Chapter 29
Amelia woke screaming.
Then, realizing the reality of her situation, she started to weep. Weep away the horrors of last night. Weep away her dream. Not bothering to sit up, she buried her face in her pillow.
Last night, she’d brought the children, the baby, the wet nurse and the dog back to her townhouse. She had been greeted by the butler and the housekeeper, who had helped put the children to bed. Mrs. Pots had woken up and demanded to know why the children were there. She had promptly ordered Amelia to bed, saying that they would discuss it the next morning.
Amelia heard the door open and close, but she didn’t bother to look at who had come to see her.
Kate came to her side and sat down next to her. “You’re up. How are you feeling this morning?”
She said nothing.
“How long have you been crying?”
Wiping her tears, she said, “I don’t know. How are the children?”
“They are well, considering what they went through. They’re having breakfast. Mrs. Pots is demanding to know why the children are here.” Kate stroked Amelia’s hair when she didn’t reply.
That was going to be a problem. But Amelia couldn’t very well have left the children with the townspeople. They needed to be with someone familiar, and she was all they had right now. She’d made it her duty to make sure they were going to be all right.
“I don’t know what I am going to tell her.” Amelia coughed, and tears came like an unrelenting storm. Shaking her head, she let the tears fall.
“I told Mrs. Pots the children were my cousins before she left early this morning.”
Amelia looked at Kate, eyes wide. “She believed you?”
“I don’t know,” Kate said. “But what can she do? This isn’t her house, and she is under your employment.”
“My grandmother’s employment.” Oh, the mess she was in now. If her grandmother were here, she would surely murder Amelia.
“I told the woman you were fine with having the children visit. That should give you some time to find homes for them.”
They had been home. Now there was nothing left. Surely the earl would be angry about what had transpired last night. Amelia feared what he might say. What he might not say.
Richard may have been right. She was too reckless and too blinded by her own need, and she hadn’t considered that others might come to harm. Or she had, and she’d proceeded to ignore the signs because she wanted to fulfill her dreams so badly despite the cost of her terms.
After the girls had come to stay at Somersby Hall, she’d considered educating them and perhaps helping them find their own professions and their own paths. A makeshift school, so to speak, for the girls to learn skills, to read and write. She had mentioned this to Kate, who had thought it was a brilliant idea. Perhaps she would take in a few more children off the streets for a better future.
“What was I thinking?” Amelia said.
“You have a dream, dear friend, a good one.”
Amelia looked at her friend. “Had.” How could one word fill her with so many emotions? “A dream that nearly destroyed everyone I care about.” She paused. “The girls could have been really hurt.”
“You could not have known this would happen.”
She shook her head. “I should have been more careful. Lord Blackthorn warned me something bad might happen, that I was too reckless. I didn’t listen to him. I didn’t listen to his warnings.”
“Are you saying this was deliberate?”
“I feel it in my bones,” she said. “There is a person out there who doesn’t want me to be happy.”
“You can rebuild,” Kate said. “You are the bravest person I know. You wanted the best for those children . . . and Millie. Don’t punish yourself like this.”
Get a hold of yourself, a voice inside her said. The words she used to tell herself while she was under her grandmother’s care, words to bear the torment that woman had put her through.
Kate was right. Sulking in her bed like this was not going to solve her problems. She needed to gather her strength and plan, and inform the earl of the current situation. “You’re right, the house can be rebuilt once I am married and I have the funds. All that matters is that the children are safe.”
Francis ran into Amelia’s room and jumped on her bed, her pudgy face donning a frown, her curls bouncing.
“What is the matter, darling?”
“There is an old woman downstairs. She told me to fetch you.”
“Who?” Amelia asked. “Mrs. Pots?”
“No,” Francis said. “Some old lady.”
Old lady? “Did she say who she was?”
“No, but she was really mad.”
“I think we need to get downstairs,” Kate said, then picked up the girl and left the room.
Amelia promptly grabbed her robe and put it on. Walking out of her room, she peeked downstairs to see who this old woman was. This mystery woman was standing with a maid. Amelia observed this mystery person from a better angle carefully, then recognition took hold. Oh, my God…
The blood drained from her face.
“Do you think I was pleased when you informed me about my granddaughter’s behavior?” the old woman said to Mrs. Pots.
Mrs. Pots frowned. “You wanted me to keep you informed, so I did as you asked.”
“Your job,” Amelia’s grandmother snapped, “was to make certain my granddaughter didn’t make a fool of herself or try to contact her mother.”
“I have been in your service for nearly twenty-five years,” Mrs. Pots said. “You know how she is. It isn’t my fault that she beds the earl like a harlot and sneaks out in the middle of the night.”
Oh, no. The woman knew and had said nothing to Amelia.
“Your incompetence is shocking,” her grandmother said. “Pack your bag and get out.”
Kendall shoved Millie into the bedroom of the small cottage on the outskirts of London. It was a property he had acquired at his gambling hall when a customer didn’t have the funds to pay his debt on the house. It was perfect.
“What do ye want from me?” Millie shouted. “I have done nothing to you.”
“Shut up,” he shouted. “You’re lucky I didn’t toss you in the Thames with the other whores. I told you not to interfere.”
“I didn’t,” she begged. “Ye told me not to come back, and I didn’t come back.”
Mrs. Pots walked up to Sir Kendall. “Who is she?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Sir Kendall said. “You will assist with her delivery,” he said to Mrs. Pots, then he pointed to Millie while he continued. “Once that thing is born, I will make certain you never find it.”
“No,” Millie said, sobbing. “Please, don’t. I’ll leave and never bother ye again. Please.”
Kendall said, “I will need you to check up on her. I will return shortly.”
“I hope we’re not taking her to the Continent with us,” Mrs. Pots said.
He’d figure out what to do with Pots later, but for now he needed her to trust him. What a bloody hell. He hated this, all this nonsense. “I need to take care of a few things in London, darling,” he said in a soothing tone. “I will be sure to bring something special before we depart.” He kissed her on the cheek. “For now, keep an eye on her.”
Pots was getting attached to him, and it was starting to annoy him a great deal. And this bloody ordeal with his idiot son wasn’t helping him either.
He impatiently walked out of the indistinct cottage and ordered his driver on.