The Heiress of Winterwood - By Sarah Ladd Page 0,59

closer to Mrs. Dunne and sat down. “That was a beautiful song you were singing.”

“Me mam sung it to me many years ago. I sang it to my own sweet babes, and now I’m singin’ it to this little mite.”

Amelia leaned over and brushed Lucy’s curls from her forehead. “You must miss seeing your own children every day, Mrs. Dunne.”

“Aye, that I do. But this angel won’t be needin’ me too much longer, and then I’ll be back to my own. I daresay they’ve managed well enough without me, what with my oldest girl almost grown herself.”

Amelia looked down at her hands, a familiar guilt tugging at her heart. How much had Mrs. Dunne sacrificed to care for Lucy? “We’ll miss you, Lucy and I, when the time comes.”

“Oh, we’ll see each other from time to time. ’Tis but a short walk from our farm to here.” The older woman stared into the fire, her round face rosy in the firelight. “When we love someone, we do what is necessary to provide for ’em. I know ye’ll do that for Miss Lucy here.”

Amelia leaned back and began to rock, feeling peaceful for the first time all day. From their first meeting, the nurse’s pleasant attitude had drawn Amelia in. And they would never have met if not for Katherine. Mrs. Dunne’s reputation for midwifery was unparalleled, and when the difficulties arose with Katherine’s pregnancy, Mrs. Dunne had offered advice and guidance. Then when Katherine died and Lucy required a wet nurse, Mrs. Dunne, having recently weaned a child of her own, had filled the role seamlessly. Despite the differences in their stations, these days she sometimes felt Mrs. Dunne was her only friend in the house.

“Speakin’ of returning to family.” Mrs. Dunne looked down at the sleeping baby. “Might I ask if the captain’s made any decisions with regard to Lucy’s future?”

Amelia blinked. She’d assumed Mrs. Dunne had heard her news from the other servants. But the woman appeared totally unaware. Amelia leaned back in her rocking chair. “Perhaps you’ve not heard, but my plans have shifted. I have parted ways with Edward Littleton and will marry Captain Sterling this Friday. So your position is secure here at Winterwood Manor if you can continue on.”

Mrs. Dunne nodded. “Aye, miss, I’ll be thinkin’ on that.”

An awkward silence hung in the air, so Amelia promptly changed the subject.

“I cannot believe Lucy is asleep already. Do you think she will wake if you hand her to me?”

Mrs. Dunne’s throaty chuckle brought a smile to Amelia’s face. “I’m of the mind the Lord himself could come with the wind an’ the fire, and it wouldn’t wake this little one. Here.”

Amelia took Lucy in her arms, leaned back slowly, and nestled the child in the crook of her elbow. Nothing compared to the serenity of cradling a sleeping infant. Her rhythmic breathing and soft scent carried away every trace of the day’s troubles.

“Would ye like me to read to you, miss?”

Amelia pulled her gaze away from firelight dancing on copper curls. “That would be lovely.”

“Maybe something from God’s book?”

Amelia tensed, then exhaled. “From the Psalms, please.”

“Of course.” Mrs. Dunne leaned over the side of her chair and pulled a worn leather volume from a lopsided reed basket.

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.” The cadence of the woman’s brogue sounded sweet as any song. Amelia closed her eyes to listen.

“His delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”

I want to be like that, Amelia mused. Fruitful. Like a tree by the water.

“The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.”

The words rang like poetry, but their meaning sliced deeper than words intended to merely entertain.

What makes a person righteous instead of ungodly?

Lucy shifted in Amelia’s arms, and she looked down at the soft curve of the baby’s lips.

I want to be godly. For Lucy. For myself. I want God to be pleased with me.

“For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.”

You do know my ways, don’t you, Lord? Amelia thought back over the past