A nauseating twist turned Darcy’s stomach. He looked at Georgiana, who looked as ill as he felt.
“Are you willing for Miss Darcy to hear the rest?” Mrs. Annesley asked.
Aunt Helen wrapped her arm around Georgiana. “Keep the details to a minimum. But she has a right to know what happened to her brother.”
“Very well.” Mrs. Annesley took another deep breath and resumed, “Mrs. Finchley is a skilled midwife, but that pales in comparison to her role as a procurer.”
“Please explain,”Uncle said.
“She procures children for families willing to pay to adopt or foster. For a greater sum, she procures a child for barren couples in need of an heir. She procures young ladies from privileged families for her lying-in houses. For a fee, she sees the lady through her confinement and disposes of her inconvenient child, thus preserving the family’s dignity and the lady’s reputation.”
Elizabeth raised her hand to her mouth, gasping between her fingers. “Disposes? You cannot mean … she murders babies?”
Darcy felt acid burning in his throat. All those names, all the timesdisposedwas written beside them.
“There is no delicate way to put it. Quiet death, natal death … they are all the same. The babe is starved to death after its birth, making it look as though it was stillborn or died during birth. It is impossible for the doctors to know the difference, and by the time he arrives, the young lady is removed as though nothing has happened.”
“What of the children who survived?” Darcy asked. Like Nick.Sold, thendisposed.
“They were sold. Some as slaves, the more fortunate to prominent families. Others were adopted, such as in Miss Rothschild’s case.” Mrs. Annesley bowed her head, her voice soft. “I am so sorry you have lived with doubt all your life when I might have eased your mind. Had I met you earlier, I would like to think I would have found a way to tell you the truth.”
“You know my story? You knew my real mother? My father?” Miss Rothschild’s voice choked.
“Mr. Rothschild’s sister suffered the consequences of her indiscretion. She was only fifteen and innocent in the ways of the world, as is too often the case with young ladies of the gentle class. The family sent her to one of Mrs. Finchley’s lying-in houses, a discreet cottage in the country the villagers know not to ask questions about. She bore a healthy child—a girl with flaming red hair. Just like her mother, I was told.”
“Me?” Miss Rothschild’s legs buckled, and Richard wrapped his arm around her waist before she dropped.
“Miss Rothschild, apparently your mother refused to give up her child. She wrote to her brother expressing her wishes. But she died of a fever not one month later. He paid Mrs. Finchley for her silence, and he adopted you as his own.”
“He really was my family after all?” Miss Rothschild whispered. “And my father? Do you know who he is?”
“I am sorry, I do not know. There were so many children. I only know of your case because it was one of the first I came across after accepting my position as Mrs. Brown’s replacement. She started this list. A maid in a lying-in house slipped it to me.”
“Why did you not come forth? Why the silence until now?” Miss Rothschild whimpered.
“There are no laws against what she was doing. What Mrs. Finchley was doing was respectable … on the surface. She was providing a safe haven for ladies in a terrible situation, and she was procuring homes for some of the infants. It would have been her word against mine, and I had no basis other than this list left behind by Mrs. Brown to make any accusations. Once I realized what happened to the children deemed ‘inconvenient,’ I started adding to this list, collecting my own proof. I befriended the other midwives and nurses she trained. They knew I had Mrs. Finchley’s confidence, so I was able to gather a good deal of names and stories. Most of them appreciated the opportunity to admit the truth to someone who would not turn them in. We were all indebted to Mrs. Finchley, you see. She made certain of that. And anyone who got too greedy or had a change of conscience ended up dead. Like Mrs. Currey. And Mrs. Brown.”
Richard held up the pages. “This is a great deal of evidence.”
“I thought that if I could secure enough to thoroughly accuse her of her crimes, she might be stopped. Her influence is strong. One word from her, and some of the most influential families in England would be embroiled in scandal. These are people who will do anything to cover over their indiscretions.”
As much as Darcy wanted to argue, Mrs. Annesley was right. If it became known that an heir of an established family in the first circles was adopted or otherwise procured, their privilege and status would be endangered. The scandal would be unbearable.
Mrs. Annesley continued, “But I asked too manyquestions. Some of the nurses grew suspicious of me, and I was found out. Mrs. Finchley threatened me. She told me how easily she had disposed of her first two nurses. One suffered from a sensitive conscience and would have destroyed the operation before she had a chance to fully establish her planned business. The other had blackmailed her for years and got too greedy for her own good. She would have killed me had her pistol not misfired. I ran. With the list and the money I always sewed into my gown, I made my way to Ramsgate.” She met Darcy’s eyes. “And that was where I recognized your surname from the list. Her first victim.”
“Why did she do it?” Darcy asked.
“A family of the aristocracy had approached Mrs. Finchley some time before. They were willing to pay an exorbitant sum for an heir, and while she had no idea how to provide them with what they wanted, she recognized the opportunity your mother presented to her. An heir and a spare.”
Richard gasped. “When I spoke with Mrs. Finchley, she told me she always took advantage of opportunities that fell into her lap.” He rubbed his hand over his face. “Had I only known how literally she spoke.”
Darcy tucked Elizabeth’s hand in his arm, close to his chest. “How did my mother not know? Was nobody else in the room?”
“Evidently, the birth had exhausted Lady Anne so greatly, she was too weak to evennotice what happened. When the second twin came, Mrs. Finchley told her it was the afterbirth. Her Ladyship was none the wiser. It was her first child, and she trusted the highly recommended midwife. The nurse snuck the baby out of Pemberley in a basket of blankets she said she was taking to the wash.”
Nick crossed his arms. “I didn’t end up with no fine family.”
Mrs. Annesley bunched her cheeks. “The family you were supposed to go to—I do not know their names, so you may save your breath—they had intended to live on the continent. The arrangement suited Mrs. Finchley perfectly. After all, she could not allow you to meet each other or risk a mutual acquaintance associating you together. But the gentleman’s father died suddenly, and he had to assume the responsibilities of his inheritance immediately. It was a real problem. She could not sell you to the family as she had intended, nor could she return you to the Darcys.”
