Lady Maybe Read Online Free PDF Page B

his mother. I need—”
    “And I need what’s due me. This is not a charity, girl. I’ve learnt how to deal with chits like you. Mercy gets me nowhere. It’s a hard line that speaks to girls used to gettin’ their way, wheedling another coin from some weak parent or sweetheart. Well I ain’t your mother nor your sweetheart. Give me what’s mine and I shall give you what’s yours.”
    “But, you have no right—”
    “I have every right.” The eyes flashed. “Don’t believe me? Go to the constable if you like. Tell him I’m holding your child and tell him why. Mr. Green has no sympathy for those who don’t pay what they owe. See if you don’t end up at the workhouse yet. Or debtor’s prison.”
    Hannah gasped. “You wouldn’t. . . .”
    “Wouldn’t I? I don’t keep brats whose way ain’t paid. And what would become of your wee babe then?”
    Terror shot through Hannah. What was she threatening to do? Hannah could hardly believe this woman was the same benevolent matron who had received her so kindly only months before. She rushed on desperately, “I have a new situation, but I won’t receive my allowance until quarter’s end. What would you suggest I do—beg in the streets?”
    “No. Nothing so unprofitable. I am a businesswoman after all. Do what most girls in your situation do.”
    Hannah shivered. “I would never do such a thing, Mrs. Beech. Whatever you might think of me.”
    “Evidence to the contrary, perhaps now is the time to start. Tom Simpkins would set you up in no time, no doubt.”
    “Tom Simpkins is a—”
    “Tom Simpkins is my brother, girl. Careful what you say.”
    “I’m sorry, Mrs. Beech. But please—”
    The eyes moved away from the slit. “Come back when you’ve got the money.”
    She called after the woman, “Who is nursing him?”
    “Becky.”
    Becky?
Sweet, simple, unstable Becky.
    Hannah swallowed. “I will get the money, I will. Every last shilling. But promise me you’ll take care of him until I return. Please—it isn’t his fault. Take good care of him, I beg of you.”
    “Every day you leave him here is another shilling. The rate goes up when you’re in arrears.” The slit shut with a metallic click. How very final it sounded.
    Hannah winced. A shilling a day? It was practically all she earned. She would never catch up. She stood there on the stoop, frozen in dread. Her breasts stung with pinpricks of milk. She had wrapped her bosom when she took the new situation—sneaking away to nurse her son once a day and twice on Sundays. Her milk had already diminished, yet the build-up still ached. But that was nothing to the pain in her heart. . . .

    W ith a start, Hannah opened her eyes. She drew in a long breath and blinked at her surroundings. Where was Danny? She looked to the right and to the left, pulse pounding. Then she recalled with a heavy heart that her baby was not with her. He was at Mrs. Beech’s, out of reach.
    Becky will look out for him
, she told herself.
Becky will make sure he doesn’t go hungry.
    Then Hannah remembered Becky’s trembling hands, pale face, and wide vacant eyes when she’d first seen the bereaved girl wandering the streets of Bath, looking for her own child, forgetting or unwilling to accept that her infant daughter had died.
    Her precious son’s well-being was in this girl’s hands?
Oh, God in heaven, protect him!
Keep him in your safekeeping until I can return for him
.
    Return. She had to return to him. Now. What had she been thinking to leave him? Had she any idea the Mayfields meant to go so far, she never would have agreed. And now with Sir John lying near death and his wife drowned, she wouldn’t even receive the generous allowance Lady Mayfield had promised her. How then would she redeem her son?
    Tears trickled from the corners of her eyes, down her temples and into her hair. She raised a hand to brush the tears away—a hand that bore a large ring. A gold band, amethyst and purple sapphires.
    She