Page 36 of An Accidental Elopement

Archie could only nod. That did seem a plausible answer.

“How far along are you?” he demanded since they might as well have some facts straight. “How do I even know that this is my child?”

Lavinia sent him a condescending look.

“Between rehearsals and being in your bed practically every night all summer, I have not had time – nor the need – for any other lovers. As far as how far along, I expect about four months. It has to have happened that time backstage.”

Archie felt his lips thin into a line as he clearly remembered the time in question. They had been together backstage after the show had ended, hidden in a dark corner among the set pieces. Since they had been together both before the show and during intermission he had run out of sheaths, and they had taken a chance. Which in hindsight of course was a huge mistake.

His mouth filled with a sour taste at the thought that he had wanted her thrice in one night and even enough to risk both pregnancy and diseases. It seemed unnatural for him now to want anyone but Cecilia.

“Fine, so you will need a family to take the baby in seven months?” he asked as he was already trying to work out where to place the baby.

“No, sooner. I have to leave London as soon as it starts to show. I don’t want anyone to know about the child. I was hoping you could find a family where they would be willing to pretend that the child is theirs. If they live remotely and I go to live close by, they will be able to have the child as soon as it’s born. That way it will appear to be their child and it will not have to be illegitimate.”

Archie looked at her with an open mouth and wide eyes. This was probably the most sensible thing he had ever heard her say. He had not thought of illegitimacy, but of course, if they were able to make it appear as if the child was born to a married couple, that would be ideal. The child. For the first time during this conversation, he thought of the child as someone who would be a living, breathing person.

“It will be more difficult to find such a family. But I will do my best to find one,” Archie mumbled.

He assumed that the family would want money. He should be able to pay enough, otherwise, he would have to ask someone for a loan. Perhaps he could borrow the money from Henry; that way he would not have to ask his father and disappoint him yet again.

“Thank you,” Lavinia breathed, her shoulders slumped, and Archie realized that she had been nervous.

They agreed that he would come back the next day to speak to her. Lavinia was needed back in London in five days, which would give them some time to plan this. From the inn, Archie rode to the vicarage. The vicar, Mr. Ingram, was a friend of his brother-in-law Edmund Winterbottom. He had been granted the vicarage by Archie’s father and was always very friendly towards his family. It was him that had married Archie and Cecilia at Great Farleigh Hall only three weeks ago.

A couple of hours later, he left the vicarage with a better understanding of how these matters worked. Ingram had been sympathetic towards Archie’s “friend” who found himself in this predicament and had not been as judgmental as Archie had feared.

Afterward, he journeyed to Farleigh Cottage to go through the ledgers of his tenants. He would prefer that the child was not living close to the cottage, since it would make it more likely that Cecilia learned about it, but it was an obvious place to start. Payments would be easy as would making sure that the child’s true identity was not known.

He found several tenants with wives of childbearing age and started sorting through them. He wanted one where they did not have too many children of their own. If they had another child, it would only be a burden. He also needed a family that would want to make it seem that the child was their own. That would mean someone who was not too devout. And then a family that would hopefully treat the child as if it was their own. He ended up choosing three families that he would talk to his steward about the next day.

Seventeen

Cecilia was sitting at her dressing table when Archie knocked the second time. Her maid was almost done with her hair. She gave him a small smile through the mirror as she tried not to be too affected by how well he looked in his black and white evening attire. He smiled back at her and leaned against the doorframe.

“I’m ready in a minute,” Cecilia said and dismissed her maid when she had put the last pins in her hair. She could put on her jewelry and gloves on her own. She sensed that Archie wanted to speak, but not in front of the maid. And she was right. As soon as the maid closed the door, Archie strolled casually towards her and asked:

“Are you feeling better?”

Cecilia nodded and looked down as she was unclasping the lock on the necklace she wanted to wear. It was a dark green opal in a simple silver chain that Millie had gifted her as a wedding present.

“You must think me terribly silly to hide in my room just because of that. It was all hypothetical after all,” she muttered and placed the necklace around her neck.

Some part of her wanted to confide in him and tell him exactly why she had been upset. When they had spoken an hour ago there had been a moment when she thought that he had actually known why she was upset. An even briefer one where she had thought that he would tell her, that of course he would care if she died in childbirth.

“I think I told you before that I don’t find your emotions silly,” Archie murmured. Cecilia’s hands that were trying to fasten the lock slipped at his words and the necklace fell. She caught it against her bosom and hastily tried to put it back on.

“Allow me,” Archie mumbled and strode towards her. His warm fingers brushed hers as he took the necklace from her. Cecilia quickly clasped her hands in her lap as she was trying to ignore the touch of his fingers at her nape. She felt certain that one of them lingered on her skin and for a moment she forgot to breathe but then he retreated.

He walked to the window by her bed. Cecilia briefly glanced at her night table that was close to his leg. She had hidden the pamphlet that Hester had given her, under the book that she was currently reading. The night table was halfway hidden behind Archie’s legs, and she could not tell whether the dark purple pamphlet was in fact out of sight. She turned towards the mirror again to clasp on her earrings as she tried to force her blush down. It seemed inevitable though. She had spent much of the afternoon browsing through the pamphlet, and even though she had felt she knew a fair bit about what happened between men and women, there was still much to learn, she had discovered.

Like the fact that what Archie had done the second day of their marriage was in no way uncommon apparently. In fact, the author almost seemed to think that it was mandatory and would be a shame if the man did not want to do it. Whoever the author was, she was certainly not shy or coy. Moreover, the pamphlet suggested that it was even normal for women to give men pleasure with their mouths.

The thought only made Cecilia’s blush deepen. Some part of her was curious to know exactly how it would feel, both the physical part and how she would feel giving Archie that kind of pleasure. Only her gloves were left now, and she picked them up as she gave her beet-red face a look. Good thing Archie was still standing with his back to her. She turned towards the room and gently slid the first glove on. She was ready to jump from the chair and hurry towards the door the moment he turned around. The burning sensation in her cheeks told her that her face was most likely still bright red.

“Where did you get this?” Archie asked. His tone of mirth mixed with wonder should probably have alerted her as to what he was talking about, but because of all the emotions swirling around inside her, she did not think about it before it was too late. He was standing with the purple pamphlet in his hand. For a moment it felt as if Cecilia’s heart ceased beating, then it started again with an almost painfully hard contraction.

“It’s...” He had opened the pamphlet and had evidently read some of its content.