The Family Way (Molly Murphy, #12)

She looked flattered, as I hoped she would. “You know you’re always welcome here, my dear.” She patted my hand. “And I find it heartwarming that you’re so concerned about dear Daniel. He’s married a good woman, that’s for sure.”


Of course I felt guilty after that, because Daniel wasn’t my prime reason for wanting to return to New York. But at least I had managed to escape without any hurt feelings, and that was the main thing, wasn’t it? Bridie helped me pack my bags, no longer bright and chatty but silent and morose.

“Why do you have to go?” she asked at last. “Why can’t I come with you?”

I stroked her hair. “I’ll be back soon, I promise and it’s better for you to be out of the city in the good fresh air.” She shrugged. “And Mrs. Sullivan is very kind to you. If you mind her well, you’ll grow up to be a fine young lady.”

A tear trickled down her cheek. “I don’t want to grow up to be a young lady,” she said, wiping it away with the back of her hand. “Then my da and my brother won’t know me when they come back.”

I wrapped her in my arms. “Oh, sweetheart, they’ll be proud to know you. They just want what is best for you.” (This wasn’t exactly true, as her father had asked me to find her a servant’s position at the age of ten, but it was good that she thought it true.)

“I wish I were your daughter,” she said, her voice barely bigger than a whisper. There—she had voiced the thought that had gone through my own mind more than once.

“I love you like a daughter,” I said, “but I have a new husband and soon I’ll have a new baby of my own. Maybe when the baby comes and things are more settled then you might be able to come and live with us for a while, but for now you really are better off with Mrs. Sullivan. Remember how hot and crowded it is in the city?”

Bridie didn’t say another word, but insisted on carrying down my bag for me and giving it to Jonah to load into the trap. Then she stood solemnly waving as we set off for the station.

*

New York felt hot, sticky, and smelly after the country idyll and I almost regretted my decision to return home. However when I turned the key in my front door and entered my little house I changed my mind. The house had an unused feel to it and smelled of decaying fruit and stale coffee. So then I felt sorry that Daniel had had to fend for himself and looked forward to surprising him with a good meal. But first I had a task to perform. Sid and Gus insisted on accompanying me and even insisted on taking a hansom cab to the Lower East Side.

“At least it shouldn’t be too hard to track down a nun in this part of the city,” I said to them as we climbed down from the cab on the corner of Broome and Elizabeth Streets. “Last time I was here the place was crawling with nuns and priests.”

“You’ll probably find it some kind of feast day and they are all on their knees in their convents,” Sid said dryly as she scanned a street remarkably devoid of nuns. I looked around and my gaze fastened on the butcher shop on Elizabeth where I had come down the stairs just too late to witness a kidnapping.

“I wonder if that woman ever had the right baby returned to her?” I said.

Gus shook her head. “If she did, there has been nothing about it in the Times.”

“How terrible for her.” I couldn’t take my eyes off the door of that butcher’s shop. “I wonder what she’ll do? Would she keep a baby that she knows isn’t hers and spend her life wondering who is raising her baby?”

“It may not be as nice as that, Molly,” Gus said quietly. “Did it not occur to you that perhaps they killed her child by mistake and found a baby to take its place?”

“Yes, Daniel suggested that might have happened.” I turned away. “It just doesn’t bear thinking about it, does it? I don’t know what I’d do if…”

“Then don’t think about it,” Sid said firmly. “Frankly I don’t know that it was a good idea letting you come to this part of the city, even if it is just to deliver a message. It’s too distressing for you. Maybe we should take you straight home.”

“No. I have to do this.” I shook my head firmly. “There may be a lot at stake here. Let’s find the convent and get it over with. I’m sure almost any of the women around here can tell us where the Foundling Hospital is located.”

We stopped several women as they did their shopping. We asked in several stores. Yes, they knew there were nuns in the neighborhood. There was a convent attached to the church on Prince Street—the convent of the Immaculate Conception, but those nuns ran a school, not an orphanage. Their own daughters attended. You couldn’t miss it—big, imposing brick building. We thanked them and made our way there, sure that one set of nuns would know about others. These turned out to be the nuns with the big white coifs we had seen on the street and we encountered a pair of them coming out of the school yard just as we approached.

“Why is it nuns are always in pairs?” Sid muttered. “Are they only allowed out in twos, in case they get up to sinful behavior alone?”