Page 80 of Her Impeccable Scoundrel
Graeme circled the room and then disappeared through another doorway, returning in minutes. “That’s the bedroom,” he said. “One large lavishly appointed bed and a small one tucked into the corner. No desk or papers that I could see. I suppose they’d have those hidden.” He came to stand near her. “About what—six months, eight months?” he asked. “It’s the image of Coralie.”
“Yes.”
“Archie’s?”
She nodded, tightly. “Probably. I cannot hold it against the babe.”
“I know you cannot, my love.”
He squeezed her shoulder, and she shuddered. My love, he’d said. Had he not heard the conversation between Lunetta and Lord Vernon about that night?
She shook off the unsettling emotions the memory inspired and put her attention to her task. One spoonful and then another, and then another.
She had almost reached the bottom of the bowl when the baby scrunched up its face and turned away. She set the spoon aside and wiped its mouth with a corner of the swaddling.
He chuckled. “Full now. He—or she—was hungry.”
“And wet.” She lifted the child. “And now I am as well. Fetch me some of those cloths from over there and I’ll change him. Or her. We shall know soon which it is.”
As she unwrapped the swaddling, Graeme stood so close she could feel his breath on her cheek, followed by his lips as he dove in for a quick kiss. “A girl,” he said. “Coralie has a baby sister. Don’t bring her into the sitting room until Morley and his men have hauled Lord Vernon off to Bow Street.”
And then he was gone, and she felt… a trifle bereft. The genuine affection in that quick kiss and been worth a trunkful of letters from a dutiful lover.
One week later
A hack arrived at Grosvenor Square and Morley stepped out carrying a small valise with an even smaller one tucked under his arm. Then he helped Radley juggle the baby she was holding and climb down. Blythe, Coralie, and Nicholas stood at the drawing room window watching.
Graeme came to join them, setting one hand on Coralie’s shoulder and the other on Nicholas’. “You’ll have no peace in the nursery now,” he teased.
“A nursery is not a spot for tranquility, Lord Chilcombe,” Lady Hermione called from her place on the sofa where she sat knitting a shawl for the baby. Only Will was missing. He’d needed to make an appearance at Horse Guards that day.
Blythe smiled back at Graeme, thinking about the meeting they’d had with the children only a short while earlier, telling them the news.
Coralie had been filled with questions, which Blythe answered as truthfully as possible. This child was Coralie’s half-sister, and as it turned out, a distant cousin to Nicholas, whose mother had been related to Lunetta. Nicholas had caught some of Coralie’s contagious exuberance but he was generally more subdued.
“We don’t care if she’s noisy,” Coralie said. “Well, not much,” she added, grinning. “We helped with the Stockwell babies, remember? In any case, I’ve told Nick about how annoying he was when he came to my nursery. Come, Nick, let’s go and escort Maddy upstairs.”
Maddy’s greeting, a shrill, indignant wail, reached them before Radley stepped into the room holding her charge, with Morley close behind.
Coralie scooped up the baby and bounced her, shocking her into wide-eyed, curious silence as Nicholas tickled her cheeks and made faces at her. Lady Hermione put aside her knitting to join the chorus of Maddy’s admirers.
Radley approached Blythe and Graeme and took two bags from Morley. “This larger one is what swaddling and clouts she has. I’ll take that up to the nursery and go through it. This other…” she handed the smaller bag to Blythe, “is special things for the babe for you to hold for her.”
Moisture clogged Blythe’s throat as she remembered the cache of special things she’d saved from her firstborn, as well as the garments she’d been working on for the baby she lost.
“How was she?” Blythe asked, finally.
Radley knew who she meant and shook her head. “It won’t be much longer.”
Graeme had brought a doctor to examine Lunetta the day they’d captured Lord Vernon, and the very same day he’d somehow arranged for a nurse for the baby. After hauling Lord Vernon to Newgate, Morley and Jarrow had returned and taken detailed statements from both Lunetta and Thornsby. Thornsby would not be charged with any crimes, nor, given the state of her health, would Lunetta.
As for the marquess, Graeme had been very busy. Since the events of that day, Blythe had barely seen him, a fact that had her emotions alternating between apprehension and anger. Trust me, he’d said. With no news on the matter at hand, she was feeling desperate.
With her brother escorting her, she’d returned to Bridie Lane the day after Lord Vernon’s arrest to discuss little Maddy’s future and offer her help. Though her own income was shaky, Blythe could somehow continue to pay the nursemaid, or she could provide a stipend to help a relative with the child’s care. Or, if Lunetta wished it, she could take Maddy in and raise her with her sister, Coralie.
She hadn’t asked Graeme’s permission—he’d been off elsewhere in meetings. And whatever happened, if he truly wanted to help Blythe, he would have to help everyone who was under her protection.
Lunetta had listened stonily, and at the end, she’d summoned her strength and rudely told Blythe to leave and never come back.
