Barbara Metzger by Lord Heartless Read Free Book Online Page A

penny to find out why. Was there no family to take you in when your soldier died?"
    "That is none of your business, my lord. It is your daughter's future we are concerned with at the moment, not my past."
    "The child will be provided for, never fear. I might not be the best father in the world, but my girl will not end in the poorhouse."
    "No amount of money will excuse your immorality."
    Not even the baby dared make a peep after that.
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Chapter Six
    It was amazing how two dissimilar minds could work in concert.
    Insufferable prig, he was thinking.
    Insufferable boor, she was thinking.
    "My lord,” Carissa finally said into the awkward silence. Hartleigh's eyes were closed, but the rigid muscles in his jaw and the clenched fist told her he was not asleep. “I know of a home for wayward girls in the city. An unfortunate maid at Sir Gilliam's needed a place to birth her baby."
    Carissa's voice trembled still, to think of something like that happening in a household she ran. It would not happen again, by heaven. A footman had been dismissed, and most of the maids went home at night now.
    "I want no doxy tending my daughter."
    "We have no choice. Neither did that maid, as a matter of fact. She was forced. Besides which, Sue's mother was obviously no better than she ought to be!"
    "Sue's mother, Mrs. Kane, was a princess, by Jupiter."
    "Who abandoned her child into the care of a drunken rake.” She hurried on, cursing her wayward tongue. “The home might have a girl there with milk enough for two babes."
    Byrd had been awaiting directions, head swiveling between the two. “Lands, you're thinking to saddle us with another infant, missus? I'll be bunking in the stable, Cap'n, and you can find someone else to look after your threads."
    Two infants in the house? Lesley thought he might have to move back to Grosvenor Square to get any rest. He nodded toward the housekeeper, though, signaling her to give Byrd the address.
    Recognizing Mrs. Kane, the director of the girls’ home was inclined to be sympathetic to Hartleigh's tale of an orphaned ward. He was wise enough to be sympathetic to any potential patron, in fact. Reverend Garapie might not have believed the taradiddle, but neither did he accuse the widow of wrongdoing, nor the peer of philandering. Unfortunately, he did not have a solution to their problem. Most of the girls left the home as soon as their infants were born, the clergyman explained without mentioning what happened to either the girls or their offspring.
    The only two nursing mothers now in residence were not suitable. One was sickly, which was why she remained, and the other was unbalanced since the birthing and could not be trusted with her son. The home was trying to locate her family to take her away. Reverend Garapie shook his head. “Such things happen, the good Lord knows why.” He kept sorting through the stacks of papers on his desk. “We do have two young women near term, however, my lord, Mrs. Kane. A week or so should do it, then a few days for recovery."
    "I don't have a few days, much less a week, damn it. Ah, dash it, Reverend."
    "The good Lord cannot be hurried, Lord Hartleigh.” The reverend adjusted his spectacles and read one of the papers. “Hmm. We did have a girl here last week whose infant son was born dead, God keep his innocent soul. Perhaps she is still in milk."
    Lesley sat up straighter. “We'll find out. Where is she now?"
    Mr. Garapie was not to be rushed either. He kept reading the paper and “hmming” to himself until the viscount almost snatched the document out of his hands. Finally the cleric looked up and removed his spectacles. While he wiped them on his handkerchief, Garapie spoke to Mrs. Kane, seeing her to be the more understanding of the pair.
    "The girl's name is Maisie Banks, and it is a familiar enough story. She was gainfully employed as a parlor maid when the poor child was accosted by her employer. Her titled employer,” he