TemptingJuliana Read Free Page A

her own defense; if she is accused of having disposed of her baby by murder, the certificate might save her from the gallows.”
    “Dear heavens.” None of the mothers looked like criminals—they were just women in tragic circumstances. “I saw no infants in either the girls’ building or the boys’. Have the babies lodgings of their own?”
    “The babies aren’t kept at the Hospital. They’ll be baptized with their new names at Sunday services tomorrow and then placed with wet nurses in the countryside on Monday. The nurses receive a monthly wage and keep the children until they are five years or thereabouts, at which time they return to live here.”
    Juliana watched as the infant was carried off. “Does anyone make sure the babies are treated well?”
    “Oh, yes. Inspectors visit regularly. They’re responsible for the nurse’s pay and the child’s medical fees, and for purchasing clothes for the infants—”
    “Purchasing clothes?”
    “Baby clothes. Babies are sent to their new ‘mothers’ with frocks and caps and clouts and coats and blankets—”
    “Do the girls not make these in their sewing lessons?”
    “The baby clothes aren’t uniforms—”
    “Then I can provide them, then!”
    “Pardon?”
    “I can make them. I can make baby clothes and donate them to the Hospital.”
    The kindly woman blinked at her. “I don’t know about that. I don’t believe anyone donates anything besides money.”
    Juliana watched another mother draw a red ball and, trembling, take her baby to join the small group of hopefuls. She imagined having to wish someone else’s child proved ill so her own child could have a chance for a decent life. Or at least she tried to imagine it. The very thought was heartrending.
    She turned back to the lady patroness beside her. “The fact that the Hospital hasn’t accepted nonmonetary donations in the past doesn’t mean it cannot do so in future.” Maybe providing baby clothing would free enough funds for the Governors to accept another child or two. She wouldn’t allow them to refuse her. “There’s a first time for everything, isn’t there?”

Chapter Two
    SPICE CAKES
    Take three scoops of Flower and put into it a Spoon of ale-barm, crushed cloves, mace, and a goode deal of cinnamon. To a halfe Pound of sweet Butter add a goode deal of Sugar and mixe together. Stir in three Eggs and work until good and stiff, then add a little cold Rosewater and knead well. Knead again, pull it all in Pieces and bake your Cakes in a warm oven.
    I’ve heard tell that should you eat one of these before a gathering where you are likely to meet available men, their spiciness will clear your head and allow you to choose wisely. This did not, however, work when I baked them for my daughter.
    In any case, they are delicious.
    —Amethyst Chase, Countess of Greystone, 1690
    “How many baby clothes do you need to make?”
    “A lot.” In her bedroom at the Chase town house in Berkeley Square early that evening, Juliana set down her little pot of lip pomade and picked up the list the Governors had given her. “Three frocks, three caps, three nightshirts, one mantle, one coat, one petticoat, two blankets, and ten clouts. And that’s per child. There will be ten babies.”
    Emily bit into one of the spice cakes she and Julianahad baked after returning from the Foundling Hospital. “So you need to make thirty frocks?”
    “Yes.” The girl was articulate and good with arithmetic. “And thirty caps, thirty nightshirts, ten mantles, ten coats, ten petticoats, twenty blankets, and a hundred clouts. All within a month, before the next reception day.”
    Juliana set the list on her dressing table. Upside down, so it would stop taunting her. Whatever had she got herself into? She’d been thrilled when the Governors accepted her offer to provide clothing for the next intake of infants—until she’d realized just how many clothes she’d need.
    She wasn’t worried about the cost of the