she mouthed. ‘’Fraid you’re going to have to wait again.’
* * *
Cook hovered with a basin of warm milk, and the two kitchen maids gaped open-mouthed as Sammi’s mother sat on a kitchen stool and spooned the milk into the baby’s lips from a tiny silver teaspoon. Martha, the elderly housekeeper, had gone off to delve into her linen cupboard to find something more suitable to wrap around the baby.
‘These are clean sheets,’ Sammi explained, but Martha only humphed in displeasure.
‘They’re onny fit for rags, these bits; not suitable for a new bairn, and he wants summat warm, especially for round here.’
‘He won’t be staying,’ Ellen Rayner said matter-of-factly. ‘So don’t anyone get too excited. As soon as I find out where this daughter of mine found him, he’s going back where he belongs.’
‘Mama. Can I explain?’ Sammi sank down onto a chaise longue in the drawing-room, and watched as her mother deftly unwrapped the child and dressed him in a sweet-smelling cotton carrying gown, the bodice tucked and threaded with ribbon.
‘This was Richard’s and then Billy’s,’ she said, ignoring Sammi’s question. ‘And then we got new ones for you and Victoria. I can’t think where Martha has been hiding it all this time.’ She wrapped him in a square of white blanket which Martha had cut from a larger one, and fitting the child comfortably into the crook of her arm, she turned a resigned face to her daughter. ‘Yes, Sammi,’ she said calmly, settling herself back into her chair. She had removed her cloak and undone the broad ribbons on her capulet hood which covered her fair, smooth chignon. ‘I think you had better start at the beginning.’
She sat listening, without questioning, until Sammi had finished, then she looked down at the contented sleeping baby. ‘And you are telling me that James is the father of this child?’
Sammi shook her head. ‘No. What I said was, that the woman claimed that he belonged to James.’
‘That boy?’ She removed the blanket from the baby’s head and gently fingered the pale pulsating down. ‘And his mother, was she dark or fair, do you know?’
Again Sammi shook her head. ‘James can’t really remember, but he said that Gilbert said she was dark.’
‘I see!’ Her mother pursed her lips. ‘And what did his mother have to say about all of this? Mildred would be delighted to be presented with a grandson no doubt?’
‘She’s furious with James, Mama, and says that he must go away so that no-one finds out; and Anne is being beastly towards him and refuses to speak to him,’ she added heatedly. ‘I don’t think he’s totally convinced that it is his child, but he is so confused.’
‘Well, quite rightly everyone will be shocked and angry; and it could be his child, Sammi, though I have to say I am very surprised,’ her mother mused. ‘But we only see our friends and family as we believe them to be. Everyone shows a different face for different people or circumstances, and the cousin James that we perceive might well be cast in a different mould.’ She rose to her feet and reached to press the bell on the wall. They heard its faint ringing in the kitchen. ‘But you still haven’t explained why you brought him here. He can’t stay here, you know that?’ She instinctively rocked him. ‘He will have to go back to Anlaby. He’s their responsibility, whether they like it or not.’
‘They’ll send him to a charity home.’ Sammi started to weep. ‘They’re awful places. I’ve been. I went with James. The children have to work in the kitchens; they can’t play and there’s no-one to love them. Please, Mama. Please don’t send him there.’
‘He’s not a puppy or kitten, Sammi, that we can put in a box in the stables,’ her mother said sharply, ‘and I see that you’ve brought Sam back too. Wouldn’t Mildred let James keep him either?’
Sammi wiped her eyes and took a deep shuddering breath. ‘James said that if he
* * *
Cook hovered with a basin of warm milk, and the two kitchen maids gaped open-mouthed as Sammi’s mother sat on a kitchen stool and spooned the milk into the baby’s lips from a tiny silver teaspoon. Martha, the elderly housekeeper, had gone off to delve into her linen cupboard to find something more suitable to wrap around the baby.
‘These are clean sheets,’ Sammi explained, but Martha only humphed in displeasure.
‘They’re onny fit for rags, these bits; not suitable for a new bairn, and he wants summat warm, especially for round here.’
‘He won’t be staying,’ Ellen Rayner said matter-of-factly. ‘So don’t anyone get too excited. As soon as I find out where this daughter of mine found him, he’s going back where he belongs.’
‘Mama. Can I explain?’ Sammi sank down onto a chaise longue in the drawing-room, and watched as her mother deftly unwrapped the child and dressed him in a sweet-smelling cotton carrying gown, the bodice tucked and threaded with ribbon.
‘This was Richard’s and then Billy’s,’ she said, ignoring Sammi’s question. ‘And then we got new ones for you and Victoria. I can’t think where Martha has been hiding it all this time.’ She wrapped him in a square of white blanket which Martha had cut from a larger one, and fitting the child comfortably into the crook of her arm, she turned a resigned face to her daughter. ‘Yes, Sammi,’ she said calmly, settling herself back into her chair. She had removed her cloak and undone the broad ribbons on her capulet hood which covered her fair, smooth chignon. ‘I think you had better start at the beginning.’
She sat listening, without questioning, until Sammi had finished, then she looked down at the contented sleeping baby. ‘And you are telling me that James is the father of this child?’
Sammi shook her head. ‘No. What I said was, that the woman claimed that he belonged to James.’
‘That boy?’ She removed the blanket from the baby’s head and gently fingered the pale pulsating down. ‘And his mother, was she dark or fair, do you know?’
Again Sammi shook her head. ‘James can’t really remember, but he said that Gilbert said she was dark.’
‘I see!’ Her mother pursed her lips. ‘And what did his mother have to say about all of this? Mildred would be delighted to be presented with a grandson no doubt?’
‘She’s furious with James, Mama, and says that he must go away so that no-one finds out; and Anne is being beastly towards him and refuses to speak to him,’ she added heatedly. ‘I don’t think he’s totally convinced that it is his child, but he is so confused.’
‘Well, quite rightly everyone will be shocked and angry; and it could be his child, Sammi, though I have to say I am very surprised,’ her mother mused. ‘But we only see our friends and family as we believe them to be. Everyone shows a different face for different people or circumstances, and the cousin James that we perceive might well be cast in a different mould.’ She rose to her feet and reached to press the bell on the wall. They heard its faint ringing in the kitchen. ‘But you still haven’t explained why you brought him here. He can’t stay here, you know that?’ She instinctively rocked him. ‘He will have to go back to Anlaby. He’s their responsibility, whether they like it or not.’
‘They’ll send him to a charity home.’ Sammi started to weep. ‘They’re awful places. I’ve been. I went with James. The children have to work in the kitchens; they can’t play and there’s no-one to love them. Please, Mama. Please don’t send him there.’
‘He’s not a puppy or kitten, Sammi, that we can put in a box in the stables,’ her mother said sharply, ‘and I see that you’ve brought Sam back too. Wouldn’t Mildred let James keep him either?’
Sammi wiped her eyes and took a deep shuddering breath. ‘James said that if he
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