A Scandalous Arrangement (29 page)

“Mrs. Winters? I know he had a sister-in-law in Portsmouth but I had understood her name to be Mrs. Luke.”

“Yes, indeed. Mrs. Luke recently remarried and is now resident in a village in the New Forest.” He consulted his papers. “Ah, yes, Farley. Her new husband is the vicar there. The Reverend Winters.”

“I see. Yes, I recall now that Adam did mention that. So…?”

“There is but one principal beneficiary in Mr. Luke’s will. With the exception of the minor bequests I just mentioned, he left everything to his daughter, and this is where he was particularly keen that you be fully engaged. He specifically asks that you take care of her.”

“But, how did he…?” Victoria was at a loss. She had not known herself that she was pregnant until after Adam left. How could he have possibly known? And why was he so convinced her child would be a girl?

“I appreciate this may come as a shock. Mr. Luke was not married, nor had he ever been to my knowledge. Even so, he does have a child and was a doting father. Further, he was determined that his child be recognised in society and inherit the bulk of his wealth. He particularly sought your assistance in ensuring that the child is cared for, and prepared for a future few women would aspire to. He seemed to be of the view that you would be the perfect candidate for this task.”

Victoria stroked her slightly swollen belly, quite bewildered at Adam’s foresight.

“So, Miss Wynne, do you believe this is something you might consider? It would have meant a lot to him.” Mr. Catchpole’s voice was earnest and urgent. He clearly took his duty to his client most seriously. “Will you look after her?”

“Of course. I told him I would.” Girl or boy, their child would be cared for and loved.

“Ah.” Relief washed over the lawyer’s anxious countenance. “He did discuss it with you after all. That makes things so much easier. So, you will agree to become the child’s guardian then, as he wished?”

“Guardian? Why would my baby need a guardian?”

Mr. Catchpole glanced at her, his face now perplexed. “We appear to be at cross purposes, Miss Wynne. I am talking to you about Mr. Luke’s daughter, not a child of yours. She is aged nine, I believe, and her name is Julia. She currently lives with Mrs. Winters, Mrs. Luke as it was. Shall I arrange an introduction?”

Victoria stared at him, dumbfounded. Had grief addled her brain entirely? Had she missed some vital piece of information somewhere in all this?

“Miss Wynne? May I arrange for you to meet Miss Luke? Julia?” Horace Catchpole was nothing if not persistent but Victoria was beyond rational thought.

“Yes, I think that would be best.” Hester broke in, speaking for the first time. “We would love to meet Julia. Perhaps one day next week would be convenient…?”

* * *

“What will I say to her?” Victoria twisted her gloves in her hands as the hired carriage rattled through the Hampshire countryside in the direction of Farley.

“We will decide that when we meet little Julia. Mr. Catchpole informs us that she has been told of her father’s death so at least that unpleasant duty does not fall to us.” Hester Wynne patted her daughter’s hand, a regular habit these days. “It will be fine, you will see.”

“I am to oversee her education, I gather. That is what Mr. Catchpole said, is it not?”

“Yes, guardianship would include that, of course. I rather had the impression though that Mr. Catchpole hoped you would take a more involved role in the child’s life. As he pointed out, he could sort out a good school for her, if that were all that was required.”

“This is ridiculous. I can’t be a child’s guardian. I have so many other things to concern me…” Her mill, her baby. The fact that her heart was broken and she could barely think straight.

“We will meet Julia, and work out what is needed. I can help you. So will Georgina. Things will be fine, you’ll see.”

They would not be fine. Nothing would ever be fine again. Victoria kept that view to herself though as she watched the New Forest scenery roll past the window.

An hour later they entered the small but pretty village of Farley. The driver sought directions for the vicarage, though Victoria rather felt the church spire dominating the hamlet was sufficient clue to find their destination. A few minutes later they disembarked in a quiet lane by the gate leading into the churchyard.

“Please, could you wait for us? I saw a decent-looking inn as we entered the village. We will send for you when we are ready to leave.” Hester smiled at the driver as she issued her instructions. He seemed happy enough to retire to the Nag’s Head for the duration of their visit, no doubt suitably encouraged by the pennies Mrs. Wynne pressed into his hand. He doffed his cap and clattered off along the cobbled main street as Hester and Victoria regarded the forbidding front door of the vicarage beside the ancient church of All Saints.

“Come, we will see what all this is about.” Hester marched up to the door and lifted the knocker.

* * *

“I’ll be requiring an allowance, naturally. A generous one too. I am a decent man, respected in this community. I cannot be expected to accept a bastard into my home. If the girl is to remain under my roof I’ll expect to be well compensated.” The Reverend Winters strutted before them, his chest expanded in pompous self-importance as he paused to lean against the fireside in the cluttered study. “This is a vicarage, after all. I am a man of the cloth. Charity is well and good and I know my duty, but there are limits. Standards, you understand.”

“I am not sure I do understand, reverend. And I find your choice of words somewhat inappropriate.” Victoria bristled, stirred into a reaction despite her lethargic state. “You are referring to Mr. Luke’s daughter, I assume.”

“Aye, that I am. My wife is a good Christian woman and has given the girl a home these last six years, despite no one knowing who she is or where she’s from. Things have to change of course, now that Violet is married to me. The girl may stay, I will even be prepared to adopt her to give her a respectable name. As her parent I would of course control her fortune until such time as she might take on some responsibility for her own affairs, under my guidance, naturally…” He paused to briefly survey the three women seated before him, then turned his attention to Victoria and Hester. His wife he ignored entirely.

“You ladies have had a long journey, but you need not have bothered. All is under control, as soon as that idiot of a lawyer confirms that my requirement will be met regarding proper financial recompense. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a sermon to prepare.”

He went to the door and opened it to signify that their visit was at an end. Neither Hester nor Victoria moved.

“Ladies, if you would excuse me…”

“We would like to see Julia, if you please.” Victoria kept her tone low and even. It was a timbre that usually elicited respect from her workers.

It seemed lost on the Reverend Winters. “I do not think that will be possible. The girl has been disobedient and is to remain in her room for the rest of the day.”

“Please have her brought down.” This from Hester, in her sternest tone, Victoria noted.

“I have told you, she is being punished and is not to leave her room. Now I really must insist that you both be on your way.”

Victoria got to her feet. “And I have told you, reverend, as has Mr. Catchpole on a number of occasions now. I am Julia’s legal guardian and I insist on seeing her. Either you send word upstairs that she is to join us immediately, or I will summon a constable to enforce my wishes.”

The vicar’s face darkened to a rather peculiar shade of purple as he glared at the slender woman before him. His mouth worked though no words emerged for several seconds. Eventually, his temper exploded. “How dare you? Do you know who you are speaking to? Get out of my house. The wretched girl is my responsibility. I will deal with her as I see fit.”

“No, you will not.” Exasperated, Victoria made for the door, almost elbowing the irate clergyman out of her way as she sailed through it and headed for the staircase. She stood at the foot of the stairs and called out, “Julia, are you up there? Come down here, please.”

“Get out! Get out of here.” Reverend Winters charged after her and grabbed her arm. As he started to drag Victoria toward the door, Hester emerged from the study.

“Reverend Winters, if you hope to retain even the slightest prospect of hanging on to your living here, you will unhand my daughter this instant.”

“What? Who you think—”

“I will be speaking with the bishop before the day is out. Within the week I can assure you, you will be out of here on your pompous, blustering ear. Is that really how you want this interview to conclude, sir?” Mrs. Wynne glared at Victoria’s assailant, her expression haughty. It caused him sufficient pause that Victoria was able to pull her arm free of his grasp and sprint up the stairs.

“Hey, what do you think—?”

“Be quiet. We have heard enough from you.” Hester’s admonition was enough to silence him, at least for the moment.

Victoria strode along the upper hallway, looking into each room in turn. Two empty bedrooms, a linen store, then the next door she came to was locked. She rattled the door handle, and heard movement on the other side.

“Julia, are you in there? I am a friend of your father’s.”

No reply. Victoria took hold of the doorknob and shook it.

“Here, the key.” She turned to see that Violet had followed her upstairs. The woman had been silent during the altercation in the study, but seemed to have gathered her wits a little now. She pressed a small key into Victoria’s palm. “He’s a good man, really. He has a temper though, and he just… he never liked Adam. And Julia is such a spirited child, not an easy girl…”

Victoria gave a derisory snort as she unlocked the door. It opened to reveal a small, plain bedroom containing a narrow wooden bed, a chest of drawers, and a chair. There were no toys, none of the girlish paraphernalia Victoria expected, the sort of clutter that had always been strewn around her room when she was little. A small face peered at her from under the bed.

Victoria crouched to get a better view. The child scuttled backwards.

“I don’t like you.”

“You do not know me, Julia, so how can you say that? Despite your hasty judgement, I do like you, and I want to talk to you. Won’t you come out?”

“No.”

“I see.” She groaned inwardly. This was not going at all as she had planned. “In that case I shall have no other recourse but to scramble under your bed too. I expect I shall ruin my skirt, though I daresay I could remove my bonnet.” She reached to untie the ribbons holding her small feathered hat in place.

“You can’t come under here.”

“I believe I can, though I would much prefer that we talk sitting up.” Victoria took off her bonnet and laid it on the floor where the child could see it. She proceeded to lie down beside the bed, ready to wriggle underneath. This was apparently sufficient incentive for Julia to emerge from the other side.

“My papa is dead. Uncle Horace told me so.”

Victoria sat up. “I know. I am very sorry. I cared for him too, and I will miss him very much.”

“He never said goodbye to me. He always comes to see me before he goes on long trips, but this time he did not. Uncle Horace says his ship sank, and he will never come back again.” The little girl stopped, her lips quivering. “He should have come to see me. He should have.”

Victoria scrabbled to her feet in time to gather the small body into her arms before the child collapsed in a fit of weeping. The comparison to herself not a week before was not lost on her as she patted the narrow back, stroked the thin shoulders. She had needed her mother’s comfort, just as Julia did now. But the child had no mother, just an aunt who was bullied and browbeaten by a man she must have been quite mad to marry. Still, that was not Victoria’s concern. This small girl was, and she began to comprehend why Adam had seen the necessity to appoint a guardian.

Her doubts evaporated. Julia needed her. Perhaps they needed each other. Whatever, she was not about to leave the child here.

She sat on the solitary chair and lifted Julia into her lap. “Julia, your papa loved you very much. He asked me to take care of you, now that he is gone.”

“Is that why you came to see me? I heard you arguing with Mr. Winters. He says he will adopt me and be my new papa. I hate him.”

“He will not adopt you, I won’t allow it. Your papa asked me to take care of you, and I want to do that too. That means you will need to come and live with me. Would you like that, do you think?” Until that moment Victoria had not considered bringing Julia to Yorkshire, but she saw no acceptable alternative. Reverend Winters was clearly an avaricious bully who wanted nothing more than to get his hands on the Luke fortune. Julia deserved better than that, and Adam had taken steps to ensure his precious daughter was cared for.

Victoria had yet to fully comprehend how Adam came to have a dependent child, an heiress, and probably never would since Horace Catchpole was not in a position to enlighten her much. All the lawyer knew was that Adam had informed him of the child’s existence six years previously, and had made arrangements for his seemingly motherless daughter to live with his sister-in-law. He settled a generous allowance on the pair of them, and visited when he could. He must have left his instructions regarding guardianship of his little girl shortly before he set sail. Victoria remained baffled, but now appreciated she could do no less than her part.

“Where is Yorkshire?”

“In the north of England. It is very nice.”

“Are there other children there? I would like a sister.”

“I have a sister. You may share her, though she is a little older than you are. And, I am to have a baby of my own, so you will have a younger brother or sister to play with. And a grandmother.” Victoria crossed her fingers. She was presuming so much on her mother’s generosity of late.

“I do not like it here. He shouts at me.” Julia shoved her thumb in her mouth, and seemed to consider the matter settled.

“Right then. Shall we put your things into a bag? Do you have a favourite doll, or perhaps a best dress we should take with us?”