Page 88 of The Duke's Only Desire

The woman snorted. “Got to learn to behave sometime. If’n they’re old enough to crawl, they’re old ’nough to learn their lesson ’bout behavin’.” She impatiently narrowed her eyes. “Now, what do you want?”

“I’m Mrs. Seamus Douglass,” Sophie told the woman as imperiously as possible while hiding her rank as duchess. Then she lied, “I’m with the Foundling Hospital’s administrative board. This is my assistant, Miss White. We’ve come to conduct a routine visit to check on the children who have been placed into your care.” She arched a brow. “You don’t mind if we come inside to inspect, do you?”

The blood drained from the woman’s face, and her mouth dropped open. “I…I…”

“According to my notes,” Sophie said as she looked at the paper the investigator had written, “you care for three of the hospital’s babies and another three of your own, all under ten. My! That’s an awful lot of children.” She tucked the note into her coat pocket. “May we see them?”

Mrs. Sneed’s mouth gaped open and closed like a fish’s, the words not coming in her shock. She was too stunned to stop Sophie from pushing past her and into the cottage, with Cora close on her heels.

Sophie stopped in the middle of the room to let her eyes adjust to the dim interior. When they did, she didn’t like what she saw.

Dirt and dust covered every surface that wasn’t already darkened by grime and soot. Dirty clothes and linens lay piled in the corner on the floor, where an orange-colored cat with matted fur had made its bed. Dried mud lay scattered across the bare floor where the six children now sat, and a horrid stench leeched from the cabinet in the corner. Something small and dark skittered quickly into a hole in the floor near the stairway—Sophie was afraid to look more closely.

Even those things that Sophie could have said were serviceable about the room—the wooden settle in front of the fire, a table and chairs, a dresser holding crockery and tableware—seemed hard and cold, and seemingly covered with the same layer of dust and grime as the rest of the room.

Nothing about this place was clean or cared for.

The children were the worst of it, though. Sophie’s heart broke as she slowly approached them with a bright, forced smile. All six of them sat on the cold floor in a line, cowered by Mrs. Sneed’s earlier threat to beat them. God only knew how many times she’d done just that, and based upon the dark patches on the stretches of arms and legs not covered by their filthy clothing, she’d done it often and recently. Six pairs of young eyes stared back at her, wide with confusion and fear, as Mrs. Sneed scurried across the room to Sophie’s side.

“If I had known you were coming, I would have tidied up a bit,” the woman explained, her demeanor changed from the confrontational way she’d answered the door to one of completeacquiescence. “But you know how it is with a house full of young’uns and my husband up in the attic at the loom.”

She gestured toward the stairs, but Sophie couldn’t hear any work being done upstairs. Most likely, the husband had simply fled the house for the day to be away from his wife and the children, who were even now on the verge of bursting into tears. When the boys were older, she knew, they would hit back. But until then, they were at the woman’s mercy.

So was Ruby.

Sophie slid her gaze from child to child, searching each one’s face. “Which of these are the Foundling Hospital’s children?”

“The three youngest, there at the end.” Mrs. Sneed gestured nervously at them. “You can see for yourselves what good care I’ve been taking of them.”

What Sophie could see was that they had all been neglected, beaten, most likely not properly fed, certainly not properly clothed, and allowed to run wild like a bunch of feral kittens.

“The Hospital has never sent anyone to inspect my house before,” Mrs. Sneed half-muttered. “I don’t understand why you bothered to come all the way out to—”

“All under five, then?” Sophie pressed. She could feel Cora peering over her shoulder. “Still nursing?”

“Oh no, ma’am! They’re all old ’nough now to be on real food, ’cept the babe at the far end. She’ll be at the breast until summer.”

Sophie nodded, but her attention was on the little girl in the middle. She knew the moment she saw the girl’s dirty face…Ruby. There was no possibility that her paternity was a mistake or that Cora White had been lying. She looked exactly like John—same eyes, same stub of a nose, same little chin that tucked back toward her neck—so much like John that Sophie caught her breath.

Mrs. Sneed felt her surprise. “Is something wrong, my lady? I do my best to clean and clothe them, but they just get filthy as soon as I put them down.”

Sophie doubted that. Judging from the looks of her clothes, Ruby hadn’t been properly washed or changed in days, and the stench of dirt and urine that seeped from her proved it. So did the matted clumps of dark blond hair that clung to her head, the smears of dirt across both cheeks, the dirt under her tiny fingernails and toenails…easy to see since she was barefoot, her feet undoubtedly freezing on the cold floor. Beneath the dirt, Sophie noted what looked suspiciously like bruises.

“I’m certain you did your best, Mrs. Sneed,” Sophie muttered sarcastically as she reached out to touch the little girl’s cheek, only for Ruby to cower in fear. If there were any doubts left in her that she and Shay needed to take responsibility for the girl’s care and ensure she was placed back into her mother’s arms, this moment vanquished them all. “Unfortunately, your best is simply not good enough.”

The wet nurse’s mouth fell open in shock. “I havenever—”

“And you will neveragain, if I can help it.” Sophie ignored Mrs. Sneed and called to Cora over her shoulder. “We’ll be leaving now. And we’ll be taking all three of the Hospital’s children back to London with us. Miss White, would you please help me take them to the carriage?”

Without waiting for an answer, Sophie swept Ruby into her arms to hand her over to her mother, but the little girl’s arms wrapped around her neck so tightly Sophie couldn’t make her release her hold without hurting her. So Sophie simply gestured a free hand at the remaining toddler and baby. Emboldened by Sophie’s determination, Cora lifted the baby into her arms and took the oldest by the hand to lead the little boy from the cottage.

“Now, just one moment!” Mrs. Sneed’s indignant voice rose to a fevered pitch. Not that she cared about the children, butbecause what Sophie and Cora were doing would be the end of her employment with the Hospital. Forever, if Sophie had her way. “You don’t have the right to just take them babes like this!”

She was right about that. What Sophie was doingwaskidnapping, according to the definition. But she also prayed that being a duchess would allow her to get away with such brazenness, especially once the Hospital administrators and board were informed of the conditions here. Surely, they would never have allowed the children to remain here if they had known, and as soon as Sophie and Cora returned the other two children to the hospital, the administrators would find them a new and better place to live.

As for Ruby, the little girl was smart enough to recognize help when she saw it and refused to loosen her chokingly tight hold around Sophie’s neck. They wouldn’t have been able to leave her behind even if they’d tried.

“You can file a complaint directly with the hospital director, if you’d like,” Sophie called out as she walked quickly toward the door behind Cora and the other two children. “I am certain he will investigate further and reinstate the children into your care if he disagrees with me. Until then, you will need to communicate directly with the hospital.” She herded Cora and her two charges out the door toward the waiting carriage. She paused in the doorway to give one last warning—and give time for Cora and the two children to reach the carriage and climb inside. “You haven’t lost your position…yet.But if you do not change your ways, then I will have no choice but to tell them how unkempt your cottage is and how poorly used the children. Including your own. I’m certain the authorities would be interested in hearing of it.” She arched a brow with as much haughtiness as she could summon, both to intimidate the woman and to take a quick glance to make certain Cora andthe babes were securely ensconced in the hackney so they could quickly make their escape. “Good day, Mrs. Sneed!”