby, and has not yet collected her children from their neighbours. If we act quickly, we can make this all happen privately. As I said, I’m prepared to pay. Whatever it takes,’ Ambrose added firmly.

James surveyed his friend thoughtfully. ‘You’ll have to forgive me, but your talk of a philanthropic ancestor is not going far enough to convince me of your sudden need to perform an act of charity.’

‘Maybe the Holy Ghost Fathers never convinced me to believe in a God, Catholic or otherwise, but the simple innocence of that newborn girl sleeping upstairs has done more for my charitable sensibilities than they could have managed in a lifetime. I feel I’ve done nothing particularly good in my twenty-six years, unlike you, who does good every day. And I want to help, James, it’s as simple as that.’

‘Ah, Ambrose,’ James sighed. ‘You’d be asking a lot of me, in my position here as a priest. The babe should be legally registered in my church notes as being abandoned, and—’

‘Would we be incurring the wrath of the Lord if we tried to find a better life for her than the one on offer through the church?’

‘Who says ’twill be better? Maggie and her husband John are very poor, Ambrose. This new child will be amongst a number of siblings who may not even have enough to eat. She will be asked to work hard on the farm, and given no better an education than she would receive if she went into the orphanage.’

‘But she will beloved! She will have a family! And let me tell you, as an only child, with a father who could barely acknowledge me, I’d take the harder life with a family around me, always. Especially as you – and I – will be here to watch over her as she grows.’

James stared at his friend and saw tears in his eyes. In all the time he’d known him, he’d never heard Ambrose talk of his father like that.

‘Can I take some time to think, Ambrose? Maggie is not due to leave here until six o’clock, after she’s served our supper. I must go to my church and pray on what you have suggested.’

‘Of course.’ Ambrose cleared his throat and took a freshly laundered handkerchief out of his trouser pocket to blow his nose. ‘You must excuse me, James. The arrival of that baby has quite disconcerted me. I do understand that I’m asking a lot of you.’

‘I’ll be back in time for tea and a slice of Maggie’s delicious-smelling brack cake.’ With that, James nodded and left the kitchen.

As always in a crisis, Ambrose went to his room and took out his volume of Homer’sOdysseyfrom his old Gladstone bag. Its deep wisdom from many hundreds of years ago comforted him. Back downstairs, as Maggie tended to the baby, he told her to rest by the range in the kitchen and made her a cup of hot, sweet tea. He went into James’s study, stoked the fire and sat in the leather armchair to read. But today, even Homer’s words could not bring him solace. With the book open on his lap, he questioned his own motives for helping this child. When he’d fully understood the answer, he then asked himself whether, even if the motives were intrinsically selfish, the result was any the worse for it?

No, he was convinced it was not. The child needed a loving home and one was possibly available. And there was nothing morally wrong with that.