fell forward with a thud that shook the hall. Blood pooled from her wound, spreading across the brick floor. So much blood. Much more than I’d intended. I’d killed her. Shock held me immobile. I was a murderer. And they hung murderers.
I forced my fingers to open, and the candlestick dropped to the brick.
It clattered across the floor before rolling toward her.
“What the bleedin hell?” a maid appeared in the kitchen doorway, linens in hand. Her pale face was focused on Mrs. Byrne’s. “Oh, good lord! You killed her!”
I shook my head. “No. You don’t understand. She…”
The girl dropped her linens, spun around, and raced down the hall. “She killed her! Mrs. Byrne is dead!”
Her voice echoed through the house, vibrating against the walls. A sound that tore me from the numbness.
Escape. I had to escape.
I worked on instinct and rushed toward the back door. If I could leave the house, I’d be safer than inside. I tore open the door and burst out into the back yard. Rain fell in heavy sheets, soaking my clothes, numbing my skin. Rain was good. Rain would hamper the constable from making it here. Shouts rang from the house. Cries of shock. I had to flee…and fast.
“Out back!” someone yelled.
What would I do? Where would I go? Frantic, I raced toward the gate. I was a murderer. A murderer who was going to give birth at any moment. I tore open the gate and stumbled into the lane. The muddy road was empty, not one person daring to brave the rain.
I had no family.
No friends.
No one.
But I was going to have a baby.
A hack turned the corner, heading down the lane.
There was only one place I could go. Only one person I could beg for help.
Desperate, I bolted out into the lane and in front of the carriage. “Stop! Help!”
Chapter Two
Ginny
“I’ve never spent much time with babies, Mrs. O’Sullivan, but I do believe Isabelle here is utterly perfect.”
The housekeeper didn’t dare disagree, merely smiled as we stood admiring the baby. She was almost as infatuated with the babe as I was. Izzy was in her cradle, her eyes drooping. Soon, she’d be asleep, and I would get a few moments to rest.
“Too much quietness and loneliness in this house,” Mrs. O’Sullivan had told me when I’d arrived a week ago. A baby will bring life to these cold rooms.
She tucked Izzy’s blanket around her tiny body. “Such a fine name for such a wee lass.”
I laughed. “Yes, it is a bit too prestigious for a child with no father, no home, not a farthing to her name, but I wanted to give her something honorable at least.”
Mrs. O’Sullivan clicked her tongue in sympathy. She didn’t ask any questions about my life. She never had pried. Perhaps he’d told her my identity, and she already knew my story. Mayhap he brought strange women home to give birth on a monthly basis and she was used to it. Or maybe she just didn’t care. Part of me was relieved she didn’t pry. Another half of me wanted desperately to talk to someone, anyone, even if that person was a woman I’d met only a week ago.
“Aye, it’s right honorable, it is.”
Smiling, I rubbed Isabelle’s back in soothing motions. How I wished Violet had answered one of the letters I’d sent. As kind-hearted as Vi had been, apparently there was a limit to how much she would endure.
Mrs. O’Sullivan cooed, smoothing down the cloud of Isabelle’s dark hair. “Dear child.”
I’d been more than surprised to meet the cheerful Irish woman when I’d first arrived. But I would be forever grateful for her assistance. She hadn’t judged me when I’d appeared on the doorstep in labor. Instead, she’d washed her hands, and prepared the linens as her master had carried me up to a bedchamber.
Yes, indeed. He was an intriguing mystery.
That night was still a blur. A blur of exhaustion and pain, and elation. I hadn’t expected to feel so content. So…right. But the moment Izzy had been placed in my arms, a surge of protectiveness had swept over me. It wasn’t so much happiness, as it was an animalistic need to do whatever it took to keep my child safe.
“Come, sit,” Mrs. O’Sullivan said, leading me toward the two chairs that flanked the hearth. The room wasn’t grand, but it was lovely, cozy and clean.