ESP 10

chapter 10

“Somehow, these kinds of things keep happening lately.”

Myrtle whispered.

Standing in the doorway was unmistakably the mistress of the house. She looked like she had just come back from an errand, bundled in a thick quilted coat and carrying a small bag in her hand. She was a head taller than Briony, and her whole build gave off a sturdy, rugged impression.

“Sorry for barging in like this. I just saw this child outside alone—”

“What business do you have with her?”

The woman narrowed her eyes. Looking more closely, Briony saw that the woman was older than herself, perhaps showing the traces of a harder life. Also, her bright yellow hair and broad, strong features bore no resemblance to Amber at all.

So Amber must take after her father’s side?

While Briony was musing, the woman stared intently at Myrtle and asked,

“Are you by any chance this girl’s real mother?”

“What!”

Myrtle practically leapt up.

“M-me? I’ve never even held a man’s hand before, you know?”

“Well, children aren’t exactly born from holding hands.”

“Whatever it is, it’s not me! Miss, you’ve got to believe me!”

“Calm down, Myrtle.”

The woman, listening to their exchange, looked a little disappointed. Then she pointed at Briony.

“I was hoping this young lady was her real mother, but I can’t say she looks like her at all.”

Briony grew nervous, worried Amber might understand what was being said. She lowered her voice.

“We didn’t come here to find Amber. We came to see you and your husband.”

“Me and Henry?”

At Briony’s glance, Myrtle set the basket of bread she had been carrying down on the table. Briony continued,

“I… I’m from the Arlington household. My name is Briony Arlington.”

“Ah.”

The woman nodded.

The sudden hostility that appeared in her eyes made Briony flinch. Sensing it too, Amber shrank back behind Myrtle’s skirt. Briony pressed on.

“I heard there was a mining accident last month… that your husband was injured.”

“Because of that, Henry can’t use his arm. I took him to the clinic to see a doctor.”

“That doctor is my father.”

Myrtle tried to lighten the mood by adding that, but the miner’s wife showed no change in her expression.

“So, what brings the young lady from the Arlington estate here?”

Briony had expected the accident victims to resent Gideon. Still, it was not easy to speak to someone showing such open hostility.

“I’m not the mistress of the Arlington house—”

“I know. Word is, you’re the one the count divorced and sent back, isn’t that right?”

Briony faltered, and the woman smirked.

“Even in Shobury, society gossip travels. So, did you come here to look for a new husband? Planning to play the wife for poor Henry?”

“You’re being rather harsh.”

Myrtle bristled, but Briony stopped her.

“I know the compensation for the accident hasn’t been handled properly. I’ll persuade my father to resolve it soon.”

“Listen here. Compensation or no compensation, my husband can’t work right now, and we’ve run out of money.”

Briony took a small purse from her cloak. She had given one of her jewels to Harold and asked him to exchange it for money. From inside the purse, she took out three gold coins and placed them on the table. The woman’s expression softened a little.

In front of them, the woman tapped each coin onto the table.

“…That’ll cover just one month of living expenses.”

“I’ll find a way to arrange proper compensation before then.”

The woman crossed her arms.

“And you’re not paying the medical bills?”

Briony hesitated. She had heard from Harold that while Henry’s arm injury was bad, others had been hurt even more severely. Could she really afford to cover everyone’s treatment? She wasn’t sure.

“…I’ll do my best. But I also have a request.”

Suspicion flickered in the woman’s eyes. Briony pointed at Amber, still hiding behind Myrtle.

“You’re the one looking after this child, aren’t you? Then I hope you’ll take even better care of her.”

As expected, the woman bristled and raised her voice.

“Amber is the child I adopted. You don’t get to tell me how to raise her!”

“Of course, she’s legally your responsibility. But if there are signs of abuse, it can be reported.”

The problem was, in Shobury, such reports ultimately ended up under Gideon’s authority. And Gideon wouldn’t care a bit about the children of miners. The woman must have realized Briony was bluffing, because she gave a short laugh.

“Abuse? I feed her, clothe her. Yes, I was tricked into taking a girl instead of a boy, but still—I’m raising her, aren’t I?”

In Shobury, male labor was always in short supply, so boys were valued more highly than girls. If the woman had wanted a boy but got a girl instead, her attitude toward Amber made a grim kind of sense. But that didn’t justify neglect.

Myrtle asked sharply,

“Then why didn’t you try to exchange her at the start?”

The woman sneered.

“You ladies from fine families wouldn’t know. People like us don’t adopt from fancy agencies with papers and wet nurses. We go to the orphanages, where the abandoned children pile up.”

Briony didn’t know much about adoption procedures, but she could imagine well enough what those orphanages were like. Poor parents abandoning children they couldn’t feed, illegitimate babies from noblemen and common women—all dumped in such places. The woman, pleased to have someone listen, went on.

“Once you take a child from there, you can’t return them. The orphanage won’t take them back. They’d rather have one less mouth to feed.”

“I see… But still, Amber is your child now. Can’t you feed and clothe her a bit better?”

The woman glanced toward Amber’s hiding place, and for just a moment, Briony thought she saw deep weariness in her eyes.

“If you’ll pay me more for her upkeep, then I’ll do better.”

Again, Briony had to restrain Myrtle from snapping back. It wasn’t fair to blame only this woman. In poor households, unwanted children were treated like burdens everywhere, and abandoned babies were common. In some ways, this woman might even be better than Briony herself—she had at least taken Amber in. And just because she pitied the girl, Briony had no right to demand Amber for herself.

“I don’t have more money right now. But once I return home, I’ll send some.”

At last, the woman looked satisfied. She even called softly, “Amber, come here,” in a voice that sounded almost tender. Myrtle turned away in disgust, but Briony forced herself to watch as Amber hesitated, then crept over and clung to the woman’s skirt.

“But tell me, young lady—are you really going house to house like some charity worker, scattering gold coins?”

Holding Amber’s hand, the woman looked at her with curiosity. It wasn’t a secret, so Briony answered honestly.

“I just want to show some sincerity to those who were hurt.”

“If it were me, I wouldn’t bother. You’re lucky I was here. Plenty of other houses have rougher men than my Henry. Do you know how much they hate Gideon Arlington? If you show up at their door, they might take it out on you, instead of him. If you’re going to hand out money, send a man. A young, strong one.”

Myrtle shivered. In Ebony, such a thing was unthinkable. And before marriage, Briony hadn’t even been allowed to go out alone, so she had never known the harsh realities of Shobury. Now, she realized just how safe and peaceful Ebony had been. She trembled too, but she refused to show weakness before this woman.

“Thank you for the advice. We’ll take our leave.”

“If you’re bringing money, you’re welcome back anytime,” the woman said.

As Myrtle pulled her toward the door, Briony looked back one last time at Amber. The child simply gazed up at her with clear green eyes.

Leaving behind that innocent gaze, Briony’s heart was heavy as she stepped out of the house.