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“Faith! Poor dears.” Polly clucked.
“Indeed, those two women were quite wretched when they left.”
“No,” she responded, “I meant the children.”
“The children?” He appeared surprised.
“Yes, of course. Only think how very miserable and confused they must be.”
“Then you will do it?” His face brightened.
She shook her head. “No, I am afraid I cannot.”
Despair could be seen in his aged eyes. “I am at my wits’ end,” he said quietly.
“Sir, dear sir. I would do it if it were at all possible. But I am about to be married on Sunday.”
He looked at her and smiled. “Are you indeed? I am happy for you, dear. Is he deserving?”
“I think he most certainly is,” she answered softly.
Cheryl had worked up her courage during this discourse and stuck in, “I will do it!”
Mr. Trekner and Polly both looked at her. He shook his head. “You are scarcely more than a child yourself.”
“No, I am not a child, sir. I am one and twenty. Miss Corbett was one and twenty when she took on her first charge, and I can do it. I know what it is to be a troubled child. I can deal with them, and I am young and strong enough to handle what they throw at me.”
Again he shook his head. Cherry frowned and inquired, “Is it that you think their mother will not approve?”
“No, no … they lost their mother more than a year ago—their father before they had the opportunity to even really know him. That is the problem. They haven’t any parental supervision, which is why I think you are just too young to handle the situation … without guidance.”
“I was raised to manage a household. I am skilled in French and Spanish. My math is poor, but my knowledge of literature is certainly wide … How old are they, by the way?”
“Twins … the boy, Felix, and his sister, Francine, are eight years old and full of mischief.”
“Please, sir, they need me, and at this point in my life … I need them.”
He stared at her while Polly took all of this in quietly. Finally Polly said, “This is perfect for all concerned. It is exactly what Miss … er … Parker …” Sarah Parker had been Cherry’s mother’s maiden name, and she was prevaricating, but perhaps the end might justify the means. “… needs, and I do believe she will be good for the twins.”
“Perhaps,” Mr. Trekner said thoughtfully, “but there are more …”
“More what? Children?” Cherry was surprised into asking.
“In a manner of speaking, though they shan’t trouble you. There is Mary. She is fourteen and presently attending finishing school, and there is Frederick. He is seventeen and attending Eton.”
“If they haven’t any parents … who has the care of the twins now?”
“That is the problem. They are under the care of the servants until their oldest brother can attend them.”
“Who is he that he can’t attend them immediately?” Cherry asked in some surprise.
“That doesn’t matter—he is busy in London, active in Parliament, and has duties that have detained him in London at the moment, but I am certain he will return to Bromley Grange as soon as he may.”
“Darling …” Miss Corbett turned to Cheryl. “If you do this, you must see it through. You must not leave these children.”
“You know me, Polly—you know I would never do that. Perhaps this is what I have always been suited for …?”
Miss Corbett eyed her ruefully. “I doubt that, but I do think this will be the making of you—and the children.”
