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me.”
    Sarah laughed. “Don’t be too certain! I’m all she has for company. She’s surely tired of me by now. And if the truth is told, sometimes it’s nice to simply move about without an extra fifteen pounds in one’s arms.”
    Adelaide was instantly sorry. Of course Sarah needed a respite from the demands of motherhood. She didn’t have maids and nurses to bathe and feed her child, as Adelaide did. There was no way for Sarah to avoid her maternal duties, though Adelaide was sure from the gleam in the young woman’s eyes when she spoke of her daughter that Sarah would pursue no such avoidance, even if she could.
    “The fire is stoked, Mrs. Milthorpe.” Adelaide was surprised to find Edmund at her shoulder. “Is there anything else I can see to for Miss Montrose?”
    “Thank you, Edmund.” Adelaide turned to Sarah, who was busy pulling two chipped teacups from a shelf on the wall. “Can Edmund help you with anything else, anything requiring a man’s strength?”
    Sarah shook her head, opening the package of biscuits and setting them neatly atop a tiny plate. “I don’t think so, though I’m ever so grateful for the wood and fire. I must confess that I woke with some worry this morning when I felt the chill air in the room.”
    “You needn’t worry,” Adelaide said. “You will not go cold or starve if I have anything to say about it.”
    “I’ll just wait downstairs, then,” Edmund said.
    “But you needn’t leave!” Sarah exclaimed. “Won’t you stay for tea?”
    Edmund shook his head. “The carriage stands out like a sore thumb. Besides, I’d like to pick up a newspaper for Mr. Milthorpe while we’re in town.”
    Adelaide knew the excuse for what it was. Edmund could have purchased a newspaper at the general store when they were procuring supplies for Sarah. Still, she appreciated his discretion and his willingness to offer her privacy, especially on an errand of which he disapproved.
    “That’s fine, Edmund. I’ll be down after my visit.”
    He nodded and left the room. Adelaide heard the door shut behind him. Little Mary squirmed in her arms, and Adelaide bounced her a little. She turned her attention to Sarah, who was lifting the steaming kettle from the stove.
    “Have you found employment?” she asked.
    Sarah shook her head as she poured. “It is impossible to find an employer willing to let me bring Mary, and there’s no one I trust to her care for long hours. I have been taking in some sewing, though. It isn’t much, but it has been keeping us in wood and food.”
    The baby coughed, sputtered, and began to cry.
    “Oh, my goodness…” Adelaide looked down at the infant, her tiny face scrunched up, the downy hair near her ears damp with sweat. Adelaide unwrapped the blanket and set it on the back of a chair. Mary instantly quieted.
    Sarah laughed. “She’s probably not used to so warm a room!” She carried the teacups to the small table near the firebox. “You’re rather good with her, you know.”
    Adelaide looked up in surprise. “Me?”
    Sarah nodded. “She likes you. I can tell.”
    Adelaide looked down at the baby. She regarded Adelaide with solemn eyes, her arms flailing out as if seeking to grab on to something. Adelaide took one of the child’s soft, dimpled hands in her own. Mary closed her tiny fist around one of Adelaide’s fingers. Adelaide’s heart tightened. Was this what holding her son would be like? Would he gaze at her with such trust, even after what she had done to him? Would he be as soft and light as a feather, the smell of powder and sweet baby sweat all about him?
    But there was no point wondering about such things.
    She walked toward Sarah, holding the baby out to her. “I think she’d like her mother now.”
    Sarah smiled sadly, taking the baby from Adelaide’s arms. Adelaide pushed away the emptiness that filled her with the baby’s absence.
    “Let us hope that she’d like her cradle instead,” Sarah said. “That way we can have a