Page 311 of Historical Hotties
Gage sent a nearby servant for wine before answering. “The subject of Madam Madonna is about to rear its ugly head again,” he said. “You have not forgotten about her, have you?”
Thor looked at him in mild surprise. “I have not heard that name for a couple of years, at least,” he said. “Of course I haven’t forgotten about her. What about her?”
Gage nodded. “You tasked me with finding her years ago,” he said. “You told me you wanted to find Madam Madonna, andif she happened to be serving another family by tending their children, you wanted to warn them.”
“I did and I still do,” Thor said. “Where is she?”
Gage waggled his eyebrows. “That, my son, is quite a story,” he said. “When we first started looking for her, it was at Whitby Abbey because you were told that she had returned there.”
“Aye, I had.”
Gage snorted softly. “It seems so long ago now,” he said. “At least eight years ago when we started looking for her.”
Thor nodded. “As I said, I hadn’t heard the name in a couple of years,” he said. “What about her?”
Gage looked at him. “You will be happy to know that our patience has come to fruition,” he said. “If you recall, I put a man on this, a mercenary who used to serve with Uncle Varro years ago.”
“I remember,” Thor said. “How is Uncle Varro, by the way?”
Gage shrugged. “Very old and very much in love with my mother-in-law, your grandmother, which I still find disturbing.”
Thor started laughing. “He and Grandmother Maryann have been married for over twenty years,” he said. “Why does their relationship disturb you so?”
Gage shook his head. “I do not know, but it does,” he said. “Uncle Varro is a mercenary leader, not a lover.”
“He is apparently both,” Thor said, still grinning at his father, who pretended to be upset that his uncle had pursued his wife’s widowed mother those years ago. “But we are getting off topic. What about Madam Madonna?”
“Right,” Gage said, focusing. “You recall that the mercenary tracked her to Newcastle, where she took a ship to Amsterdam. Somehow, she had found a position with a Flemish count and his family.”
“I remember.”
“But she was dismissed, for neglect, we were told, and we lost her trail.”
“I remember all of this.”
The servant picked that moment to return with wine, leaving it on the table with bread and cheese before retreating. Gage poured his son a full measure and handed him the cup.
“About six months ago, we picked up her trail again,” Gage said. “This mercenary is now working a private position for a wealthy merchant in Portsmouth, guarding the man’s shipments, and he heard from a serving wench who works for the merchant that there was recently a great scandal in town. It seems that a woman who called herself Sister Madonna had started a foundling home with the sponsorship of the local church, only Sister Madonna was taking in children but leaving them to starve. She was using the money for herself, living like a queen, while her charges suffered. When the local priest figured that out and confronted her, she ran off and evidently jumped into the sea to avoid an angry mob of townspeople. She was swept out to sea and is presumed drowned.”
Thor’s eyebrows lifted. “God’s Bones,” he said. “Are you serious?”
Gage nodded. “Of course, I do not know if this woman was, in fact, your Madam Madonna, but the clues are there.”
Thor was stunned. “It sounds exactly like her,” he said. “She did the same thing to Janie and Janet and Joanie when they were very small. Nearly starved them to death while she lived rich and satisfied. Good God, who was stupid enough to trust that woman with a foundling home?”
“A very remorseful priest, evidently,” Gage said. “In any case, I think we can safely say that the mystery is solved. The woman will never harm any children again. It sounds as if she received what she deserved.”
Truer words were never spoken. The first few years after Thor and Caledonia married, he and his father had spent time and money searching for Madam Madonna. Thor wanted to bring her to justice for what she’d done to Caledonia’s children, and for some time he was determined to do it. But the trail had grown cold and he’d all but given up, as he’d told his father.
This news was as shocking as it was welcome.
“Incredible,” he finally said. “I know that Callie will want to hear this.”
“How do you think she will react?”
Thor shrugged. “I think she wanted to punish the woman herself,” he admitted. “But to know she received a harsh punishment at the hands of others… I think she will accept that. As long as Madam Madonna isn’t harming other children, I think she’ll be satisfied.”
Gage shook his head sadly. “Callie had a difficult life until she married you,” he said. “If we can at all right the sins of the past, you know we will try.”
