For that reason alone, he was determined to show her that there was more to him than she thought—and the best way of doing that was by introducing her to Mrs Hutchins and the children.
For reasons of confidentiality, Alistair had not discussed the details of his project with very many people. He’d had to tell his father about the house due to the financial ramifications, but he hadn’t told him what it was for because he knew his father wouldn’t have approved.
Pay others to do that, Lord Kempton would have said. A gentleman does not dirty his hands with poverty.
It was not an isolated opinion. Alistair knew that many affluent men had no wish to spend any part of their personal wealth on the welfare of the sick and the downtrodden, not even when those who suffered were children. But Alistair worked to a higher ideal. He had long been impressed by the example set by Thomas Coram, the gentleman who had founded a hospital for the care and education of young children cast aside by society, and he was convinced that the need for that type of housing was greater than ever. If those who had the wherewithal to help didn’t make the attempt, countless innocents would die. He had the money and the time to invest in such a cause and he was happy to do it.
Besides, his reasons for establishing the orphanage went far deeper than any one knew. The day he had seen an eight-year-old girl purposely walk into the path of an oncoming carriage was the day his life had changed for ever.
There hadn’t been time to react, either on his part or the coachman’s. The carriage had thundered down on that poor child and she had been knocked aside by the lead horse, killing her on the spot. The carriage hadn’t stopped. Alistair doubted the occupants were even aware of what happened. But he had made a vow, then and there, that whatever he could do to better the lives of children like that, would be done.
He wondered what Victoria Bretton would say about his inclinations. Would she look at him differently if she knew? Would she think better of him and perhaps be more willing to entertain his suit?
And then, as if conjured by thought alone, she appeared on the street ahead of him. She was strolling with her brother, the sound of her laughter drifting along the street towards him. She was dressed all in green and looked as beguiling as spring.
Alistair knew the moment she saw him. Her laughter stopped, but he saw the telltale rush of colour to her cheeks. And though that too receded, the fact it had been there at all gave him hope.
Unfortunately, there was still a feeling of unease between them as a result of the unfortunate conversation they’d had the day he had driven her home from the Gryphon Theatre. It had lessened slightly after their conversation at Lady Hincham’s garden party, and he had hoped their evening together at the Gryphon would have resolved it entirely. It was the reason he had been so insistent that she join him and Isabelle for the seventh performance of Valentine Lawe’s play.
But it had become clear to him right after the meeting with Victoria and her uncle at the foot of the grand staircase that she had still been very much on edge. She looked as though she had received news of a most disturbing nature, and it wasn’t long after that she and her brother had left.
Alistair just wanted the distance between them to be at an end. He was desperate for a sign that she wasn’t as unaware of him as he feared.
‘Well, this is an unexpected pleasure,’ he said, drawing his phaeton to a halt. ‘Good morning to you both.’
‘Good morning, Mr Devlin,’ Laurence said. Victoria only smiled, but while her hand stayed in the crook of her brother’s arm, Alistair noticed that her fingers tightened on his sleeve. ‘You look very satisfied with yourself.’
‘In fact, I have had a very productive morning and am on my way to share some good news with someone who will be very pleased to hear it.’
‘May we enquire as to the nature of the business?’ Victoria asked.
He looked down at her and knew the moment was at hand. ‘You may enquire, Miss Bretton, but rather than tell you, I wonder if you would allow me to show you what I am so pleased about.’
‘I’m not sure how one shows another person good news, Mr Devlin.’
‘That depends on the nature of the news. But if you would allow me, I think you will be pleasantly surprised.’
An expression of interest flashed across her face, as well as a flicker of curiosity—something Alistair knew very few women were capable of resisting. ‘Very well, you have piqued my interest, sir.’
‘Mr Bretton, you are most welcome to join us,’ Alistair said, knowing it would be impossible not to extend the invitation to her brother as well.
Thankfully, Laurence declined. ‘It is good of you to ask, but I have an appointment elsewhere. Victoria can tell me about it when she gets home. I trust you to take good care of her.’
Alistair smiled. ‘I will do my best.’
Minutes later, he and Victoria were clipping along in the direction of the orphanage. Alistair knew it was too late to change his mind. They were set on a course and he was anxious to see what Victoria’s response to his undertaking would be.
She was quiet as they drove through the narrowing streets. The house was located in an area north and east of the Gryphon Theatre, in a part of town Alistair doubted Victoria would be familiar with. There were no fine shops or attractions to which a young lady visiting London would have any reason to go, but it suited his purposes well enough. He had acquired the house some years ago as the result of a business transaction and, until a few months ago, it had been sufficient for his needs. But as the children kept coming, it had quickly grown too small, hence Alistair’s decision to purchase a larger house.
He turned at last into the street and stopped the carriage in the usual place. Thomas appeared within moments, as if drawn by the sound of carriage wheels. After tossing the lad a coin, Alistair turned to help Victoria alight. ‘Before we go in,’ he said, ‘I want you to know that if you feel uncomfortable at any time, or wish to depart, you have only to say so. But it was necessary that I come here today and I wanted to share this with you.’
‘Why?’
A dozen answers sprang to mind. He gave her the most honest. ‘Because your opinion matters to me.’
Intense astonishment touched her face, but after a moment’s consideration, she nodded. ‘Then pray proceed, Mr Devlin. I am curious to see what this is all about.’
He unlocked the door and pushed it open.
Jenny was standing in the entrance hall. Blonde hair hung lank around her cheeks and, upon seeing Victoria, she gasped and ran back down the corridor, disappearing through a door at the end.
‘Who was that?’ Victoria asked.
‘Jenny.’ Alistair ushered her inside and rang a small silver bell on the table. ‘She doesn’t speak. At least, she hasn’t since her arrival here.’
‘Has she been injured?’
‘Not physically. The doctor said her vocal cords are fine, but she witnessed—’
Alistair stopped, not sure how much of Jenny’s sad story he should reveal. But while Victoria’s face was pale, her voice was steady when she said, ‘What did she witness?’
It was the calmness of her manner that decided him. ‘A violent crime. She ended up here because it wasn’t safe for her to remain where she was.’
Victoria kept her eyes on the door through which Jenny had just disappeared. ‘Are there others here like her?’
‘Yes. Their circumstances are all different, but their reasons for being here are the same,’ Alistair said, wondering where Mrs Hutchins was. ‘They were all brought here to recover.’
Finally, Mrs Hutchins did appear, emerging from the same doorway through which Jenny had disappeared. ‘Mr Devlin, I’m so sorry,’ she said, wiping her hands on her apron. ‘I heard the bell but I couldn’t leave Molly. She’s had a terrible bout of coughing. I’ve sent young Teddy for the doctor.’
Alistair felt despair well up in his soul. ‘Take me to her.’ He saw the housekeeper’s gaze go briefly to Victoria and said, ‘Miss Bretton, this is Mrs Hutchins. Mrs Hutchins looks after the children here.’
Victoria immediately put out her hand. ‘I am very pleased to meet you, Mrs Hutchins. Please, take us to see Molly.’
The housekeeper nodded. ‘I hope you don’t mind the sight of blood, miss,’ she said, turning to lead the way.
‘I’m not squeamish. I was always the sister who fell out of the tree.’
The remark brought a faint smile to the older woman’s face. ‘You may find this is a little more unsettling. Mind your skirts there.’
Alistair tried to keep an eye on Victoria as they made their way down to the kitchen. He had complete faith in Mrs Hutchins’s ability to look after the children, but if Molly was coughing up blood, it was just as well the doctor had been sent for. For all Victoria’s claim that she had fallen out of trees, what she was about to see was something she likely didn’t encounter in her everyday life.
Molly was lying on a narrow cot placed next to the fire. Her face was white and the front of her chemise was spattered with blood. A quick glance showed other towels spotted with blood, which Mrs Hutchins quickly gathered up. Molly’s sister, Margaret, was standing a few feet away, her face stricken.
To Alistair’s surprise, Victoria went straight to the child’s cot. ‘Oh, you poor little thing,’ she murmured. She bent down, her skirts pooling like a field of green around her. ‘Hello, Molly. My name is Victoria. Can you hear me?’
Molly’s eyes were half-open and fixed on Victoria’s face. When she nodded, Victoria looked up and smiled at the other child standing close by. ‘Is this your sister?’
‘That’s Margaret, miss,’ Mrs Hutchins whispered as she passed by.
‘Hello, Margaret.’
The girl didn’t answer, but Victoria didn’t seem to expect her to. She returned her attention to Molly and gently brushed the hair back from her forehead. Then she took one of the girl’s hands between her own and rubbed it gently. ‘You’ve not been very well, have you, Molly? But the doctor is coming and he’s going to take care of you.’
Molly nodded and her eyes drifted closed.
Alistair swallowed hard. He feared they were going to lose Molly—possibly her and Margaret both. The damage done by the mills was something even the finest doctors couldn’t repair, and the knowledge that these little girls’ early deaths could have been prevented made him angrier than he would have believed possible.
And then, four more children shuffled in, all huddled close together. He knew each of them by name because he had made it his business to, and they knew him. But they didn’t know the lady crouching by Molly’s cot.
‘Will she be all right, then?’ the tallest of them asked.
Alistair nodded. ‘We’ve sent for the doctor, Thomas, and with luck, he’ll be here very soon. Why don’t you take Ruth and Alice upstairs and then gather the rest of the children together? There’s something I want to tell you.’
‘Aye, go along with you now, Thomas,’ Mrs Hutchins said. ‘Where’s Robert?’
‘Up in t’ schoolroom,’ Peter answered. ‘With David and Beth.’
‘All right. Go and find them and tell them Mr Devlin wants to talk to them.’
Alistair saw the look of fear on their faces and hastened to reassure them. ‘Tell them I have good news. For all of you,’ he said quickly.
That changed everything. The children disappeared, their footsteps clattering on the stairs in their haste to pass along his message. Alistair turned and saw Victoria watching him, the expression on her face one he had never seen before.
‘Why don’t the two of you go up as well?’ Mrs Hutchins said quietly. ‘I’ll stay here with Molly until the doctor comes. I don’t want to leave her alone.’
‘Yes, all right. But I want you there to hear the good news as well, Mrs Hutchins,’ Alistair said. ‘This concerns all of us.’
Chapter Nine
All of us. He’d said it as though he was one of them, Victoria mused, yet he so obviously was not. These children were all orphans, or as near to it as mattered. They were here because their previous living conditions had become untenable. Clearly, Molly and her sister were ill, and while Victoria had no idea what the nature of their affliction was, she knew that for a child to be coughing up blood, the diagnosis could not be good.
Then there was Jenny, the silent one. She had witnessed something no child should ever have to and had been left emotionally scarred as a result. God only knew what had brought the other children to this haven, because that’s what it was, Victoria acknowledged as she stretched out her hand to Margaret. A safe haven in the midst of a dangerous world.
Margaret glanced at her hand and then, slowly, put her own into it. She didn’t say a word, but Victoria knew the girl trusted her to not do her any further harm. She looked at her sister as she passed the cot and briefly rested her free hand on Molly’s cheek.
Molly’s eyes opened and a tiny smile formed on
her lips.
That smile broke Victoria’s heart. Tears gathered in her eyes, and when she glanced up, she saw Alistair and Mrs Hutchins watching her. Her mother would have been horrified at the thought of her shedding tears for an orphan, but she would not cry in front of these children. They were the ones who should be crying. Not her. ‘Come along then, Margaret. Let’s go and join the others, shall we?’ she said.
Obediently, Margaret nodded. Alistair had a brief word with Mrs Hutchins, then led the way up the steep and narrow stairs.
Victoria accommodated her step to Margaret’s, slowing even more when she heard the sound of the child’s laboured breathing. Clearly her lungs had also been damaged, but perhaps not to the same extent as her sister’s. When they walked into the room where the other children were already gathered, it took everything Victoria had not to burst into tears.
There were seven of them, ranging in ages from four to about ten. All were thin, with gaunt faces and bones sticking out in places where bones were never meant to be seen. They all looked uncertain and a little afraid, but their clothes were mended and their faces clean.
Alistair Devlin seemed completely at home amongst them. One of the little girls, Alice, Victoria heard him call her, went to him, and the face she raised was brimming with trust. ‘Have you brought us anything today, sir?’
‘I’ve brought you good news,’ Alistair said gently. ‘But before I tell you what it is, I want you to say hello to Miss Bretton. She’s come to visit you.’
The children looked at her with varying degrees of suspicion and fear, and Victoria couldn’t help thinking how different they were from the healthy, well-dressed children she saw in the homes of the well-to-do. These little waifs had a reason to be suspicious of adults they didn’t know, and all too sadly, to be fearful of the ones they did.
* * *
It was another half-hour before Mrs Hutchins finally joined them. She carried Molly in her arms and apologised for her delay, but as she explained to Alistair as she gently set the child on a cot, she wanted to be there while the doctor examined the little girl. Apparently he had given her something to ease her pain and Victoria saw Margaret’s tension ease, her frown disappearing for the first time since she had arrived.
‘Is she going to get better, then?’ Margaret asked.
Victoria caught the look that passed between Alistair and Mrs Hutchins, and knew the answer wasn’t good.
‘We’re doing all we can for her, Margaret,’ Mrs Hutchins said. ‘And you were very wise to let us know that she was having trouble breathing. We need you to keep doing that.’
The little girl nodded, looking years older than she should as she moved to stand at her sister’s side. ‘I will.’
‘Good. An
d now,’ Alistair said, ‘I wanted you all here, because I have good news for you. You are going to be moving to a new home. A big house in the country, with lots of room inside and fields where you can play—’
‘Are we all going?’ one of the boys asked, a look of desperation on his face. ‘You’re not going to break us up, or send us away, like you did with the others?’
‘No, I’m not going to do that, Peter.’ For a moment, Alistair looked regretful. ‘I had to send the others away because there were too many of you living here for Mrs Hutchins to look after. But they have gone to a very good home where they will be well taken care of, just as all of you will be in this new place.’
‘When will we be going?’ Thomas asked.
‘Hopefully in the not-too-distant future,’ Alistair said, obviously not wanting to put a definite time on it. ‘Some renovations are required and those are underway now.’
‘We can ’elp,’ David piped up.
Alistair smiled. ‘Yes, you can. You and Thomas and Peter will all have jobs to do.’
‘Wot ’bout me?’ the smallest boy said. ‘I can work, long as you don’t send me up the chibney.’
‘You won’t ever be going up a chimney again, my lad,’ Mrs Hutchins said fiercely. ‘I’m sure Mr Devlin can find a job in the fresh air for you.’
‘I most certainly can. We’re going to need a garden dug, Teddy, so I’m putting you in charge of that. And the girls can sew curtains and help in the kitchen,’ Alistair went on. ‘As well, you will all continue with your lessons and eventually there will be other children joining you. Not too many, because we don’t want to end up as crowded as we are here. But it’s a big house and it can hold others who need help, the way all of you did when you came here.’
Victoria glanced at the children and saw a wide range of expressions on their faces. Clearly, none of them was used to pampering of any kind and to learn that they were soon to have a new home where there would be fresh air for them to breathe and fields in which to play must have seemed like a miracle.
No Occupation for a Lady Page 12