Kisses and Scandal (A Survivors Series Anthology ) - Shana Galen Page 0,48
He said he didn’t know Caleb and closed the door in her face. Her superiors at the Foreign Office admitted he’d been sent to the Continent, but that was all they would tell her. And then just a few days after she realized she was with child, Caleb’s child, the undersecretary had come to her and told her Caleb had been killed.
Though she and Caleb had kept their relationship secret, the man seemed to know they were more than merely acquaintances. He’d taken one look at her face and sent her home for the day. The next day, she’d returned and handed in her resignation. They would have sent her away when they’d discovered her condition. She might have been able to keep a position as an art teacher longer. She’d had money saved. The Foreign Office paid well. It was ironic that she’d married to try to make her life easier and the marriage had ended up making it much, much harder. She might have faced scandal and contempt as a loose woman, but she would have been free. And she would have her son with her now.
Bridget turned over again and stared into the darkness of the room.
Caleb would find James. She knew he would, and maybe once she had her little boy in her arms again, it would be easier to forget the man who was his father.
THE NEXT DAY AT THE academy seemed to last an eternity. She was short-tempered with the little girls and demanding of the older. At the midday meal, she barely said a word, though Valérie tried on several occasions to encourage Bridget to speak more about her new room.
When Bridget was finally finished with classes, she didn’t even wait to eat dinner—foolish, really, because the meal was included in her pay—and rushed back to Mrs. Jacobs’s as quickly as she could. The residents there were eating as well, but since Bridget hadn’t paid for food for the month, she didn’t sit down with them. Instead, she walked slowly past the open door, hoping Caleb was inside. He was, and she caught his eye, then fled to her room.
She must have paced the small chamber thirty times before she heard footsteps coming down the corridor. Her heart leaped as it had all those years ago when they’d planned a rendezvous. But this time when she opened the door, she didn’t jump into his arms. She’d told herself that part of their lives was over and done, but when she yanked the door open and saw him standing there, something happened when their eyes met. She felt the familiar fluttering in her belly and tightening in her chest. His eyes flashed with the sort of promise she’d always looked forward to.
“May I come in?” he asked. “It’s not a good idea for me to be seen standing out here.”
“Of course.” She opened the door wide. She was an idiot. Standing there gaping at him. But he looked so handsome in his dark coat and breeches. His curly hair framed his square face and softened it.
He slid in, and she closed the door. Her small, empty room suddenly seemed even smaller. She squeezed past him and pulled out the chair at her table. “Please sit.”
He lifted a dark brow. “I may not be a peer, but I was raised as a gentleman. I can’t sit if a lady is standing.”
“I’m not a lady.”
“All you’re missing is the title.”
She sat then, because her legs felt unsteady. Caleb had always had a way of making her feel special. She’d thought it was because she was special to him, but she had to resist that sort of thinking now. Now she knew that he was capable of leaving her without even a fare thee well. She didn’t mean anything more to him than anyone else.
“We have a problem with the search for James,” he said without preamble. She’d always liked that about him—he got straight to the point and didn’t stall with meaningless pleasantries.
“What is the problem? Did you find something out today?”
“No.” He moved closer and put a hand on her shoulder. She realized her voice had risen and her face had grown hot with panic. “I did go to Spitalfields, but I wasn’t able to ascertain where exactly the orphanage had been. I admit I was more interested in getting a sense of the place, since I hadn’t been in years.”
“And?”
“And I realized there’s no way for me to do this without calling some attention