Amber was only too aware of what she was insinuating and knowing that she had to stand her ground, she retorted, ‘Mr Greenwood must have thought I’d be suitable, mustn’t he?’
The cook grinned. ‘Aye, he must, although he’s turned a fair few others away over the last couple o’ weeks who would have been an’ all. We hear he got you a nice little cushy job in London wi’ the Temples over Christmas as well.’
Amber grit her teeth to stop herself retaliating. Surprisingly it was Mrs Ruffin, who had followed them in, who told the cook tartly, ‘Perhaps Mr Greenwood thought that Amber would do well at the job. She certainly never shirked in her other one from what I could see of it.’
The cook positively bristled, although she clamped her mouth shut and said nothing more and Amber deposited the tray on the end of the long wooden draining board by the sink and fled the room.
Outside in the hallway she paused to blink the tears from her eyes before lifting her skirts and racing back up the stairs.
Barnaby Greenwood was cradling David on his lap when Amber entered the nursery and looking up he said, ‘Ah, Miss Ainsley?.?.?. or may I call you Amber? I’m glad of this moment alone with you as there’s something I’d?.?.?.’ His voice trailed away as Nancy appeared in the doorway and Amber frowned.
‘Yes, what is it?’ she asked.
‘Oh, er?.?.?. it’s nothing that won’t wait,’ he assured her, standing up and placing his son in her arms and without another word he was gone, leaving Nancy to scratch her head.
‘An’ what were all that about?’
‘I’ve no idea,’ Amber admitted. ‘But if it’s anythin’ important I’ve no doubt he’ll tell me in his own good time.’
*
Later in the afternoon the doctor called and after examining little David he shook his head. ‘Still refusing his feeds, is he?’ He addressed the question to Nancy who he knew had been caring for them.
Nancy nodded and he sighed. ‘Ah well, you can only do your best, my dear.’ And snapping his bag shut he quietly left the room.
Nancy and Amber ate their meal in the nursery together that evening but soon it was time for Nancy to return to the servants’ quarters and once she was gone Amber knew a moment of panic. She didn’t really know anything about caring for babies, after all, and suddenly the responsibility weighed heavily on her.
When their next bottles were due, she warmed the milk on the little stove and lifted Charlotte who was already awake and getting impatient. She really was the most beautiful child and as she nestled against Amber clutching her bottle with her chubby little hands, she stared up at her new nanny and Amber couldn’t help but admire her.
Within minutes the bottle was drained and laying her on a blanket on the floor, Amber began to undress her to change her into her nightclothes. The child gurgled contentedly as Amber took the pins from her binding, crooning reassuringly to her all the time. Within no time at all the child lay there completely naked and it was then that Amber’s hands flew to her throat and she began to keen softly in her throat as the midwife’s words at the birth of her child sounded in her head.And look, they call this an angel’s kiss.
Amber’s head wagged from side to side in denial as she stared down at the tiny heart-shaped birthmark on the baby’s thigh, but before she could digest what she was seeing a voice from behind her made her swing around.
‘Ah, you’ve realised then? I was hoping to be able to talk to you before you did.’ It was Barnaby who looked fraught as he stood there wringing his hands.
‘I?.?.?. I don’t understand!’ Amber’s voice came out as a squeak. ‘The?.?.?. the midwife who delivered my baby saidshehad an angel’s kiss too. Or is she?.?.?.’
He nodded. ‘Yes.’ There was no point in lying. He’d known she’d find out. He only regretted that he hadn’t made the admission sooner. ‘Charlotte is your baby, Amber, but please let me explain?.?.?.’
‘I think you’d better!’ she snapped as her whole world tipped upside down yet again.
Chapter Twenty-Six
They stared at each other for a moment as the fire crackled and threw shadows across the wall until finally Barnaby said, ‘I know I promised you I would find her a good home and I fully intended to do it, Iswearit. But then I got an urgent message saying you’d delivered a girl and I was to fetch her straightaway. Louisa was already in labour with David and so I fetched Charlotte to Louisa’s parents’ cottage. I had to tell Mrs Ruffin who she was, of course, and needless to say she wasn’t best pleased with me. But Louisa was in a bad way – a very bad way, actually. In fact, at one point, we didn’t think she was going to survive the birth. By the time David was delivered, she was almost unconscious and unaware of anything going on around her and it was then that I put the idea to Mrs Ruffin that we could tell people she had had twins. Already I couldn’t bear the thought of giving Charlotte away, you see? After all, she’s as much my child as David is, isn’t she? And once I’d clapped eyes on her?.?.?.’
When Amber continued to stare at him in a stony silence, he licked his suddenly dry lips and went on in a quavering voice, ‘Only Mrs Ruffin and the midwife who delivered my son know of this and I bought the midwife’s silence. And that is why I thought you might like this job. Forgive me if I’ve done wrong and now that you know I will quite understand if you decide to leave. I just wanted to give you the opportunity of caring for our daughter if you so wished.’
A whirl of emotions rushed through Amber. If she were to walk away now, she could pursue her life with no ties as she’d intended. And yet as she looked back down at Charlotte her heart filled with love and she knew that if she were to go now, she might well regret it forever.
‘If youdodecide to stay, which I hope you will, no one will ever be any the wiser, I promise you,’ he rushed on, sensing her indecision. ‘And who better to look after her than her own mother?’
‘I think I need some time to take all this in and make my mind up,’ Amber told him in a wobbly voice. Strangely, although she still loathed him and wouldn’t trust him as far as she could throw him, she believed him when he promised that he would never lay a hand on her again.
‘I’ve also decided to get another girl in from the village to act as your nursemaid,’ he went on. ‘I realise that it’s a lot for anyone to care for two young babies, especially when one of them is as sick as David is.’ His hand unconsciously reached into the infant’s crib and gently stroked his hair, and Amber knew that he genuinely did care for both children, even though they were from different mothers. ‘Once you have help you can have more time off,’ he went on persuasively. ‘So will you just consider staying?’
Unable to look at him she nodded and without a word he quietly left the room as she scooped Charlotte up into her arms and studied her tiny face. This washerbaby, her own flesh and blood and she knew already that no matter what happened now she would never be parted from her again.
*
