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Braden glanced around the table, taking in the various expressions. Most of the men seemed annoyed, although Haxton looked strangely nervous as he mopped his brow with a large kerchief. Baines, however, seemed not one whit perturbed. If anything, the barrister seemed amused.
Apparently, one needed a nautical chart to figure out the undercurrents on this blasted board.
“I will continue to discharge my duties, just like the rest of you,” said Robertson with a rheumy glare.
“Then I suggest we return to the issue,” Lady Samantha firmly said. “I have thoroughly questioned the orphanage staff, and they are mystified by the disappearances.”
“How old were the boys?” Braden asked.
“All under the age of eight.” She grimaced. “Two of them were only six, and that truly concerns me. That’s much too young for them to be out on their own.”
“And no family to run to for any of them, I suppose?”
She shook her head.
Braden could understand older boys running away. They sometimes chafed under rigid rules and structures. But children that young? In his experience, if they were given good food, a little comfort, and a safe place to stay, they would mightily resist any effort to return to the streets.
“But what can be done?” asked Mr. Wallace, the clergyman, who’d finally decided to join the discussion. “We give them so much, and yet they still run away. I hate to contradict Lady Samantha or the good doctor, but perhaps these particular lads were simply not able to resist the sinful temptations of the stews.”
“Temptations like starving to death?” Braden sardonically responded.
The clergyman bristled. “I simply meant—”
John held up a hand. “Lady Samantha and I have a proposal. We feel it makes sense to hire extra security for the orphanage, especially during the evenings when only one assistant matron and a porter are on duty. With fifty boys, those two are stretched thin.”
Sir Gregory let out a derisive snort. “Out of the question. We can’t afford more staff, thanks to Lady Samantha’s insistence that we hire a new cookanda composition teacher for the girls’ school.”
“The board agreed to those hires, sir,” Samantha said in a clipped voice. “They were necessary.”
As close as she was, Braden could practically feel her quivering with fury.
“Agreed over my objections,” Sir Gregory retorted. “In any case, those hirings mean we have no additional funds. Besides, if we want to hire security, it should be just to keep them from stealing from the larder.”
Lady Samantha’s slender hand, resting on the table, curled into a quite respectable fist. “But it is—”
Sir Gregory faced Haxton with a glare. “You’re the head of the accounts committee, Haxton. Do we have the money to hire more staff?”
“Er, no, not given our other expenses,” Haxton stammered.
“Then that settles it,” Sir Gregory triumphantly said. “Really, those boys are running back to their old lives, and that’s it.”
“That’s the most logical explanation,” said Paisley. “No point in wasting timeormoney.”
“Gentlemen, please,” John started.
“I move that we end this meeting,” Sir Gregory loudly barked.
“I second the motion,” Paisley quickly added.
John’s gaze narrowed to slits as cold as the North Sea. “Since a motion to adjourn is now on the table, I will of course hold a vote. But I would ask you all to consider both the gravity of the situation and our request.”
“Get on with the blasted vote,” snipped Lord Robertson.
The vote brought the meeting to a swift end. Since the president was required to abstain, Braden and Arthur Baines were the only two members to support Lady Samantha.
With a weary sigh, the lass rested her forehead on her palm.
“I’m sorry,” Braden said to her in a low voice. “I wish I could have been of more help.”
