“No, please ask Lady Merton to join me in the morning room, if you will.”
“Thank you, miss. May I say I’m glad you’re going to be joining the family?” The housekeeper bobbed a curtsey and left.
There was no lack of projects here. Dotty dropped a kiss on Tom’s head and took the empty cup, placing it on the table, then carried him into his bedchamber, and tucked him under the sheets. Cyrille jumped up on the bed and curled himself next to the sleeping boy.
The first thing to do was take care of Tom. Thank the Lord his mother had made him memorize his family information. How terrifying it must have been for her to be alone with a small child when she died. Dotty brushed away the tear traveling down her cheek.
Rage at the people who had mistreated Tom coursed through her. That landlady had much to answer for. Dotty didn’t know if she could even be civil when she met her, but meet her she would. Mrs. Cavanaugh must have left some personal items behind and they belonged to Tom and his father.
Returning to the table, she occupied herself, until the maid returned, by reducing to writing everything Tom had told her. Before this day was out, she would confront the woman who had abandoned a small child to the streets, or more likely, sold him to thieves.
* * *
Dom raised his eyes from the documents he’d been reviewing when Thea entered his study, his mother following her. He rose until they had taken their seats on the two chairs facing his desk. He was glad to see them getting along so well.
He smiled, then noticed they both had their lips pressed tightly together, their eyes were narrowed, and tension seemed to crackle around them. Could it be the house, or God forbid, Mrs. Sorley? “Is anything wrong?”
Thea slid a small piece of paper across the desk. “Tom finally told me who he is. I had planned to go directly to his family’s rooms on St. George Street, but your mother convinced me to discuss it with you first.” Her voice hitched in anger. “I shall confront Mrs. White.”
Dom put down his pen. “The landlady?”
“The very one. I surmise she sold Tom to the blackguards who were teaching him to steal.”
Leaning back in the tufted leather chair, Dom tried to catch up with her. Whatever the boy had said obviously had overwrought Thea’s sensibilities. “Start from the beginning and tell me what you know.”
“It’s all on the paper,” his mother said. “Mrs. Sorley was correct. He is gently bred.”
“If that is the case, we must find his family.”
Thea rubbed her temples as if they ached. “What I do not understand is why the stupid woman did not contact the Earl of Stratton.”
Glancing back and forth between his mother and Thea, Dom interpolated, “Stratton?”
As if he hadn’t spoken, she continued. “Surely he would have paid her more than those blackguards.”
“I’m not sure, my dear,” Mama responded. “The earl is a hard man. What if his son had married a woman of whom he did not approve?”
“But to take it out on a child?” Thea clenched her small hands into fists. “That is criminal!”
Dom ran a hand over his face. What the devil were they talking about? “Would one of you please tell me what the Earl of Stratton has to do with Tom?”
Thea glanced at him, her wide eyes expectant as if Dom should know. “He is Tom’s grandfather, of course.”
“Damnation!”
“Dominic!” his mother said sternly. “You will not use that language in front of either me or Dorothea.”
He growled and grabbed the slip of paper from his desk. “Yes, ma’am.”
James Cavanaugh and Sophia Cummings Cavanaugh. He shook his head. Tom’s father was likely a few years older than Dom, and the only person he could think of to ask about it was Worthington.Confound it.
“We could approach the earl first,” Thea said.
“I don’t know, my dear,” his mother responded. “Better to discover if there is any bad blood between father and son first. Oh, why have I spent so much time immured in the country and at Bath?” She stood. “First let us see this Mrs. White. Although I shall own myself surprised if that is her real name.”
Thea rose as well. Dom stood out of habit. What did they think they were doing? Hadn’t they come to him for advice?
“Dominic, I shall take Dorothea to Stanwood House after we visit St. George Street.”
