The Dilemma of Charlotte Farrow Read Free

Andrew’s will take the boy, but I don’t have time to see to that for you.”
    â€œYou know I don’t want him at St. Andrew’s. That’s why he’s with you.”
    â€œI’m sorry. I have to be on the next train to Omaha.” Brushing a strand of gray hair out of her face, Mary Given softened. “He’s a lovely child, Charlotte, and you’re a devoted mother. You’ll always do what’s best for him.”
    Within a few seconds, Charlotte was left standing in the courtyard with a laundry basket at her feet and an eleven-month-old boy squirming in her arms. Suddenly feeling weak, she set her son in the basket and watched absently as he pulled a corner of the sheet over his head and giggled. Her knees trembled. Uncertain they would support her slight weight, Charlotte crouched next to the basket and laid her hand on the child’s feathery brown hair.
    A shadow crossed her vision. Sarah.
    â€œWhere did that baby come from?” the girl demanded to know.

 2 
    C harlotte sprang to her feet, startling the baby, who wailed in reflex.
    â€œCharlotte, where did that baby come from?” Sarah paced swiftly around the yard in several directions, peering into every angle of the courtyard. “Did someone leave him in the laundry basket?”
    â€œI came out to see what was taking you so long with the sheets,” Charlotte mumbled.
    â€œI took a little break.” Sarah’s hands went to her hips, her elbows jutting out. “I’m entitled. I was just coming back to get them. Why would someone leave a brat here? What are we supposed to do with it?”
    The little boy took a deep breath and wailed again.
    â€œHe’s not an ‘it.’ He’s a little boy.” Charlotte picked him up. “I suppose the first thing is to make him feel safe.” She patted her son’s back, right between the shoulders the way he liked it. The baby settled.
    â€œDoes Mr. Penard know he’s here?” Sarah asked.
    â€œHow could he? We only just discovered him.” So far she was speaking truth.
    Sarah glanced toward the back door. “Is Mr. Penard in the kitchen?”
    â€œHe went up to his rooms. You still need to get the sheets off the line. Start at the far end.”
    Sarah shook her head. “I may be new to being in service, but I know we can’t have a baby in the house without the butler knowing about it.”
    â€œOf course not. I do not propose we deceive Mr. Penard about the baby’s presence.” Charlotte’s knees did not match her firmness of voice. “He’ll have to decide what to do. I’ll take the baby inside, and you get the sheets.”
    Sarah rolled her eyes but grabbed at a sheet.
    Inside the kitchen, Charlotte inspected the space. This was no room for a crawling baby. Instinctively she kissed the top of her son’s head. She turned three wooden chairs on their sides and arranged them against one wall, then put a folded tablecloth on the floor in the midst of the makeshift pen. Charlotte saw her son every Thursday and every other Sunday afternoon. She knew he was resourceful enough to climb his way out of this cage, but it had to suffice for at least a few minutes. She settled him among the chairs and handed him a wooden spoon to play with. He examined it happily with fingers and tongue.
    The door slammed behind Sarah as she appeared with the laundry basket wedged against one hip. The girl strode across the room and dropped the basket overflowing with thick white sheets on one end of the table. “You haven’t told him yet, have you?”
    â€œI’ve only just got the baby settled.” Charlotte moved toward the dish shelves. “I’ve got to get Mr. Penard’s supper ready. He’ll be down soon enough to see for himself.”
    â€œI’m going to tell him now.” Sarah demanded Charlotte’s gaze.
    Charlotte’s eyes did not flicker. “If