Chapter 4 #2
“We will keep this a secret, Vicky,” Elizabeth promised, patting her sister’s knee.
“However, you cannot keep the infant hidden forever. Your staff may be discreet, but soon, there will be a crack. Someone will find out about her. You and Richard should quickly formulate a cover story. You should be able to answer people when they ask whose child she is.”
Victoria nodded. She let out a shaky exhale. “That’s why I sent for you all. I need help with this. I am not certain I would be able to survive a scandal without your support.”
“We will think of something,” Elizabeth murmured.
The maids entered the drawing room and then placed a silver tea service on the mahogany table. The fragrance of tea and the clink of expensive porcelain restored normalcy among the group. It now seemed to be just another visit among sisters.
“Now, I also need something urgently,” Victoria continued, after sipping tea from her cup.
“You know me. I’d rather ride horses and act on stage.
I don’t know anything about taking care of children, unless they’re already older, like Hector.
How do I care for a baby? I believe I need some practical instructions. ”
The four other women smiled. Suddenly, everything in the drawing room seemed to lighten.
“It’s all about schedule, Vicky,” Wilhelmina said. “Henry is now four, and I can imagine his regular feeding cycle and the precise amounts. I also recorded every soiled nappy. That’s discipline for you. Well, for me, in that case.”
Marianne groaned. “Mina, I don’t mean to offend, but were you planning to train Henry to become a soldier at a young age, or was the training for you?
I believe you were simply looking for an excuse to write and write!
For me, it’s about safety. I must admit I can be intense when it comes to that.
Is the bassinet secure? Did you position the pins in her clothes correctly and carefully? I check for their breath regularly.”
Victoria chuckled. Her eldest sister was overprotective. So, yes, she could believe that. Marianne must have been doing something right since she reared four children well so far. The youngest, Lily, was only two. So, there was also a little freshness in practice.
“For me, it’s the clothes, Vicky,” Elizabeth said.
She was not a vain woman, but she was known for her beauty.
People loved to dress her second-born half-sister.
“Perhaps you might find it vain, but at the moment, I can’t help but notice dear Melody does not have clothes yet.
I imagine the mother didn’t leave anything but what she was wearing? ”
Victoria nodded in assent. They did have to use a mere cloth for the baby. It would raise alarms if she or the maids went on a shopping trip to buy infant’s clothes.
“See? I think I can help with this. Nobody will question any of us if we have our seamstresses make tiny girl clothes. We are a fertile lot, aren’t we?
We also live with our husbands.” Victoria flinched at that.
“Oh, no. I am saying it in a completely practical way, Vicky! I am only saying nobody will question us. Melody may be a foundling, but she is now considered a duke’s child, whether or not she is Richard’s own. ”
“Mm. For me, instinct will take over, Vicky,” Daphne said gently. “Watch her face. See her cues. She is now your baby, at least until you find her mother.
Victoria’s head swam from all the information.
Her sisters added more advice, some of which completely went over her head.
Add her emotional and physical turmoil, and everything was making her dizzy.
While Wilhelmina was lecturing about ensuring the proper temperature in the nursery, Melody began to cry.
The baby did not seem to know how to cry softly.
She shrieked, and the pitch was quickly rising.
Melody wanted attention, and she was getting it.
But could Victoria provide her with relief?
She rose from her sitting position and began rocking the child, as she whispered words she hoped were soothing.
“Hush, little baby,” she murmured, but her rising panic made her voice tremble and her rhythm fast. The baby continued crying, her cries becoming gasping sobs.
Incompetent.
That was what Victoria was. And the more she internally chided herself, the more her palms sweated, and all her good intentions flew away.
Wilhelmina rose and stood by her side.
“Allow me, Vicky,” she said gently, reaching out for the baby.
Mina took Melody, and instead of holding her stiffly vertical like Victoria did, she had the baby nestling against her shoulder.
Then, she began making a gentle, rhythmic movement.
Confidence and experience helped her reduce the cries to mere whimpers.
Thankfully, Melody started drifting back to sleep.
“Oh, there now,” Mina cooed, handing the baby to Mrs. Davies, who must have felt it necessary to be nearby at that moment. “I believe she needs to nap in a quieter place.”
The housekeeper disappeared with the baby, walking up the steps toward the nursery.
Melody’s nursery.
Victoria felt like a failure. It had never happened before. Once the baby’s weight was gone from her arms, she felt empty and horribly inadequate.
She was a duchess. She didn’t care much for titles, but she was happy to have a home of her own. Managing the household felt easier than soothing a crying baby. It seemed that Melody had ended in the worst possible arms among the Brighton sisters.
Truth be told, Victoria had never considered motherhood a possibility.
She adored her nieces and nephews, enjoyed playing with them, but mostly did more of her loving from a distance.
Now, destiny had handed her a life she was to be responsible for, and she was ill-equipped. It was a terrifying thought.
And her mind kept drifting back to Richard. He denied everything. He left the room. Still, with all self-trust gone, how could she be so certain the man who left their marriage was telling the truth about his fidelity?
Victoria did not expect to feel pain over something like this. It was an unfamiliar feeling. She had always thought she might be an inadequate wife and mother, but now it seemed that things had shifted.
If Richard had lied about the child, it meant he was a coward, and she could not remain bound to such a man who hid his faults through deception.
Their new and untested fragile connection might be fraying. On the other hand, if the child were someone else’s, it might bring them closer together as they solve the mystery.
Victoria needed to know the truth. She’d rather face a brutal truth than live with beautiful lies.