Page 71 of The Gentlewoman Companion

Mrs. Corfield took one look at the child and shook her head. “Pardon my boldness, my lord, but I have no time for a child.”

“Is there someone who does?”

She promised to do her best and left the room.

“What is this?” His mother entered, saw the child, and looked at James with pinched brows.

“She is orphaned.”

“The two of you go to the Foundling Hospital and return with a child? Really. She is not a lost puppy.” She placed her hands on her hips.

James ran his hand through his hair. “Do you know of a servant who could give Susan a bath?”

“Susan?” His mother bent down and smiled, but the girl lowered her face. “Nellie is mending my skirt, but her task is not so urgent as Susan’s need for a bath.”

“I will get Nellie,” Louisa said. “Lord Halverton, perhaps you know who can help with the sewing?” She gave him a meaningful look.

Margaret worked for a tailor. He would fetch her. “Of course. I will get Susan something to eat as well,” he told his mother. He moved to set Susan down.

“James, you cannot leave a child alone,” his mother said.

“But you are here.”

She smiled at him. “Bringing this child in was an act of compassion, but caring for a young child is a serious commitment.”

“You take in village children, Mother. I believe I know what is required.”

“I arrange fostering situations if they are very young and bring them in as servants if they are older. This is very different.” She patted his cheek. “I trust you will figure it out. But for now, I will call up some food for her from the kitchens while you attend her.”

She left him alone with Susan, whose disconcerting round eyes settled over him. With her finger hooked over her nose, she continued to suck her thumb. James stared back at her, his heart racing.

In a few minutes, Louisa returned with Nellie, who exclaimed over the child. “She is bonnie! Just look at her blonde curls.”

“You will bathe her, then?” he asked. “Find a place for her to sleep? Whatever she needs?” He had little idea what to ask for.

“How can I resist?” Nellie scooped the child up and kissed her cheek as if it were not covered in grime.

Susan put her hand on Nellie’s cheek. “Where Dom?” She was not very articulate, but James understood she asked after her brother.

“Dom?” he asked.

“Dom.”

“Tom?

The girl nodded.

“He is…not here just yet.” James’s reply was clumsy, but what else could he say?

Louisa and Nellie traipsed out of the room, tittering over the baby’s adorable nose, ears, toes. Relieved, he went to find Margaret and ask if she could help with the mending.

She was sitting on Samuel’s bed, cupping her brother’s cheeks, which were returning to their natural color. “You must wear shoes,” she told him. “In a fine house such as this, we do not traipse about barefoot.”

“They squish my toes,” he whined.

“All the same.”

“If the shoes don’t fit,” James said, “we will get more in the proper size.” At his words, Margaret and Samuel turned, Margaret scrambling to her feet and Samuel taking the opportunity to plunge his feet into the blankets.