Page 43 of Pursuing a Duke
The candlelit apartment consisted of a tiny room with a sofa, a small hearth in which cooking was done, and a bedroom. Emmeline, not having the stomach for blood, hesitated a moment before entering the bedroom, where she found the doctor bandaging the small, young mother whose baby slept on the mattress beside her.
“Doctor Smith, I’m Mrs. Fitzpatrick. I believe we’ve met before.”
“Yes. Mrs. Fitzpatrick, I remember.”
Emmeline noticed the mattress took up almost the entire room. The baby, wrapped in a blue blanket, slept soundly beside her mother and looked about six months old. Melody appeared to be perhaps eighteen. Her auburn hair was long, tangled, and dirty. Emmeline wondered how she had come to be in this predicament and whether she was a widow. Most likely, she had run away from home after finding herself with child and taken on the façade of being a widow. It was a story that played out time and time again, and Emmeline’s heart squeezed in pain for her.
“Melody.” She approached the side of the bed and took one of the girl’s hands in hers. “I’m Mrs. Fitzpatrick, and Lady Morton stands in the doorway. The Duchess of Greenville sent us. If it pleases you, after the doctor has seen to your injuries, we have a safe place for you and your baby to live, and we can take you there now.”
The young woman’s head turned to look at her; her eyes were swollen half-shut, but Emmeline could see confusion, disbelief, or both in them. “How do I know you aren’t taking me to a brothel and forcing me to...”
“Believe me, that is not what is happening. We belong to the Ladies’ Society of Mayfair. Surely you have heard of us. We come to this area several times a week.” Melody nodded. So she had heard of them. Good. “I promise you will be safe.”
“Thank you.”
Doctor Smith packed up his bag. “I’m finished. If you need me, have Her Grace send for me.” He went out the door so fast Emmeline barely had time to thank him.
“Is there anything here you want to take with you?” she asked the young mother.
Melody looked around the room. “My journal on the nightstand.”
“I will get it.” Emmeline picked up the journal and spoke to Lady Morton. “Please send Flynn in, please.”
Minutes later, Flynn carried the young mother, wrapped in a blanket, down to the carriage while Lady Morton cradled the baby and Emmeline held the journal in her hand. Then Mitchel drove them to Amelia House. By now, it was after midnight, and Emmeline covered up a yawn. She hadn’t been sleeping well and found herself exhausted.
Mrs. Brock met them at the door when they arrived. She was a lovely woman of around fifty years who had previously worked as the duchess’s housekeeper and now ran Amelia House.
“Welcome.” She led Flynn to the third floor into a small, clean, furnished room. He gently placed Melody on the bed. Beside the bed was a crib for the baby, and Lady Morton laid the baby down.
The women brought here were here to heal, get healthy, and be strong. They were also trained as parlor maids, kitchen helpers, ladies’ maids, seamstresses, or whatever they preferred. With the help of the Society, they found jobs and never had to return to St. Giles if they chose not to. Unfortunately, some ofthem, when they were better, went back to the slums as it was the only life they knew and felt comfortable with.
Emmeline hoped Melody would be one of the fortunate and select the best path forward. Many of those with children did because too many died of disease at an early age and they wanted a better life for their little ones.
The sun was rising when Mitchel drove her home. Exhausted as she was, she didn’t see the lone horseman following them not far back. Her feet shuffled up her front stairs as Harrison opened the door for her.
“Welcome home.” He took her cloak before she disappeared up the stairs, her feet shuffling toward her chambers with one destination in mind—her bed.
With Amanda’s help, she removed her clothing, washed up, put on a night rail, and climbed beneath the counterpane with a deep sigh. Sleep. She could sleep for days.
*
After he’d returnedto London from his country estate, Andrew, with the help of the Duchess of Greenville, had begun following Emmeline when he could as she traveled into the slums of London. When he’d first approached the duchess, she refused to supply him with the information but finally relented. She recognized a man concerned for a lady’s safety. Making a sizable donation to Amelia House helped his cause as well.
Tonight had been never-ending. Sometimes, he took an unmarked coach, but tonight, he’d been on horseback and was deuced sore as he headed home to Blackstone House. He’d nodded off in the saddle several times throughout the night. But he’d refused to leave until he saw Emmeline safely home. He couldn’t be with her each time she traveled, but he tried. The night trips were easier than some of the daytime ones.
He admired Emmeline for her charity work, but it frightened him all the same. With a business and warehouse on the docks, Andrew regularly witnessed the seedier side of London. If Emmeline knew all that happened in the areas she visited, he didn’t think she would ever return. Theft. Murders. Kidnapping and enslaving of women to work in brothels. Assaults and rapes. The list went on and on. Unimaginable horrors.
He shivered as he left his horse at the mews behind his home in the care of a stable boy. He could sleep all day and wished he were able to. He had a meeting with his barrister in a couple hours’ time, and he’d planned to spend time at the docks today going over the receipts from their latest shipment.
Each of the friends had a job within their company. Caldwell oversaw their fleet of ships and their travel routes. Langford planned and organized the cargo, what they imported and exported, and managed the loading and unloading of the ships with Caldwell’s assistance. Presently, Andrew was in charge of the receipts and money as numbers came easy to him. But it was on their list of things to do to hire an assistant to oversee the office. Since he and Langford had inherited their titles recently, their time was in demand and often required elsewhere.
What with meetings and numbers and the lack of sleep, Andrew felt the day could not end soon enough. And on top of all that, that night he had the theatre. He would never cancel because he’d invited Langford and Lilly, but he’d also invited Emmeline. To his utter shock, she’d accepted his invitation. Seeing her from afar was all well and good, but he craved her nearness even if she didn’t want it.
Finally, after a grueling day, Andrew, dressed in dark blue and cream, was ready for the theatre. His carriage picked up Langford and Lilly, then drove to Emmeline’s townhouse. The distance between all three homes was not lengthy. It could be walked on a nice day. As Andrew exited the carriage, Emmelinecame out the door and took his breath away. Her evening gown was deep green paired with a cream shawl. Her dark hair was piled high on her head, with cascading curls brushing her neck and shoulders. She was a vision, and his heart stopped.
“Good evening,” he said while assisting her inside the coach.
“Good evening, Your Grace,” she replied as she took the empty seat facing front. Andrew entered, taking the seat beside her.
