The Proposal (7 page)

With Thomas holding Penny and one of the bags and James grasping two others, the threesome were able to gain the front door of Mr Jennings’ home and make a very quiet exit. The street lamps were still lit, but it would be full light in close to an hour. Walking a good block from the house before setting Penny on her feet, Thomas took her hand as soon as her feet were on the ground.

Tears she would never be able to explain streamed down her face. She was frightened and relieved and excited and terrified all at the same time. And on top of that, she’d forgotten to excuse herself before they left.

“What’s the matter, Penny?” James asked when he heard her sniff.

“I have to be excused,” she said for lack of a better answer.

“Can you wait until we get to the park?” Thomas asked, not slowing or even looking down. “I’ll find a place for you there.”

“Is that where we’re going, to the park?” James was surprised.

“Yes.”

“But won’t that be the first place Mr Jennings looks?” James argued.

“Why would he look for us, James? He’ll probably be heartily relieved to be rid of us.”

On that dark note, the three walked on. The morning was cool but showed signs of being muggy and close before the day ended. Thomas forced himself not to think about it. Where would they be by the end of the day? A vision of him and James being placed into a boys’ home and Penny being shipped off to an orphanage sent such a tremor through him that his grip tightened on Penny’s small hand. She wiggled it in discomfort, and Thomas forced his hand to relax.

Please, Lord,
Thomas prayed as he had been praying for hours.
Please help us. I feel I did the right thing. I couldn’t let her be hurt. Please take care of us, just as Papa taught us that You would. We need You right now. Please guide our way.

And working hard in his twelve-year-old heart to believe that God would take care of them, Thomas Jennings, the self-appointed guardian of the family, took his siblings almost three miles away to a park that Mr Jennings had taken the boys to visit only once. After taking care of Penny’s needs, they sat on a bench that Thomas had spotted in a small alcove of bushes and trees. After passing out the biscuits he’d spirited away from the dinner table the night before, Thomas sat very still, his siblings on either side of him, and closed his eyes to think.

Jennings knew that a person could completely disappear in London, but this was not one person, it was three, and the oldest of the group, competent though he might be, was not overly familiar with the area.

His horse moving in perfect rhythm to his commands, Jennings combed each and every park they’d ever visited. He thought it highly unlikely that they’d go as far afield as Lincoln Park, and on top of that it was small, but he was going to leave no stone unturned. He would learn firsthand why the hospitality and kindness he’d offered had been rejected and thrown in his face.

Nevertheless, some of his anger did cool when he finally spotted them. He didn’t expect both James and Penny to look so small, or to see Penny’s small head pillowed on Thomas’ shoulder, her face very dejected indeed. Not that it stayed that way for long. The moment Thomas spotted Jennings, he came to his feet, causing Penny to sit upright on the bench, her eyes huge. As Jennings came off of his mount, James also came to his feet, his face showing fear as well.

“We’re not coming back,” Thomas said boldly, even as Jennings approached.

“Well, I’m glad to hear it,” Jennings said calmly. “It was going to be rather hard for me to offer more hospitality after you’d thrown the first in my face.”

Thomas dropped his eyes in shame for several moments before going on.

“We do so appreciate your kindness, Mr Jennings, and we are sorry about leaving so abruptly. Thank you for everything you did.”

Jennings waited for more, but nothing came. For a time the four stood in awkward silence.

“And that’s to be the end of it, Thomas?” Jennings asked at last. “No explanation for your behavior?”

“It’s not going to work, sir. I wish that it could, but—” Thomas hesitated, searching for words, but only finished with “I’m sorry.”

Jennings knew nothing but frustration. What had Godwin Jennings taught these boys? Did they not realize that young men had a different role than girls? It was the way life was, and nothing would change that.

“I don’t know if the world you’re looking for exists, boys,” Jennings said, his voice still quiet. “I know you wish to be with Penny more than you have been, but what of the fall? What of when you return to school?”

“We’ll have to find something suitable,” Thomas said, even as he wondered how that could possibly be.

Jennings’ hands came up in confusion. “I thought you were enjoying our time, boys. I know it hasn’t been easy. I know you’re still in mourning, but you seemed so pleased with our activities.”

“But we can’t let her be hurt!” James blurted, tears pooled in his eyes. “We can’t like maps and going riding so Penny is harmed!”

The young lad’s sentence was a mess, but Jennings understood his every word. His heart filling with dread over the images in his mind, he walked to the bench. Penny scooted as far behind Thomas as she could get, but Jennings still sat down in the midst of them.

“Here, Thomas,” he said, “sit down by me, please.”

The kindness he heard in Mr Jennings’ voice caused him to obey. He sat next to this older cousin, his whole frame tense. He felt Penny crowd in close beside him and shifted to make room for her.

Jennings looked over to James, who was still standing, their faces at eye level, and thought,
He’s so young. He’s just a little boy, and Thomas isn’t much older.
Jennings’ gaze moved to Penny. She looked away when their eyes met, and he read very real fear in her face.

“Mrs Smith is hurting Penny?”

“Yes,” Thomas answered quietly. “She has bruises on her shoulders and arms.”

“And you didn’t come to me for what reason?”

“Begging your pardon, sir,” Thomas said, his eyes forward and not on the man beside him. “It seems to me that Penny is bothersome to you. I was not certain you would stop Mrs Smith. I felt I had to.”

Jennings knew he deserved this and more. The way he had behaved, the boys had every right to feel this way.

“Come here, Penny,” Jennings said to her and watched as she came slowly off the bench. When she looked up at him, her eyes were those of a wounded animal. Jennings spoke when she stood before him.

“Mrs Smith hurt you?”

The little girl nodded.

“Where did she hurt you?”

Penny rubbed her arm.

“She pulled your arm?”

“Yes.”

“Where else?”

“She pinched,” Penny said, her small hand going to her shoulder.

Just barely holding the rage inside of him, Jennings went on to ask, “Did she say why she did this?”

“She likes quiet little girls.”

“And she thought you were noisy?”

Penny looked confused but then said, “I wanted to go out the door.”

“The nursery door?”

Penny nodded. “I wanted to eat breakfast with James and Thomas.”

“Listen to me, Penny,” Jennings said, reaching down to take one of her little hands in his. “No one is going to hurt you anymore. No one. Not even Mrs Smith.”

“I was scared in the nursery.”

“With Mrs Smith gone, the nursery will be a very fun place for you to play,” Jennings said, even as memory surfaced of his own happy hours in that room. “But you may sleep wherever you wish.”

“With Thomas and James?”

“With Thomas and James.”

Jennings’ heart squeezed almost painfully in his chest when she smiled a very small smile, some of the tension leaving her small brow. How anyone could harm this child was beyond him. But then hadn’t he done his share of harm? He hadn’t left marks on her skin, but he’d ignored her needs in selfish pursuit of his own wishes.

For the first time in his life William Jennings wanted to hug a child. He wanted to take her in his arms, hold her close, and tell her once again that he would never let her be harmed, but he knew better than anyone that he had not earned this privilege. However, he could still make things right. He could still repair the damage he’d caused.

“I’d like you to come back with me,” Jennings invited the children. “I hope you will. I promise you that nothing like this will happen again.”

The boys exchanged a look, and James nodded, his face anxious and hopeful.

“We thank you, sir,” Thomas said. “And again, I’m sorry we left and didn’t speak with you first.”

“I know why you did it, Thomas, and you need not apologize again.”

In the minutes that followed, the children’s bags were loaded onto Jennings’ horse so the four of them could walk unimpeded.

“Can you walk all the way, Penny? Can you make it?” Jennings asked.

She looked uncertain, so Thomas tried.

“You can walk, can’t you, Penny?”

“I have to be excused,” she whispered in embarrassment, and Thomas took her away as a matter of course.

Waiting with James, Jennings decided to hail a coach even as he was reminded how far in over his head he was with children in general, and especially with this little girl. Nevertheless, he would shirk his responsibility no longer. He would return to Aydon, deal with Mrs Smith, and then figure out how to be a proper guardian to these children— all three of them.

What Jennings didn’t count on was Mrs Smith knowing just why the children had run. By the time the children and Jennings walked into the house on Rumney Street, that lady had departed with bag and baggage.

Chapter Four

“Send for a constable,” Jennings told Bates grimly, not at all happy with this latest turn of events. If he’d been determined to have the children answer for their departure, he was nearly mad with resolve to have Mrs Smith explain her actions. “And since no one saw her departure, check the rooms for missing valuables.”

“Right away, sir. Do you wish for me to ask Megan to see to the children?”

Because the children were not with him at the moment and he’d already spelled out in detail the morning’s events, he now spoke plainly to the man who had been his faithful servant for more years than he could remember.

“Bates, is the staff kind to the children?”

“Yes, sir,” Bates said, not bothering to hide his surprise. “Extremely so.”

“Do they tolerate them or enjoy them?”

Bates smiled. “Even Cook cried when the children were discovered missing, sir.”

“Good, good,” Jennings said softly. He knew he was going to need more help, but at least this was a start. He couldn’t overburden the staff with the care of the children along with their other duties, but something had been working before Mrs Smith arrived, and he must find out what it was. At least he assumed it was working, as the children had given no indication of fleeing.

A moment of panic rushed through Jennings when he thought about their leaving again. He couldn’t watch the doors at all hours of the day, nor did he want to live like that. The thought, however, of their going and his not being able to find them was very disquieting indeed.

“And, Bates,” Jennings called to his man before he could fully exit the room. “Tell Cook to prepare an early lunch, a sumptuous one.”

“Yes, sir. Right away, sir.”

Left on his own, Jennings sat pensively behind his desk, his mind running with the events of the day and his desire to find Mrs Smith and bring her to justice. Thinking the children might need him, he kept the study door open so he could keep an eye on the stairs, but at least for the moment he was on his own. That was when he spotted it again: the latest letter from his sister.

Usually such missives were dropped into a file drawer, unopened and unheeded, but today, for the first time in more years than he could recall, he opened the letter from Mrs Frank Palmer.

Dear Jennings,
it began.

I hope this finds you well. How is London’s weather just now? We’re growing warmer by the day, and the flowers must be loving it as they are in full bloom. Does your own garden still give you pleasure?