Page 10 of A Gentleman's Reckoning
“I think so, too.” She smiled, closed the door behind them, and turned toward the staircase.
Chapter Four
John trailed behind Lady Eugenia as they descended the wooden stairs flanked by an iron railing, his thoughts darting from one thing to another. There was much to consider. He had the distinct impression that Lady Eugenia was interested in him as a woman was in a man. There was something in the way her eyes flew from his rather than hold his gaze. And the way she held herself very still when in his presence, as though she feared to make a false step—although, to be fair, he had not spent enough time in her presence to judge her usual comportment.
It would not be the first time he found himself the object of female admiration. He had always had a knack for winning the regard of women from all classes. He prided himself on never taking his flirtations so far as to raise false hopes in the breasts of innocent maidens. If they insisted on hoping anyway, why, there was nothing he could do about that. And for the less innocent maidens, he treated them with a respect that most gentlemen did not. It hardly even mattered that Lady Eugenia was the daughter of a peer. He had had plenty of those fall at his feet, too, when he had beenatonfavorite.
Well,ton favoritewas perhaps an exaggeration, since he had always preferred the gentlemen’s clubs to the balls, soirées, and dinner engagements. As for Almack’s, he had not set foot in the establishment above two times and had not considered himself enriched by either experience. This did not change the fact that he was put out when he stopped receiving vouchers.
Suffice it to say that the fact that Lady Eugenia would seem nervous around him was not an astonishing thing in itself. What was astonishing was that she did not base it on the usual things most women did, for in his present situation, he had no social standing. He was at a foundling asylum in the guise of a paid employee who had no claims to the gentry, which was as far from her station as one could be. He was most decidedly not attempting to charm her. And he had been solemn in all of his interactions with her—his usual mien since he had fallen from favor. And yet, he could only describe her behavior around him as nervous. He was a handsome man; he could not deny it. But he had nothing to offer her in a worldly sense, so the notion that she might find him a subject of interest puzzled him.
Neither of them spoke as she led him through the massive dining hall with pine tables and chairs. This latter element struck him and caused him to remember something else he found curious.
“The asylum has proper beds,” he observed, “and chairs rather than benches.”
“Yes,” she said, pushing in one chair that sat askew as she walked by it. “Since we are training the children to work as servants, some of the more adept will serve as footmen, and they need to practice serving around people who are seated for dinner. And some will become maids who will have to make proper beds. It is better they develop this skill from the outset.”
She turned her face to him as she led him from the dining room. “It is also more decent.”
The walls in the entrance were painted white, and this publicarea was the only space where everything looked well-tended. The floors were made of polished wood. The hall was bare of ornamentation, except for a large painting of the earl and what was presumably his late wife. Lady Eugenia bore an astonishing resemblance to her mother, though he refrained from saying as much. She gestured to the set of stairs on the opposite side and at a diagonal to the dining room.
“The girls’ dormitory is at the top of this set of stairs. I am afraid you will not find it much different than the boys’, but we can still visit.”
“It will be good to see where it is situated.”
So far, he could make his way around nearly one half of the asylum. He had yet to see the classrooms located underneath the boys’ dormitory, but he had glimpsed the meeting hall and chapel underneath his office when he had taken the wrong set of stairs.
As they climbed to the first floor, his mind went to the second thing that had struck him. Lady Eugenia truly cared about the orphans. That fact had been evident when he saw tears sparkling on her lashes as she spoke of the baby who had been dumped at the gate of the asylum. He had never given a thought to the welfare of orphans in London or anywhere else. They were just living the life Fate had doled out to them, and what could he do about that?Hewas not the decider of people’s fates. At first meeting, Lady Eugenia had appeared cool and aloof, traits accentuated by her naturally upturned nose and straight hair pulled back in an uncompromising style. Why, she did not even bother to soften it next to her face. He wondered what she looked like when she went to balls, although that was not something he would likely ever see. For her to care so much about children beneath her notice was perplexing in the extreme. But he had to admit that it touched him.
“And here is the girls’ dormitory. I warned you that you would not find it much different from the boys’.”
He cast his gaze down the length of the dormitory with beds on each side, all of them neatly made. The blankets seemed in slightly better condition than in the boys’ room, but they were still thin. And just as in the boys’ dormitory, there were boxes underneath each bed. A blue ribbon caught the corner of his eye, dangling from a box underneath the second bed.
He gestured to it. “Not quite. I don’t think you would find that in the boys’ dormitory.”
She directed her eyes where he had indicated and smiled. “It must be Grace’s. I think that’s her bed. She is a pretty little thing but not the neatest of girls. Fortunately, she has a knack for needlework, so we need not despair of sending her out to be hired as a maid, only to have her sacked.” She went over and tucked the ribbon back into the box.
“They have some possessions, then.” He would not think that orphans owned anything but the most functional items, even ones who lived in an asylum.
“Only what we give them,” she said. And then as though the thought had just occurred to her, she added, “But you need not worry about that for your accounting purposes. I usually manage to find clothing from among members of society; either what they give away or make. Even if they have no time to sew, they are usually happy to donate what their maids do not want, and we can then transform those items into clothing.”
He puzzled this over, then glanced at her curiously. “A maid would not want a blue ribbon?” He had seen that one. It had hardly looked used. This was not an article that had been passed from one person to another until it was in shreds.
A flush of pink stained her cheeks. “Well, if it is a small thing, I might use some of my pocket money. I think everyone deserves to own something that has never belonged to anyone else. Something special and just your own. Do you not agree?”
She looked at him with such earnestness, he found himself breaking their gaze first, now uncomfortable. She could nothave been doing it on purpose, but it was as if Lady Eugenia was attempting to reveal his own selfish nature by situating it next to what he was coming to see was her pure one.
“I had never thought of it, but I suppose you are right.”
“Yes, well.” She seemed momentarily at a loss for words. The sound of a baby crying at the far end of the floor caused her to look in that direction. “If that is Benjamin, I shall be very pleased. It means he is doing much better to be exercising his lungs in such a way. Shall we continue?”
He nodded and followed her to the next room, which held chairs where girls of various ages plied their needles. A maid or a teacher of sorts was looking at the work of the youngest and pointing to where the cloth had been knotted. She looked up when they entered.
“Lady Geny,” a child cried out.
“It is Lady Eugenia,” the worker corrected gently. She was coarse in appearance but spoke graciously, as though she had taken on the gentle bearing of the earl’s daughter. Either that or her natural gentleness was at complete odds with her looks.
“It is all right,” Lady Eugenia said. “Good morning, Grace.”
