Geddes Gordon was a tall man, wide through the shoulders and slim of hip. He had a full head of light hair, much like Gavin’s, although perhaps a shade darker.
Robbie joined the men in the library, where the solicitor commented quite positively on the décor, especially the books.
“I’ve always appreciated a well-appointed library,” he replied, scanning the shelves.
Gavin agreed. “We didn’t have a separate room actually called a library, but my room was stacked with books. Even after my da built me a bookcase I found it just wasn’t enough space for all that I had.”
Robbie envisioned a young Gavin, carefully putting his things in order, gently touching things that were special to him. Warmth burst through her; she was still so much in love with him. She wished she could slap herself, come out of the funk, and be the wife she should be and “mother” he wanted her to be to the new babe. He deserved that. Again, she felt her eyes well.
“Now, then,” Geddes began. “I wish I had positive news for you regarding your situation, but although there’s no good news, there’s no bad news either.
“In most cases like this, no one comes forward to reclaim an abandoned child. It’s done with purpose and nearly all the time, total willingness. When it happens among the gentry, it’s all very hush hush because there is such a disgrace to the family. And I have not heard of any young mother defying her family and wanting her child back.”
“So there’s nothing to be done to protect us?” Robbie asked, fiddling with the simple gold heart she wore on a chain around her neck.
Geddes sat forward and rested his forearms on his thighs. “Imagine your scenerio. A fourteen-year-old girl, yes, still a girl by any standard, especially one so protected, becomes pregnant by a close relative. When the household learns of it, I would gather the relative involved hightailed it out of there. Could they have convinced him to stay and marry his cousin? Perhaps they tried, but young lads being what they are, he realized he had too much life to live to be tied down to a wife and bairn.”
“Could they have promised him something? Like a substantial dowry?” Gavin asked.
Geddes shook his head. “I looked into the family. The lad’s father owns a large shipping company out of Glasgow. Money wasn’t an issue. I believe he just wanted his freedom.”
“Do you think they sent Darla away to have the child?” Gavin asked.
“I checked on that as well. Yes, she was up north in a refuge for girls in her predicament. Because she had a medical condition besides the use of only one arm—”
“What medical condition?” Robbie broke in.
“She suffered from seizures,” Geddes said.
Robbie glanced at her husband. “Did you know this?”
Gavin said he did not.
“The trauma of the delivery threw her seizures into unpredictable patterns. And because of that, she stayed on at the shelter for a few months, promising the staff and her parents that once she was stablized, she would turn the infant over someone who would find the bairn a good home.”
Robbie pressed her hands to her mouth. “But she didn’t.”
“From what I can gather, she fled the shelter with her bairn one night after everyone was asleep. I traced her here, but, like you Gavin, I couldn’t find any sign of her beyond that. I can have the private detective who found you look into it, if you wish.”
“No, she said she didn’t want me to try to find her. And even if he did, it would only stir up trouble.”
“I can draw up a paper, signifying that you are the parents at the wishes of the mother. It wouldn’t be a legal document, but it would be something.”
• • •
After the meeting, Geddes agreed to stay for the evening meal, and although Gavin invited him to stay at the house, he said the returning coach left early, and he needed to get home.
Robbie almost dreaded the meal, for she reckoned Birdie would ask too many pesky questions about the bairn. She was right.
“So, Mister Gordon,” Birdie began. “Even though the lass left her babe with me, and asked specifically that I take care of her, I have no right to say she’s mine?”
Geddes swallowed the oatmeal-dipped herring, dabbed his mouth with a napkin, and said, “Unfortunately, the written word takes priority over anything verbal.”
Birdie brooded the remainder of the meal, while lively conversation rumbled on around her.
• • •
During the next few weeks, Robbie noticed that Birdie was taking even more interest in Alice’s care. Before she doted on her, fed her, and held her. Now she even offered to change her and get up at night with her, although those nightly sessions were more infrequent now that Alice was older. Of course, Birdie still insisted on calling her Adrianna; everyone gave up trying to correct her.
Even though there was a chill in the autumn air, Alice was bundled up and taken outdoors in her new perambulator, one Birdie had obviously chosen, for it was the most expensive to be found. Surely Gavin’s accounts at the shops in Galashiels were piling up.
Colin told Robbie he thought Alice was now nearly five months old, for she could raise her head and rest on her forearms when she was laid on her stomach. And she loved to kick. Her favorite toy was a homemade rattle that Mrs. Murray had fashioned, and Alice put it in her mouth the moment she was handed the toy. The expensive silver rattle that Birdie had picked out went untouched. Actually, Lady Perlina seemed to enjoy pushing it around the floor, listening to the jingling noise it made.