At the sound of the name, Mrs. Holt’s rigid posture crumbled. Her shoulders rolled inward, and her head dropped slightly towards her chest.
“It was, wasn’t it?” Clara asked. “How did you know her? How did she send you here?”
Mrs. Holt pressed her lips together repeatedly then looked up at Clara.
“It was Miss Arabella who sent me here. It is true. She came to me to tell me that she was leaving and that she had to leave little Horatio in your care and that he would be in need of a wet nurse. She knew that I was still feeding Molly.”
“How did she know that?” Julian demanded. “And where did she come to see you?”
“I let a room in Islington in a house with other women who are in my position.”
“Women without fathers for their children,” Clara concluded.
Mrs. Holt nodded, and her blue eyes filled with tears she did not shed. “That is right.”
“Does your daughter share the same father as Horatio?” Clara asked.
“No, not at all,” Mrs. Holt said at once. “That is not what this is. It is… Lady Arabella took me into her confidence…”
“How do you know my cousin?” Julian asked, setting aside the woman’s evident moral conflict entirely. “Tell us everything and from the beginning.”
Mrs. Holt took a deep breath. “We met about a year ago. She had just returned from Scotland—from visiting you, My Lady.” She glanced at Clara. “It was in Dover. She was staying at an inn where I lived and worked with Molly. She was just two months old then. Miss Arabella was waiting for her gentleman friend to arrange passage across the Channel to Italy. She was there for about five weeks. She could see that I was struggling, and she was always very kind to me. I was working in the tavern, serving. She would always pay me generously.”
She closed her eyes for a moment. “One day, after she had been there about a week or so, she overheard Molly’s father and me quarrelling. He had left before Molly was born and would return infrequently—sometimes bringing money but more often asking me for it. We got into a rather dreadful row, and Lady Arabella intervened on my behalf. She was quite valiant.”
The woman smiled at the memory, and Julian found, despite everything, that he smiled too because he could believe it entirely. Arabella had always been valiant.
“She gave him a thorough set-down and told him in no uncertain terms what would befall him should he ever return. I have not seen him since.” Mrs. Holt paused. “In any case, I was rather awreck and cried on her shoulder for quite some time. I had been foolish enough to fall into any sort of arrangement with him, but she was kind and understanding. She helped me financially and arranged for me to go to Islington from Dover so that Molly’s father, should he try to find me, could not. I stayed in Dover until it was time for her to leave, and in those weeks, the two of us became quite close. She spoke of you both very often and very highly.”
Julian glanced at Clara, whose expression had grown pained. He moved a little closer and placed his hand over hers. Instantly, she relaxed beside him.
“She loves you both very much,” Mrs. Holt continued.
“Do you know where she is?” Clara asked, and the trembling in her voice tore at Julian’s heart.
“No. She wrote to me once or twice from Italy, and I could tell from her letters that something was not right. Then she appeared at my rooms in Islington about five weeks ago. She had Horatio with her. She told me everything—that she had run away from his father and that she was fearful he might come after her. That he had kept her against her will.” She looked between them. “Do you know of this?”
They both nodded.
“She told me that she had gone with this man to Italy, believing they were to be married, and that in the end it all went terribly wrong, and she had to escape with the help of two of the man’sservants, who came with her. He was treating them quite badly, too. She was frightened that he would come after her. I told her to come home to you, that you would protect her because she always told me that you were like an older brother to her, but she did not wish to involve you.”
“Well,” he said quietly, “that appears to have changed.”
“Not entirely.”
A silence settled over the room.
“Mrs. Holt,” Clara said, “what else do you know? And how did you come to our doorstep?”
She took a breath. “Lady Arabella sent me. She told me she planned to have the baby baptized and then find a safe place to hide with some financial assistance from you,” she hesitated. “She had decided to hide away somewhere in Southampton with Horatio until she could be sure the father did not follow her, but she thought he had found her. She was sure of it. Oh, she was so frightened when she came to see me.”
“When was this?” Julian pushed.
“About a fortnight ago, she appeared one night at my rooms in Islington. She told me that he had found her and that she had already sent Horatio away. She had sent her Italian friend to bring him to Lady Clara. But somebody would need to feed him.She knew I was still feeding Molly and thus asked if I would come here and find a way to be of use.”
She glanced at Julian. “She told me she had never meant to involve you, Your Grace. She had intended to give the child to Lady Clara alone. But through some circumstances beyond her control, the two of you ended up in your current position. So, I did the only thing I could. I came here and contrived to make myself available as a wet nurse. I was purposely obtuse when I announced myself, stating I was sent for by the child’s mother. I did not think anyone would question it and… well, I truly did not have much of a plan at all. Due to the general confusion of the day, I was successful.” She paused. “I do apologize for the deception.”
“You need not apologize,” Clara said. “You only did what Arabella asked of you.”
