Behind the Rake's Wicked Wager - By Sarah Mallory Page 0,46
followed you.’ He stripped off his gloves, surprised to find his hands were shaking slightly. ‘I am curious to know what you are about.’ There was an odd lightness in his chest, but he dare not ask the question that was now uppermost in his mind. He must be patient. Now he was here she would tell him everything. She must.
She was looking uncertain and his surprise and anger gave way to concern. He said gently, ‘Will you not sit down?
She did so, gently settling the baby more comfortably in her arms before fixing her eyes upon him once more.
‘My lord, why do you persist in this? I can assure you this has nothing to do with you, or your cousin. Is that not enough for you?’
‘No. I want to know what is this place, and why you are here. I will not leave until I have answers.’
With a sigh she sank back in the chair.
‘Very well. You are in Florence House, sir. A home for...distressed gentlewomen.’
‘And the child in your arms?’
‘The son of one of our...guests. He is only a few weeks old. His mother is very tired and the babe was crying so I brought him downstairs to see if I could settle him.’
Jasper realised he had been holding his breath until that moment.
‘But why have you kept this so secret?’
Her lip curled.
‘You were in Royal Crescent when the Magdalen Hospital was discussed with Amelia Bulstrode and Mrs Farthing. I am sure you overhead the whole. It is considered quite...improper for an unmarried lady to have any interest in such matters. That I have strong views about it is considered shocking enough. If they knew the extent of my involvement—’
‘And what is the extent of it, Miss Prentess?’
She put up her chin and looked at him defiantly.
‘This is my house, one of the properties my uncle left me in his will. When I came to Bath last year I met up again with Mrs Logan. During one of our conversations it emerged that a young lady she knew was with child. She had eloped, left her home and her friends to run off with a man who had sworn to marry her, but later he abandoned her. She could not go back to her family, and fortunately Kate—Mrs Logan—came upon her and took her in. When she told me of it, I too was keen to help the poor girl, and others like her, so we decided to open up this house to give them refuge.
‘At first we had no idea other than to take them in and give them somewhere safe to stay until the baby was born, but it soon became clear that more was needed. These are gently bred girls, they are not educated to be anything other than a gentleman’s wife. They need more skills than that before we can turn them out into the world again. We teach them housekeeping—some are good with a needle and can earn their living as a seamstress, others have a talent for lacemaking.’ She raised her eyes to his. ‘We give these young ladies hope, my lord, and the opportunity to be independent.’
‘And their families, their parents?’
‘Most of these girls have been abandoned by their kin—some are in danger of being packed off to an asylum, as if...as if their predicament is some kind of mental affliction. When they come to us they are assured of anonymity. They come here and we treat them as guests, not inmates to be punished. At present only those involved in Florence House know of its existence, and I need that to continue for now, until I have control of my inheritance and can set up a trust fund to support it.’
‘But if that is the case, how do those young ladies in need know where to find you?’
‘We find them,’ said Susannah. ‘After that first unfortunate case, Mrs Logan heard of two more. And household servants gossip a great deal. A maid will know her mistress’s situation almost as soon as the lady herself. My own maid is always ready to listen to the gossip, and if a young lady’s family is not prepared to support her, then she offers an alternative. We have already helped about a dozen young women.’
‘I did not know Bath had so many.’
‘Word spreads, my lord. Some of them come from surrounding villages.’
‘All very laudable,’ he remarked. ‘And how successful are you at finding employment for your, ah, guests?’