Page 24

‘That is precisely what Billy’s mother’s letter begged me not to do.’

* * *

The Foundling Hospital was exactly what Miss Payton suggested in her kindly, reasonable way. Mr Shilton had taken her driving in his curricle the following afternoon and, as they swept through Grosvenor Gate, they were surrounded by well-wishers. The news of their betrothal had reached the beau monde. Men tipped their hats and bowed, women waved and those who knew them better stopped to offer a few words of congratulation.

Ferdinand Shilton was highly regarded by men and women alike. Men approved his unerring eye for the best bloodstock and the wealth to indulge it, they admired his skill at fencing and swordplay and liked his honourable, amusing company. He always paid his gambling debts on time and could not be more the perfect gentleman if he tried. Women loved his good looks and ever-stylish dress, they appreciated his elegance and grace, his kindness and charm, and were much excited by the fact he was preposterously rich. Mr Shilton extracted his curricle from the cheerful crowd congregating round the Park gate and drove up towards the copse of elms by Tyburn. He had not brought his groom as he wanted to speak with Hester Payton privately.

He turned to her, removed his hat and took her hand. Relating the unexpected arrival of Billy in his life, he watched the pretty face before him turn pale. ‘I cannot say for certain that the child is not mine, but until I can meet and talk to his mother, I cannot know his true parentage.’ To his consternation, he saw Miss Payton’s pallor become suffused with pink. He had embarrassed her and this pained him. He gently squeezed her hand. ‘This is a difficult but necessary conversation, Hester. I don’t want you to marry me under false pretences. I have not led a libertine life, but neither have I been a monk.’

Miss Payton’s cheeks were still flushed when she met his eyes and murmured, ‘I would not expect you to have been, Ferdinand.’

He smiled. ‘I’m glad my worldliness has not come as a shock to you, my dear.’

‘Don’t forget I have had to come to terms with Mama’s irregular past.’ She gave a wintry smile and he felt a jolt of unease as he recalled just what incendiary irregularities Mrs Payton and Lord Flambard still seemed to be pursuing. She gazed up at him, her face returned to its usual serenity, and said, ‘I’d like to see the child.’

‘Of course.’ Ferdy Shilton was flooded with a sense of relief; this dreaded revelation of Billy’s presence had been accepted with the best possible grace.

‘Let’s go now.’ Miss Payton smiled sweetly at him and, his sense of danger lulled, he did not realise the whirlpools of emotion he had yet to cross. He turned his horses and then drove back to Brook Street.

When Maltby opened the door to them, he took Miss Payton’s pelisse and bonnet and his master’s hat and murmured in his ear, ‘Miss Rose and her maid are in the kitchen with Cook, visiting the young gentleman.’

Mr Shilton had told Madeleine to visit Billy whenever she liked and was surprised that she had taken him up on this offer so soon. The extraordinary advent of this child had disturbed every pillar of his well-ordered life. His trepidation returned as he offered his arm to Miss Payton and they walked towards the kitchen to come upon a merry scene.

The child was sitting on Madeleine’s lap, holding a pudgy hand out to Mrs Moffat, who was peeling him an apple. He was babbling in anticipation and his gurgling laugh was so appealing, Mabel, his nurse, Mrs Moffat, Dot and Madeleine were laughing too.

As the door opened, everyone turned their heads and Billy held the apple triumphantly aloft and said, ‘For Billy’. The room erupted into mirth and, against his will, Ferdy Shilton found himself beguiled once again by Miss Rose’s lilting laugh. It was as if the bell-like sound resonated an answering chord in him that he must resist; he did not belong with her in that atmosphere of joie de vivre, but still could not suppress a smile. Only Miss Payton’s face remained unmoved.

‘Good afternoon,’ he addressed the room, then turned to his betrothed and said, ‘Miss Payton, you know Miss Rose, and here is Mrs Moffat. Mabel, the child’s nurse, and Miss Rose’s maid over there by the window.’ Everyone inclined their heads in greeting.

Madeleine struggled to extricate Billy’s hand from the sleeve of her gown in order to stand up and greet Mr Shilton’s companion more formally, but Miss Payton said evenly, ‘Please don’t worry about getting up, Miss Rose, I can see you’re busy.’ She advanced so she could better inspect the child and Madeleine noticed the sudden pallor and the frown.

Billy was messily munching on his apple and seemed unconcerned by the scrutiny, casting Mr Shilton a sunny smile as if he recognised a fellow male among all these women. As Miss Payton bent over the child, Madeleine was quick enough to stop Billy’s sticky fingers grasping the ribbon of lace that fell from her bodice.

Miss Payton stepped back sharply, then inclined her head to the assembled company and took Mr Shilton’s arm to steer him out of the kitchen. They retreated to the library on a wave of convivial sound.

As the door closed, Ferdinand Shilton asked his betrothed if she would like him to call for some tea. When she said she’d prefer brandy, his face did not register any surprise as he poured out a glass for them both, but he knew his relief had been premature.

‘Well, Ferdinand, first I do have to say that child is being spoilt with too much attention. All those women cosset him like he’s a rare prodigy. It’s not good for anyone.’

Ferdy remembered his own infancy and how his mother and nanny and all the servants had treated him like a little prince, and thought to himself that a deal of love and attention was indeed good for a child. He said in a placating voice, ‘He is a novelty in their lives, no doubt it will wear off.’

Hester Payton took a gulp of the fiery liquid and coughed. ‘More serious and pressing is the fact the boy undoubtedly looks as if he is your son. It may be he is not, but appearances matter and I don’t wish the world to poke its nose into our affairs, nor do I wish to become the subject of scurrilous gossip or the butt of any satirist’s pen.’

‘Come now, Hester, we are not of interest enough for that.’

Miss Payton became more agitated as she continued. ‘Misdeeds of the haut ton are always of interest. When embodied in the winsome shape of a tow-haired boy, then they become irresistible to gossips and public humourists alike.’

Ferdinand Shilton recognised the logic of her case and felt an unfamiliar irritation rise in his chest. ‘What do you suggest I do, having been made the unofficial guardian of the lad?’

‘It’s obvious to me he needs to be out of your household and put in the safekeeping of the Foundling Hospital, or fostered in the country by one of your tenants.’

‘His mother expressly wrote that he was not to be sent to the Foundling.’

‘Well, I don’t see she has much say in the matter, given she’s abandoned the boy to your care. At least go and see for yourself the state of that asylum. So many noble and wealthy people are patrons, it must be of particular merit.’

It struck Mr Shilton that he could conciliate his betrothed by not discounting the institution out of hand and said, ‘Perhaps we should visit it together?’

Miss Payton gave a small shudder and cast her eyes down. ‘I don’t think so. I’m too sensitive, too much affected by pathos. Those poor abandoned children.’