Jesse again shifted the baby from one shoulder to the other, his large hands fumbling when the blanket began to unwind and a tiny foot dangled freely. I bit back yet another smile and came around the sofa table to help tuck those minuscule toes safely back in. As I did so, I couldn’t help but notice the blush suffusing Jesse’s face, making the smattering of freckles across his nose stand out brighter.
He said, “I’m still not sure why you’re so convinced the mother is a society lady. She could be a lady’s maid, or even a laundry maid. And if the murdered coachman was involved, he could have been the father, all too eager to hide the evidence of his indiscretion.”
“Then why murder him?” I shook my head. “It makes more sense that he was murdered to preserve a secret. And who more than anyone else would wish to hide the evidence of an illegitimate birth?”
When neither Jesse nor Nanny answered, I threw up my hands. “A member of society! Someone with heirs or who stands to gain an inheritance, or who wishes to preserve his reputation, along with that of the woman who birthed the child.”
“Emma, an angry brother or father might have shot that man, not to mention we haven’t yet found a definite connection between the two occurrences. And anyone could have gotten hold of that handkerchief. Have you considered that the mother might want you to believe the child hails from a wealthy background, so maybe you’ll do better by him?”
“As if that would make any difference to us,” Nanny replied with a huff.
“No, it wouldn’t,” I said as I resumed my place beside her on the sofa, “but it might to a lot of people. Jesse does have a point, one I hadn’t considered. A desperately poor mother might have thought she was influencing us by leaving a clue like that. Maybe she thought that rather than delivering him up to an orphanage, we’d find a good family willing to take him in, or we’d raise him ourselves.”
If Nanny thought I wouldn’t notice the sudden change in her posture, or how she clutched her hands in her lap, she was greatly mistaken. “Nanny! Do not even think it. We cannot keep this child.”
She turned to me with a wounded expression. “Why not?”
“Lots of reasons! For one, a child needs parents—two of them. The state isn’t likely to let me adopt him, or even foster him for any extended length of time. Isn’t that right, Jesse?”
“I’m afraid so,” he said.
“What about me?” Nanny puffed up with self-importance. “I was married for nearly thirty years.”
“I realize that, Mrs. O’Neal, but . . .” Jesse suddenly looked uncomfortable. His cheeks colored again, the curse of his pale complexion. “It’s your age, Mrs. O’Neal. The courts might deem you—to be blunt—too old to take on an infant.”
Nanny pursed her lips, and Jesse turned his attention back to me. “They might allow you to keep him while a search was made for his next of kin, but that’s about all, Emma. Since you’re unmarried, it’s unlikely they’d allow you to adopt him. For now, though,” he added with a wink, “what the courts don’t know won’t hurt them. See what you can find out, Emma, but only about where this fellow belongs. Leave the murder to me.”
I opened my mouth to agree, but a sudden and unexpected rush of disappointment had temporarily knocked the breath out of me. I struggled not to show it. Good heavens, had I, like Nanny, been hoping this little boy would find a permanent place in our household?
And if I felt this way within mere hours of his arrival, how would I feel days from now? Or weeks—or however long it took to find his rightful home? Would I be able to simply hand him over to . . . a stranger?
Now when I chewed my lip, it wasn’t to hide a smile, but to bite back wholly unexpected, stinging tears.
KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2014 by Lisa Manuel
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
Kensington and the K logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.
eISBN-13: 978-0-7582-9085-4
eISBN-10: 0-7582-9085-3
First Kensington Electronic Edition: October 2014
ISBN: 978-0-7582-9084-7
ISBN-10: 0-7582-9084-5
First Kensington Trade Paperback Printing: October 2014
Murder at Marble House (A Gilded Newport Mystery) Page 31
