The Firstborn

Chapter Twenty-Three

Sophia awoke when George did, his soft fussing drawing her from a deep, dreamless slumber. She glanced at the clock on the mantel. Only an hour had passed since she'd fallen asleep, and yet it seemed as if she'd slept the entire day away. Her head was foggy, and when George rubbed his eyes with his fists and crawled into her lap, she could summon no more thought or energy necessary than what it took to place her arms around him.

Oh, but he was filthy, she realized as she looked down at him, surveying him properly for the first time since Haughton had placed him in her arms. Dried food clung to the ends of his fine hair, making it stand up in tangled tufts. His clothes, if she was not mistaken, were the same as the ones she had dressed him in the day Lucy had spirited him away from Stantreath. And his bottom...

There was a large damp spot on his clothes, one that had spread to the coverlet on the bed where he'd taken his nap. And on her skirt, she noticed as she picked him up and gave him a sniff.

"Pah!" she said. "When were you last changed?" She hoisted him onto her hip, regardless of the wetness he was continuing to spread to her own clothing, and gave the bell a hard pull. When the maid arrived only a few moments later, she ordered a bath, fresh clothing for George, and food for the both of them. Heaven only knew how well he'd been fed over the last few days, though if he was capable of soiling himself as well as he had, at least she was assured that he hadn't starved.

Another hour slipped away in caring for George, washing and combing the bits of food and miscellaneous debris from his hair, and changing her own gown for one not bearing damp patches all around it. After they ate, George devouring his bread soaked in milk with a particular avaricious glee, Sophia finally found the courage to inquire if Haughton was still at home, or if anyone—she would not mention David's name—was still with him.

"He's in with Mr. Thompkins now," the maid informed her, as she changed the coverlet on the bed. "That's his solicitor, ma'am. They've been in there with their heads together for a good hour or more."

"And..." Sophia cleared her throat. "There is no one else... with him?"

"Not that I know of, ma'am. That Mr. Watson fellow departed only a few minutes after he arrived, him and his lordship's brother both in the same carriage."

"Oh." Sophia didn't know what to think of that. But it was a relief, to be sure, knowing that David was no longer beneath the same roof. "Well, thank you."

The maid finished her task, bobbed a curtsy as if Sophia were actually someone of importance, and left her and George alone again.

So David was sent on his way already, and in Mr. Watson's custody, for lack of a better term. And what of Lucy? Had Haughton seen her? What had her sister said? And more importantly, what did Haughton say that enabled him to return to the house with George sleeping so peacefully in his arms? Her sister would not have given up the boy without a fight, or a rather large sum of money.

She sat down in the middle of the bedroom floor with George, one of the maids having searched through the attics and found a few old, wooden toys that must have been leftover from when Haughton and his siblings were children. The paint was worn off most of them, but George was delighted to have new blocks to stack and knock over, and an army of wooden soldiers to wave about until Sophia finally had to pry one from each of his hands before he poked himself in the eye with the dull end of a wooden musket.

Yet another hour slipped away, Sophia spending all of that time chasing George about the room as he attempted to toddle forward a few steps on wobbling legs before he dropped into a crawl that shot him from one end of the rug to the other faster than she could keep pace with him. She had just snatched him into her arms after following him around on all fours, growling like a bear, and had rolled onto her side with him, the both of them giggling as she tickled him beneath his arms, when she suddenly glanced up and saw Haughton standing in the doorway.