Cecilia was desperate for activity, having been confined indoors for so long. Lorelei had listened to her squeal as she traipsed through the garden chasing Liza. Poor Liza, the girl deserved a raise. Lorelei tried to smile, but her mouth did not seem to be working properly.
She lifted her hands to her head. Who was screaming?Nathan.Mrs. Wells had been here a moment ago. “Corinne?” she finally managed, though it came out more like a croak.
“Ah, yes. That is her name. It had slipped from my memory.”
Adrenaline shot to Lorelei’s brain. Her eyes flicked open, as the pounding in her head transitioned to an all-out assault. “Lord Maudsley?” Good heavens, why was she lying down in the presence of that scoundrel? She squinted against the candlelight, peering at him.
Irene lay curled against his chest, her fist beneath her chin. The atrocities that showed in her eyes were hidden in the innocence of sleep. Maudsley sipped from a glass, then rested his chin atop her head, looking like the perfect doting father.
A sense of morbid horror choked Lorelei. “Where is Nathan?” she managed.
“Ah, the child. There.” He angled his head to a chair. “Annoying little bugger. Does he cry like that all the time?”
“When he’s hungry or… or uncomfortable.” She glanced around. “Might I ask where I am and how we got here?” Her tone was as breathless as if she’d taken a brisk turn about Regent’s Park without a pause.
“Laudanum. Miss Elvins was not the most reliable assistant, I regret to say.” He sighed. “You and Irene were taken by mistake, Lady Kimpton. Alas, once I realized the error, it was too late to return you and retrieve my other daughters in your stead.”
Lorelei struggled to sit. It took every ounce of her strength. She inhaled slowly to steady her queasy stomach and put a hand to her head. “I’m sorry, Lord Maudsley. I don’t understand. How could one possibly mistake me for Lady Cecilia?”
He chuckled, a maniacal sound that sent chilled prickles down her spine. “Quite right.”
Lorelei shuddered.
Her eyes focused on his hand stroking Irene’s hair. There was nothing offensive about his action, except for his renowned and perverse womanizing tendencies. Perhaps that was what threatened the contents of her stomach. His words infiltrated her dimness, and she frowned. “I’m afraid my thoughts are refusing to accommodate me.”
“It is of no consequence. I am speaking of Corinne, Lady Kimpton.”
“Miss Hollerfield? But she is Rowena Hollerfield’s daught— Oh. I see. Miss Hollerfield… I mean Rowena Hollerfield was your mistress too.” A sudden sympathy for Rowena Hollerfield swept through her. The woman’s choices would have been limited.
Again, he laughed. Delightedly so. “Indeed she was, Lady Kimpton, many,manyyears ago. But you misunderstand. Rowena worked for the first Lady Maudsley, my dear late wife, Hannah. She expired in childbirth. Corinne is the result of that union. Not a bastard child of Rowena’s and my making.”
Lorelei searched her mind for any mention of a previous Lady Maudsley. A vague recollection Ginny had mentioned years ago touched her.
“Rowena turned out to be most resourceful indeed. How else could she have hidden my own child from me for nigh on eighteen years?” He huffed out an indignant breath. “And at the blackest moment of my life. Why, Hannah had just suffered a difficult birthing episode.” He tapped his chin, while his other hand continued rubbing Irene’s deeply sleeping form. “Perhaps Rowena killed her.”
Lorelei had met Rowena. “Experiencing such an ordeal, my lord, can play havoc with your emotions. I quite understand how blurred the events can become over time.”
The hand on Irene’s back stilled. Glacial eyes seared her. Nathan’s cries deepened.
Lorelei cleared her throat. “You didn’t perhaps think to abscond with the wet nurse as well, my lord? I fear nothing else will quiet him.”
His hand resumed its caress over Irene, and Lorelei shuddered. Maudsley was mad. She had to find a way to retrieve the girl from him.
“A little brandy might do the trick,” he mused, jerking her gaze from his roving hand to his face. “Perhaps you might hold the baby?”
She glanced over at Nathan, panic crawling over her skin.
“Please, my dear. If you could satisfy the future earl, I would be most gratified.”
The words startled her.Future earl?Followed by the double entendre. She rose slowly, her stomach quite unsteady from both the laudanum and the prospect of picking up the baby.
“Perhaps we should wake Irene, my lord. She is very good with the baby.” Lorelei gripped the back of the chair to steady her teetering balance. The cries grew louder, and her stomach churned. She could feel Maudsley’s gaze dissecting her every move. His chair creaked, but her eyes stayed on Nathan.
“Ah. You’ve not much experience with babies, I see.” He breathed on her neck.
She flinched.
“Allow me.” He plucked Nathan up and lifted him toward the ceiling. “I say, he shall make a fine heir. Don’t you agree, Lady Kimpton?”
