Page 7 of A Dream of Redemption
She blinked twice. “I don’t really know the man. Whatishis background?”
“You will need to ask him that. All I can say is you will be perfectly safe in his company. He is a very honorable young man.” Marisa stood up. “Come, let’s go to his study, and he can detail how we will approach this visit.”
Helen stood and patted down her dress, willing herself to stop hyperventilating.
She stayed behind her sister as Marisa knocked and entered. Clary jumped to his feet.
“Your Grace, I would have come to your study if you’d called.”
“I cannot stay, so I thought it easier to show Helen to your office as most of the papers and files on Southwark are here,” Marisa said as she directed Helen to a chair. She smiled at Helen and said, “I’m off to help Susan pack. Maitland has surprised me with a few days away. We are leaving at first light tomorrow.” Marisa winked at her. “But then you know that. I saw your bags being brought in.”
Helen loved seeing the excited smile on Marisa’s face. She was staying while Marisa was away only because it would give her sister the ability to relax on her surprise romantic break.
Marisa bent and placed a kiss on her cheek. “Thank you.”
With that she was gone and Helen was left alone with a serious-looking Mr. Homeward. When Marisa closed the door behind her, he cleared his throat.
“That’s why you volunteered to review the Southwark orphanage. You knew she would be away.”
How perceptive of him. “Yes. But I do really want to help my sister. With her family growing she is taking on a lot.”
He nodded, and she saw the hardness in him soften slightly. She looked around his study and was amazed at how tidy it was. Everything was placed just so on his desk. Each pile of paper was straight. His quills all lay facing the same way in a line. Everything looked as though it was arranged in a particular and precise fashion. She would be embarrassed to show Mr. Homeward her room. She dropped everything where she last used it.
“We will visit Southwark tomorrow, leaving here at nine if that suits, my lady.”
“Fine with me. Do they know we are coming?”
“I’m sure they know someone will be coming, but what day and what time will be keeping them on their toes. Word has got around that Her Grace visits every acquisition so they will be expecting us. I’ve purposely left it a few days since Her Grace purchased the orphanage so they have been kept guessing.”
She sat looking at him, utterly out of her depth. His words implied that he wanted to catch the orphanage employees unawares. She assumed that would show them the true state of the place.
What was she supposed to do now?
As if he understood her quandary, Clary picked up a file. “Would you like to go over the papers we have on the orphanage?”
She beamed a thankful smile at him but as usual got nothing in reply. Did the man ever smile?
On the first page she read the names of the staff and then the list of children. Many had lines through them. “What do the lines indicate?”
“That the children are no longer at the orphanage.”
She pondered that for one moment. “Why would they leave? Did you find them homes?”
Mr. Homeward’s eyes grew cold. “That is what I wish to find out.”
He began pacing the room, his long curls, more like ringlets, bouncing with each step. She wondered what it would feel like to wind her finger in one and pull it straight. She suspected his hair would come down past his shoulders if it was not so curly.
She stopped staring at his beauty and instead reread the file. “But some of the children that have lines through their names are only eleven or twelve. Some are younger still. Some are babies…” Suddenly she understood. “Oh, they have died.” She wiped away the tears that welled in her eyes.
“The mortality rate seems high even for an orphanage.” He stopped pacing at her stifled sob. “Are you sure you are strong enough for this? I’m certain you have never had to confront the sad realities of life and I fully understand if you would prefer I went on my own.”
His soft and tender words almost made her say, “You’re right. I can’t do this.” But then she reminded herself she wanted to help. Why should she stay safe and ignorant of life’s realities?
“I may not be as blasé of life’s tragedies as you but I can help.”
She saw his hands form into fists by his sides and his eyes flared with anger. “Blasé? Do not think to know me, my lady. You have no idea of how I—” He stopped talking and swung away, presenting his back to her.
Helen bit her bottom lip and silently cursed her insensitivity. “I do apologize. You are correct. I don’t know anything about you, but I do know you care about these children and I have faith that you will help me do my sister proud.” He did not respond so she stood to take her leave. “I shall take the file and read it so that I have a sense of what I will be facing. I shall be ready tomorrow morning and you can answer any questions I may have on our drive to Southwark.”
