Page 35 of A Winter Scandal

“Yes, sir.” She ventured a quick upward glance at him but seemed unable to say anything else.

“Did you ask your parents, Lolly?” Thea asked. “Will they allow you to take care of the baby?”

“Oh, yes, miss.” The girl turned back to Thea, looking a little relieved. “They said as long as it was for you, miss, and I’d be staying here.”

“Yes, well, for the time being, that is certainly where you will be staying. If that should change in the future, we would address it then. But do you think that you will be able to adequately take care of the baby?”

Lolly smiled. “Oh, yes, miss. I look after all my brothers and sisters at home, leastways all the little ones. One baby’d be that easy.”

“Your mother would not be here to supervise.”

“I know what to do, miss.”

As long as she was not looking at Lord Morecombe, the girl seemed confident enough, Thea thought. The only way to tell if she could do the work would be to let her try. Thea looked over at Gabriel questioningly.

“Why don’t you look after him for a few days?” Morecombe suggested, echoing Thea’s thoughts. “Then we can decide what to do for the future.”

“Oh, yes, sir, thank you, sir.” Lolly bobbed a curtsy, then another for good measure, beaming. “Miss, I’ll do a good job. You’ll see.”

Lolly was eager to start her work, even offering to begin right then, but Thea assured her that the following day would be soon enough. Lolly left, promising to return early the next morning with her things. Thea turned to Gabriel, feeling suddenly awkward. It occurred to her how strange it was to be standing with an aristocrat in her kitchen, a baby in her arms, and Mrs. Brewster cooking at the fire behind them. Gabriel should have looked very out of place here, Thea thought, in his elegant clothes, the top of his head nearly brushing the low ceiling. However, he did not seem ill at ease, and Thea was aware that the awkwardness lay more in herself than in him. They had done what they set out to do today, and there was no reason to see him again. The idea disappointed her, and the sheer foolishness of that emotion made her even more awkward.

“What will you do now?” she asked.

He shook his head. “I cannot think what else to do here.”

“No. It seems unlikely that she is staying in Chesley,” Thea said.

“If she did not spend the night here, it seems that she might have stayed at a nearby village.”

“Yes. Bynford is east of us, on the road from Oxford.”

“That seems the likeliest place to try next.” He paused. “I—if you wouldn’t mind, perhaps you could accompany me?”

Thea glanced at him, startled, and saw that Morecombe himself appeared faintly surprised.

“We worked rather well together, I thought,” he went on in the silence that followed his invitation. “Unless, of course, well, it might be a bit chilly. I brought only my curricle with me to the Priory—but I promise to provide a lap robe and a hot brick for your feet.”

“Yes,” Thea said quickly, afraid that if he went on speaking, he might talk himself out of the offer. “I mean, I would be happy to help you. And since Lolly will be here now, I won’t have to worry about overburdening Mrs. Brewster with the baby.” Thea thought she heard a soft grunt from the direction of the fireplace, but Thea ignored it.

Morecombe smiled. “Very well. Thank you for your help. I shall see you tomorrow morning.”

Thea nodded and watched him leave, her stomach dancing in a mix of excitement and nerves. Behind her, Mrs. Brewster clanked a long wooden spoon against the edge of a pot.

Thea turned, uneasily sure that her housekeeper had something to say about the scene she had just witnessed. She expected disapproval, for Thea knew that going with Lord Morecombe to Bynford the next day was skating perilously close to scandal. She was a little surprised, however, to see not disapproval, but a frown of worry forming between the housekeeper’s eyes.

“Are you sure what you’re doing, miss?” was all she said.

“’Tis an open carriage,” Thea pointed out. “And we will simply go there and come back. Bynford’s not far. We shall be gone only a few hours. And it isn’t as if I am a young girl in need of a chaperone; I am quite past marriageable age. I believe my reputation is good enough to bear up under spending three hours in an open vehicle with a gentleman.”

“’Twasn’t scandal I was thinking of,” the housekeeper retorted. “I know you’re not the sort to lose your head even over a man who looks like sin walking, which his lordship does.” She paused, then added softly, “It’s your heart I’m worried about, Miss Althea.”

“Nonsense. I didn’t cut my eyeteeth yesterday, you know. I’m not likely to lose my heart to any man, much less an arrogant wastrel like Lord Morecombe. My heart is firmly under lock and key and has been for years.”

Matthew chose that moment to let out a coo and reach up to pat Thea’s cheek. She looked down at his cherubic face, and the organ in question seemed to swell in her chest. She was lying, she knew. She could hold her heart secure from Gabriel Morecombe, she felt sure of that, but it had already been lost to this young man.

Smiling at him, she bent to kiss his head. His soft curls tickled her cheek. What would she do if Matthew did turn out to be Gabriel’s nephew? She would have to do the right thing and let him take his place with his family. But how would she be able to give him up?

Gabriel strode down the street, heading back to the inn where he had stabled his horse this morning. He had not really meant to ask Miss Bainbridge to accompany him tomorrow on his search for Jocelyn, but somehow the words had slipped out. He had already spent the better part of a day in her company, and in general he was disinclined to call on any lady two days in a row. It was not a wise practice to visit a woman frequently, for they (or their relatives) were likely to begin to have hopes about the possibility of marriage—and Gabriel had no interest in marrying, at least not anytime soon. Someday, of course, when he was older and ready to raise a family, to fulfill his duty as Lord Morecombe, he would find a suitable lady and ask her to marry him.