Blessing by Lyn Cote Read Free Book Online Page A

Brightman.”
    The door opened, revealing a thin, worn woman in a scanty, soiled dress. “You the Quaker lady?”
    “Yes, I am.”
    The woman waved her inside. “I hear you take in kids.”
    “I have a home for foundlings and orphans and others.”
    “I been taking care of a friend’s newborn. She died a month ago. I can’t do it anymore. But I want him safe and fed.”
    “I understand. Is there no other family for the child?”
    The woman let out a sarcastic grunt. “None who wants him. Will you take him?”
    Blessing drew in a breath. “Of course I will.” Her mind went back to Seneca Falls. That meeting had not just been about winning the right to vote for women but also about securing women equal status. Society’s double standard had forced many a young woman into a life of prostitution. Why could a man sow his wild oats and still be accepted in parlors and churches while a woman who made one mistake became condemned to a life like this? And if women could work at honest jobs and earn enough to support themselves, would any seek this life?
    In short order the woman wrapped the baby in a ragged blanket and placed him in Blessing’s arms. “I’m glad I heard of you. I was worried about what would happen to him.”
    “No need to worry. Thee may come and visit him if thee wishes.”
    “I can?” The woman sounded first startled, then suspicious. “Really?”
    “Certainly. The house is on Seventh Street and Washington. The one with the fenced-in garden.” Blessing sized up the woman. “Now, does thee need anything? There’s room for women there too.”
    The woman shook her head. “I do all right.”
    Blessing wished she could counter this, but if the woman wanted to remain in “the life,” she could do nothing to help her. “Thank thee. We’ll take good care of him.” Blessing turned and headed out.
    A man leaned in the open doorway. “Glad to see you’re doing something with that brat. But, Ducky, this Quaker scared away all your customers.”
    Every word from this excuse for a man ground like sandpaper inside Blessing, but she didn’t let her disapproval show. Brat was a kinder term than bastard , which, unfortunately, this infant probably was.
    The woman grunted again in disgust. “They’ll be back.”
    The despair concealed within the woman’s sarcastic tone touched a raw spot in Blessing’s own wounded heart. Why wouldn’t Ducky leave this man who rented her out at night? Was it just despair or fear that kept her here?
    Passing by the man, who sneered at her, Blessing realized once again that while she moved among the people who inhabited the wharf, she did not understand what caused them to live as they did. This life was not simply the result of poverty. She knew poor men who loved their wives and cared for their children in spite of need—and poor women who did the same. Perhaps those who lived at the wharf were the “poor in spirit.”
    Blessing carried the infant down the stairs and out of the house. The child needed a bath, clean clothes, and food. She could provide all of those things, but what of the things she couldn’t provide—a family, a sense of self-respect, a respect for God and man? Who could supply those? A thought she’d entertained for a while nudged her. Perhaps there was a way she could provide this child with some of those things. She glanced at him in the scant light. In spite of his thinness, he was a handsome child with blond down on his head like a duckling. He opened his eyes wide as if studying her also. She grinned at him and he gave a little kick, almost smiling back.
    The night watch stepped out into the gaslight’s illumination and pulled the brim of his cap in politeness.
    “Thank thee! I have the child.” At that moment, Blessingcaught sight of a familiar figure on the other side of the pool of light.
    She gasped, flooded with dismay. So this man not only disliked independent females but also abused helpless women himself.
    Gerard Ramsay was