The Great Estate

by Sherri Browning

  “Or she. We don’t really know yet, do we? What’s in the basket? I hope there’s a nappy or two, and perhaps a bottle.” Someone had given birth to this baby. Had fed him, rocked him, loved him, and abandoned him. How could it be? Who would do such a thing? And why?

  “He’s a he. There’s a note.” Finch read the paper aloud. “It’s addressed to the Countess of Averford. Please care for Theodore as you would your own. He’s where he belongs now. Love, Teddy’s Mum.”

  “You’re a Teddy, are you?” Her mother was Theodora. Wouldn’t Mother love a little Theodore in the house? Sophia cradled him to her shoulder and rocked him, feeling a calm fall over her as the baby’s chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm against hers. Tears formed in her eyes. The peaceful wave of contentment that had come over her as soon as she picked the boy up was exactly what had been denied her for so many years, seven years, since she’d first held her own son, Edward. They might have called him Eddie. And now she had a Teddy.

  “Teddy. Yes, it fits you. Did she list a birth date, by chance? By the size of him, I’m guessing he’s little more than a month old, maybe two.”

  “No, but there are nappies in the basket. Two, to be exact. And a bottle. I’ll wash it out and see if we have any fresh milk. He’s likely to be hungry. We’ve no idea how long he was out there.”

  “We’ll need more than two nappies. I should check if he needs a change. Will he take a bottle so young? Cow’s milk, I suppose. I don’t know what else to feed him without a wet nurse in house. Tomorrow I’ll contact Eve Thorne to see if she can spare her nurse.”

  “I’ll ring for Mrs. Hoyle, my lady. There’s no need for you to be up with the care of an infant. The constable will come for him soon, and that will be that.”

  “That will not be that indeed, Mr. Finch.” She tucked the blanket around Teddy as if to protect his ears from such talk. “You read the note. Someone intends for me to raise this child. We can’t allow the constable to take him away. In fact, why don’t we wait and call tomorrow?”

  “We’ve found a baby in a basket by the service stairs. Can it wait?”

  “Practically under my window. As if somebody knew that I would be the one to hear him and placed him there on purpose. Have we dismissed any servants recently? Female ones especially? Women who might have ended up in a family way?”

  She supposed it happened all the time, though she had never thought of it happening at Thornbrook Park. But servants had feelings, and they certainly acted on them at times, inadvisable as it was for a woman to allow a man… Well, who was she to judge? She knew what it was to be lonely and longing and desperate. So desperate.

  “I can’t believe it could be anyone connected to the house.” Still, Finch seemed to be considering. “We haven’t lost any maids lately.”

  “Nine months to a year ago perhaps? Or longer?”

  “I’ll have to consult the employment records.”

  “Tomorrow. We’ll do it tomorrow. You need your sleep, and so does Teddy. I’m going to bring him up to bed.”

  “To bed where? You can’t mean to take him to your room.”

  “I mean to do exactly that, Mr. Finch. I’ve got the space, and he can sleep in his basket tonight. Don’t you think me capable of keeping good watch over him?”

  “Of course, my lady. That isn’t in question. I just—do you want to be bothered?”

  “He’s no bother! He’s a baby. An adorable baby. Just look at him.” She placed him on the table so that they could examine him together. Ten fingers, ten toes. He wore a little green sweater, hand knit, over a plain white shirt, his nappy, and bare legs.

  “He is a good-looking boy. Looks quite a bit like the boys when they were young, Lord Averford and his brother.” He corrected himself. Sophia couldn’t blame him for the moment of nostalgia. Finch had been around when Gabriel was a baby, after all. “Wisps of fair hair, round cheeks.”

  Lots of babies had fair hair and round cheeks. Certainly, the butler wasn’t suggesting a family resemblance, but it struck Sophia suddenly. Could Gabriel have been unfaithful? He’d been so disgusted by the idea of her kissing another man that he had put a great distance between them, both physically and emotionally. Or so she had thought.

  But what if he’d really been disgusted with himself, knowing what he’d done to her first? She worked out the timing quickly in her mind. If the child were really his, the infidelity would have happened over a year ago, more or less. Right about the time Gabriel had become distant and disinterested in her, which eventually led to her giving in to Lord Ralston’s kiss in the first place… Dear God. It was possible. It was entirely too possible.

  She’d always thought him steadfast and loyal, impossibly stoic. But his father had been quite the adulterer, hadn’t he? She remembered Gabriel mentioning it years ago, while trying to soften her opinion of his mother. Like father, like son?

  “‘He’s where he belongs now’? It’s what the note said, Mr. Finch?”

  He looked it over again. “That’s what it says.”

  “Well, then. Teddy, you’re home.” She bundled him up again and took him into her arms. “I’ll change him upstairs. If you could send up his bottle, warmed. I hope cow’s milk will do for the night. I’ll look into hiring a nurse. We’ll arrange everything in the morning.”

  “My lady, please.” There was a note of tenderness and sympathy in Finch’s voice the likes of which she hadn’t heard since Edward’s death.

  “What is it, Mr. Finch?” She would pretend not to have heard it. She didn’t need to be handled gently.

  “You don’t mean to try to keep him?”

  “His mother seemed to think that he belongs here, and what if he does? Fate took my most precious gift once, my own baby. Now fate delivers a baby to my doorstep. To make amends? I know it sounds naive, perhaps ridiculous. But I feel that Teddy does belong here with me now. At any rate, he’s mine to watch over for tonight, and I mean to do so. I don’t want to wake Mrs. Jenks, so if you could do me the great favor of bringing the bottle up when it’s ready? Don’t bother knocking. We’ll let this just be our secret for tonight. The others will find out in the morning.”

  “As you wish, Lady Averford.”

  * * *

  In the morning, Mrs. Jenks found Sophia asleep in the armchair, the baby resting on her chest. At the sight, Jenks dropped her laundry basket in alarm.

  “Oh my!”

  Sophia cocked one eye open. She had been dozing lightly. “Jenks, good morning. Come meet Teddy.”

  “Teddy?” Her maid stepped forward. “How on earth did you go to bed alone and wake up with a baby?”

  Sophia leaned forward and gently laid Teddy on the ottoman so that Jenks could get a good look at him. Fortunately, he remained asleep. “Someone abandoned him. I heard him mewling out my window last night and assumed it was a cat until the mewling became a cry. He was in that basket.”

  Jenks looked in the basket, now empty except for the blanket that had been draped over it. “My word. Who could abandon such a precious bundle? A boy, you’re sure?”

  “I’ve changed him. Quite sure. Plus, his mother left a note. Mr. Finch has it downstairs. I trust you haven’t spoken to him yet.”

  “I haven’t seen anyone. I’ve been up just long enough to wash and dress and pick up your laundry waiting for me downstairs. I expect the house will be buzzing with the news by the time I get back to the kitchen to pick up your breakfast tray. I assume you’re taking breakfast on a tray, considering.”

  Sophia nodded but couldn’t take her eyes off little Teddy, now only in his nappy, his round belly exposed. He had spit-up on his clothes and she had nothing else to dress him in. She stroked his petal-soft baby skin and couldn’t contain her sigh when he grasped her finger in his little hand. “You little dumpling.”

  Mrs. Jenks sighed too, but it wasn’t one of contentment. “Don’t
go getting attached, please, Lady Averford. You have no idea how long he’s really here for, or when his mother will turn up. I’m sure she will. She has to regret leaving him.”

  “You’ve never been a mother, Mrs. Jenks.” Sophia knew she hadn’t. Jenks had never even been married. The “Mrs.” was a courtesy title to show her advanced position in the house as a lady’s maid. “It’s easy to warn off attachment but not so easy to avoid. I loved him as soon as I first saw his face. I pulled back that blanket and I knew. He belongs here with me. He simply does.”

  It didn’t matter if he was Gabriel’s by-blow or not. She loved Teddy regardless. She might actually love him more if he were Gabriel’s, though she would have plenty of emotions regarding Gabriel’s infidelity. That Teddy would be a part of the man she loved? No. Truly, it didn’t matter. She couldn’t possibly love the baby more. Not one second after she’d taken him in her arms, she’d fallen head over heels.

  They were all looking out for her, expecting her to be fragile, to fall apart as she had when she lost Edward. The fact remained that as devastating as that had been, possibly the hardest thing she would ever experience in life, she had survived. It had made her stronger. She could survive anything now. She’d been a fool to shun her husband’s advances, fearing the worst. The worst and the best happened regardless of one’s preparedness. Why live in fear, avoiding experiences? Life was to be lived. Now a woman of twenty-seven years, she was finally wise enough and strong enough to face whatever life had to offer. And she was a countess, after all. In her experience, countesses usually got what they wanted.

  “I want you, little Theodore Thorne,” she said, trying the name on for size. Not being the earl’s legitimate offspring, he could never inherit, but they could give him the family name. Theodore Stanley, after both of her parents? Theodore Gabriel? She was getting ahead of herself. There would be time to think up a name for him later. First, there was the constable to deal with, and then Gabriel would be home. What if he had been drawing up divorce papers? What if he didn’t fall in love with Teddy and want to claim him, as she had? What if he recognized Teddy as his own?

  At that moment, Theodore gurgled and smiled the biggest baby smile she’d ever seen.

  “He smiled, did you see?” she asked Jenks. “Some say that when a baby smiles, it’s only because he has gas. I’d better burp him again.” She lifted Teddy to her shoulder and lost herself in his sweet baby softness once again.

  * * *

  Gabriel doubted that Sophia had slept through his entire absence, but he hoped that she wouldn’t be angry with him for going. Wilkerson had come by to beg him to stay longer and get to a vote, but he was steadfast in his determination to return home to Sophia. As far as he was concerned, he had what he needed to finally convince her of his undying love for her.

  “You’re deep in thought,” his brother accused him from across the breakfast table. “Or ignoring me. With you, it could go either way.”

  “You can safely assume it is both,” Gabriel answered flippantly. He’d been aware that Marcus was talking but had tuned his brother out in favor of his own thoughts.

  In recent years, Gabriel had established a good relationship with Marcus, but he had never been happier to see him than he had on arrival at Averford House last night. Gabriel had come up with a plan to rid himself temporarily of most of his houseguests to get more time alone with Sophia, and Marcus had been graciously agreeable.

  Marcus and Eve were returning to Yorkshire along with Gabriel and Mr. Grant. Once at Thornbrook Station, they would go their separate ways so that Marcus and Eve could enjoy a brief reunion with the daughters they’d left behind. Then, they would make a quick visit to Thornbrook Park, just long enough to suggest that Mother and Lord Markham go back to Markham House with them.

  It was the perfect solution. Marcus and Eve had purchased their estate from Lord Markham and had never changed the name out of respect. Charles would feel at home again, exploring his former residence. Mother would be able to spend some time with the granddaughters she had yet to meet. Gabriel and Sophia would be left with only Aunt Agatha and the hired help, all of whom were capable of functioning without the earl and countess’s constant interaction. Gabriel would take Sophia on a picnic to her stretch of land and then hand her the papers and explain the transfer of ownership to her.

  “At least Mr. Grant has answered me.” Marcus shook his head at his brother. “Apparently, we are all taking the same train. Unless my wife fails to come down to breakfast in time, in which case you’ll have to leave without us.”

  “I’m right here, dear heart.” Wearing an angelic smile and a sable-trimmed traveling suit, Eve Thorne appeared and wrapped her arms around her husband’s neck. Gabriel had it in mind to wrap his arms around his brother’s neck too, but not in such a loving way. “We’ll leave on time if I have anything to do with it. I’m eager to see my babies.”

  “That’s how it is when you have children, gents,” Marcus addressed them. “You can’t decide if you’re more excited to leave them behind or to get back home to them.”

  “I wouldn’t know,” Gabriel said, emotionless. He hoped he would know soon enough. It had crossed his mind that Sophia could have become pregnant. If not right away, maybe soon enough. He planned on taking ample opportunity to ensure his future generations.

  “I’m more excited to get home to them than to have left them,” Eve declared. “No offense, Marcus. I’ve enjoyed our time alone, but I miss my girls so much.”

  “I miss them too.”

  “What are we waiting for?” Gabriel rose from the table.“Let’s get to the station.”

  Several hours later, much too long for Gabriel’s liking, he was finally home.

  “I’ll see you at dinner, Mr. Grant.” Grant was leaving him to go back to the cottage. Instead of having Kenner move out, the two men had decided to share the estate agent’s cottage a short walk from the main house. It was an amicable solution. The cottage had several bedrooms and plenty of room for two men. “Thank you for your assistance in this very important matter. You and Mr. Kenner do make a good team.”

  “Your wife is very insightful, Lord Averford. I’m glad to continue working for you both.”

  “Ever the diplomat, Mr. Grant.” He tipped his hat to the man as he strode away.

  In the house, Gabriel was greeted by a loud commotion. It sounded like a baby’s cry, but he was certain that the Thornes’ nurse had remained at Markham House with her charges.

  “Finch, what’s going on?” Even Mr. Finch looked harried, his fringe of silver hair mussed and sticking out on one side. A maid rushed by with a stack of towels in hand. In the main hall? “It’s Bedlam in here.”

  “Not Bedlam, my lord. A baby. It’s the baby.”

  “What baby?”

  Finch shook his head. “I’ll leave Lady Averford to explain. She’s in the drawing room talking to Chief Constable Reilly.”

  “The constable? Good God. What’s going on?” He shrugged out of his coat, handed it and his hat to Finch, and went to greet his wife.

  “Sophia?” She too was in glorious disarray, her raven locks trailing about her shoulders and a big dollop of…something on the shoulder of her blouse. He closed the distance. “Is that mustard?”

  “No, darling, Teddy has been spitting up. Poor dear. Dr. Pederson is examining him now. I’ve been talking to the constable about last night.”

  Gabriel’s heart hammered in his chest. “Last night? What happened last night? I knew I should have pushed harder to come home in time. Who’s Teddy?”

  “The baby.” The wrinkled-up, concerned look fell off her face to be replaced with an image of beatific radiance. “Theodore. He was left in a basket under my window, as I was just telling Chief Constable Reilly.”

  “Good to see you again, Reilly.” Gabriel reached out to shake his hand. Tom Reilly, formerly a private investigator in
London, was a good friend of Gabriel’s brother. “What’s this about a baby? Oh dear, there he goes again. He’s a loud one, isn’t he?”

  The cries shot from a low roar up to top volume. “I don’t think he likes Dr. Pederson,” Sophia said, the worried look returning.

  “So far, what we have is that you were interrupted in the middle of Emma…” Reilly went over his notes.

  “Who’s Emma? The baby’s mother?” Gabriel was becoming more confused.

  “It’s a book,” Sophia said, seeming less concerned as the cries quieted down again. “I was reading Jane Austen’s Emma, one of my favorite books, when I felt a chill and went to close the window. But at the window, I heard a soft mewling. I thought perhaps it was a cat. When the mewling sounded more like a cry, I decided to investigate.”

  “In the middle of the night? On your own?” Gabriel put his arms around her. “Darling, how could you be so foolish? It could have been a wild animal or a ruffian.”

  “Ruffians? Not on my watch.” Reilly rocked back on his heels, seeming pleased with himself. “We have a safe village, Lord Averford. Small as Thornbrook is, I keep my men on patrol.”

  “No doubt you do, Reilly. Much appreciated. But how did a baby end up under my wife’s window? Was anybody spotted in the vicinity?”

  “No,” Sophia answered definitively. “Mr. Finch came out to have a look with me, Gabriel. Honestly. Do you think he would let me go out alone? He was awake polishing silver or whatnot. He held the light and I found the basket. Teddy’s crying made it hard to miss, of course. The basket was placed right outside the door so that I nearly tripped over it anyway. I looked inside, and there he was. Our baby.”

  “Our baby?”

  She laughed in a brittle way and shook her head. “There’s no question about it. He’s your son. What’s yours is mine, and all that.”

  “What the devil are you going on about, Sophia?” He really had walked into Bedlam, it seemed. Perhaps she was still under the influence of that elixir. He would have to talk to Mrs. Mallows.