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“He’s fine,” Lilian said with a firm press of her lips. “He understands. Ben explained everything to William. As you know, our cousin can be very persuasive. My husband is happy to help.”
Persuasive was a kind way of saying Ben either promised William a very large favor or he’d threatened him. Probably the latter. No favor would have been big enough for William to fabricate a long-lost relative no one had ever heard of whose child he’d suddenly inherited. Lilian loved her husband, so Georgina didn’t speculate out loud. But William had always struck Georgina as secretive and not nearly as accommodating as he pretended to be.
Ben had likely found William’s weakness and exploited it.
Her cousin was also not as nice as he liked others to believe.
“I could never repay you or William for all you’ve done.” She looked down at Daniel, who struggled to keep his eyes open, the rock still clutched in one hand. If Georgina had ignored her instincts and foolishly tried to pass off Daniel as Masterson’s, all of London would have known the truth just by looking at her son.
Irrational panic flooded her. She pressed a hand to her heart.
Daniel is safe. I’m safe.
“You can repay us by finding a wonderful gentleman worthy of your hand. I want you and Daniel to be happy. Protected. Safe. But there isn’t any rush. Besides, now that William has hired a nanny to help me with both Daniel and this little one,” she looked down happily at her stomach, “there isn’t any reason why my nephew can’t stay here indefinitely. If Fletcher doesn’t suit, someone else will.”
Georgina wasn’t so sure.
A small hand thrust up before Georgina, palm open, offering her his rock. “Ma.”
“Thank you, my love.” She reached up and brushed a wave of dark hair from his face. She blinked, willing the tears away from her eyes once more, refusing to allow her son to see her weep. Daniel might start to think of her as only some perpetually sad woman, covered in tears, who brought him presents.
The love she had for her son, this one tiny person, eclipsed everything else in her life. She would doanythingto protect him. Had doneeverything. The worst day of her life had been giving Daniel to Lilian for the journey back to America. She’d fallen to the ground into a sobbing heap, Stella refusing to leave her until Ben had forced her maid into the waiting coach. Georgina had been inconsolable for weeks. Once she’d returned to London, she had to wander about pretending Daniel didn’t exist. It had very nearly destroyed her.
“Ma,” Daniel said, this time patting Georgina’s knee with his empty hand. “Ma.” He looked again at Lilian.
“I told you he would start to figure it out,” Lilian whispered. “When he truly begins to speak, it will be you he calls Mama, not I. I’ll just be Aunt Lil, and he won’t remember any of this. Does he look like him?”
“Yes. The spitting image.” She hesitated, thinking of Leo. “He’s a very handsome man. Beautiful, most would say.” Georgina picked up Daniel and placed him against her hip, ignoring the pinch in her chest at the thought of Leo.
Lilian nodded but thankfully didn’t ask anything more.
They strolled leisurely across the lawn toward the house, Daniel clasped firmly in Georgina’s arms. When they stepped inside, she nodded to Lilian. “I’ll take him upstairs.”
“William doesn’t appear to be home yet. I think I’ll have some tea.” Her sister pressed a kiss to Daniel’s temple before wandering off in the direction of her parlor, where she would probably doze off until William arrived home.
Georgina climbed the steps, her nose buried in Daniel’s hair as she went up to the nursery.
“Ah, there’s Master Daniel.” The nanny, Mrs. Gibbons, looked up from where she’d been folding a blanket and stepped forward, her arms outstretched. Clean linen and lemons, with the hint of some spice, filled the air around Mrs. Gibbons. Cinnamon, maybe. She was tall for a woman. Pretty. Young for a nanny, but then Georgina was quite young to be a widow.
“I think I’d like to rock Daniel for a bit. Mrs. Gibbons. Why don’t you enjoy a cup of tea in the kitchens? I’ll put him down for his nap.”
“Very good, ma’am,” she said. “A cup of tea is always welcome. And I’ve an errand to run at any rate.” Smiling, she shut the door of the nursery behind her.
Georgina relaxed into a nearby chair where she rocked her son to sleep, humming softly as Daniel’s little hand pressed against her heart. “I love you,” she whispered into his head of curls. “More than anything. And we are home now. Mommy will keep you safe.”
When Georgina had caught sight of New York after first arriving in Boston, she’d wept, clinging to the railing with sheer joy. She’d sent word to Ben immediately upon disembarking, since her father’s offices were fairly close, then waited patiently for him to retrieve her. It was to his home she’d gone first before facing her parents. He’d been worried that she’d arrived far sooner than he’d expected, cursing Harold and even Georgina’s father for sending her to England in the first place.
On the carriage ride to Ben’s home, after Georgina had been assured Daniel was well and Ben would bring her to him the following day, she’d relaxed against the cushions, staring out the window at a city that had changed dramatically since she’d wed Masterson. There had been a terrible fire the year before her marriage, destroying entire city blocks. The wood buildings had gone up in an inferno that couldn’t be put out because there wasn’t enough water to keep the flames at bay. Now those wooden buildings had been replaced with stone and granite, larger and far more elaborate than their predecessors. Manhattan had become unrecognizable in the years since she’d been gone, the city surging northwest and creating new neighborhoods. Immigrants flooded the streets, their accents and languages melding in a loud cacophony when she walked to the park a short distance from her home. The harbor was busier than ever, the wharves teeming with ships and crates. The other day, she had stood on Broadway Street and simply looked around in awe.
A small snore met her ears and Georgina looked down at her son, now sound asleep in her arms. She continued to rock, staring at his sweet face. She would never give Daniel up again. Not for anyone. If she didn’t remarry, and Georgina wasn’t sure she would, she would find another way to keep him with her.
After a time, the sun began to dip low in the sky, a signal it was time for Georgina to leave. The last ferry to Manhattan was rarely late, and she had an event to attend this evening. Her mother’s pet project had finally come to fruition. The Rutherford opera house was opening tonight.
Her mother disliked the Italian Opera house on Church and Leonard, finding the building antiquated and not nearly luxurious enough. Determined to be responsible for bringing more culture to Manhattan, and to tweak the nose of Jacob Astor who was determined to do the same, Cordelia Rutherford had struck first.Heropera house, into which she’d poured enormous amounts of her husband’s money, was to be dedicated to both opera, preferably Italian,andtheater. A concession Mother made because opera, even performed in Italian, wasn’t nearly as popular as one would think. A theater also had the advantage of attracting the lower classes to performances, which meant greater profitability overall.
Mother had learned a few things from Jacob Rutherford.
Georgina hadn’t attended many events since returning to New York—a select number of gatherings at the homes of people she’d once been acquainted with and a dinner party or two her mother had hosted. While she adored being back in Manhattan, she was less enthusiastic about returning to society, though it was necessary for her to do so if she meant to find a husband. And Mother was adamant that she find one.
