Page 65 of An Orphan for the Broken Duke

“Not at all,” Miss Mildred said with a sigh as she fell onto her seat across from Violet. “If there is any chance that we might unite one of our own with their family…” She exhaled with a smile. “Is that not the entire point?”

“I could not agree more.”

Violet flipped through the pages until she found what she was looking for. Transfer records from around the time that Rhys’ nephew might have been sent there from St. Anthony’s.

She ran her finger down the list of names… “There were only three children? All under the age of six months?”

“If that is what the records show.”

Violet traced the names. “Two of them… Michael and Wilber…”

“Are still here,” Miss Mildred said. “But to save you on your excitement, I am familiar with both of their stories. They are twins, you see, and their parents died in a fire shortly after they were born. What of the third?”

Violet found the record, and she grimaced. “A girl.”

“Is that a problem?”

“I am looking for a boy…” She leaned back and let her shoulders slump. “I suppose it was a long shot. But I truly thought…” Her stomach twisted with the feelings of failure. “I honestly believed I might have found him.”

“Out of curiosity, what was the girl’s name that was sent here?”

Violet leaned forward and checked. “Unnamed… and according to this, she was sent away shortly after.”

“That is not such a surprise,” Miss Mildred said. “Truly, I am surprised that we have these records in the first place. You would not believe how confused they often are. Names recorded incorrectly. Boys mistaken for girls! What a world.”

Violet perked up. “Boys mistaken for girls?”

“Oh yes,” she nodded. “It is common enough. Babies often appear genderless, and few bother to check!” She laughed. “And because so many do not bear names…” She shook her head. “You can imagine the confusion.”

Violet’s mind started to race, and she found herself checking the records again. Was it possible… could this be a mistake?

She followed the baby’s record… she traced it to find where the baby had been sent. And when she saw the answer, she gasped.

“What is it?” she asked. “What did you find?”

“I know this orphanage.” She looked up at Miss Mildred and her eyes sparkled with triumph. “I used to work there.”

That was when Violet’s mind really started to work overtime. She knew every child at that orphanage intimately. She knew their names. She knew their backstories. She knew how long they had been there.

She wracked her memory to try and recollect all the possible candidates who might have fitted Rhys’ missing nephew, and the more that she considered, the clearer the answer became…

No, that is not possible…

Her mind reached back even further. All this time, she had been searching for a boy. But that was based only on what the farmer’s wife had said, and there was a good chance that she had been mistaken. Or that Rhys had misheard? Or maybe she had never told him the gender and Rhys just assumed?

What if it was a girl that they were looking for? All this time, a niece, not a nephew. And if that was the case…

Violet’s eyes widened, and she almost laughed with glee.

“What?” Miss Mildred asked. “What is it?”

“I think I know who… it is crazy! But I think I know where the missing child is.” She shook her head in disbelief, but the more that she thought about it, the more sense it made.

“Where?” Miss Mildred asked.

“Right where she belongs,” Violet said. “With her uncle.”

Twenty-Four