4.
~ Everleigh was amenable to a warm bath and having her now freshly washed hair rolled up in rags to create curls.
"Whoever was fixing your hair before wasn't doing you any favors." Ariadne mused while trying to untangle a nasty snarl of hair.
Everleigh only winced and hugged her knees to her body.
"Almost done." Ariadne assured her. "Then our hair will be nice again."
"Ouch!" the girl cried out at the deeply embedded tangle of hair.
Ariadne felt bad for hurting the girl, but it was a sorry sight indeed to have a rats nest on her head.
~ When it was all over, Everleigh went to the bed without complaint.
"Don't you want your doll tonight?" Ariadne asked holding up the expensive doll with real, untangled, hair for the child to hold.
Everleigh looked away from the doll and shook her head.
"Alright." Ariadne said. "I'll put out the light so you can sleep."
"When can I go home?" the child asked in a small, worried voice.
Ariadne turned in surprise at the question.
"Oh. I'm not sure what's going to happen." She said honestly. "I'm sure Mr. Willows will make sure you're taken care of."
~ It only occurred to Ariadne later that the girl must be missing her mother terribly and that it was cruel for Arthur Willows to take the child away from her.
Downstairs, Arthur and Mrs. Willows were whispering to one another. That angry scowl was still on his face. As though he were slightly annoyed with the world as a whole.
"Mrs. Willows, I've put the girl to bed and I'll be leaving now." Ariadne told her employer and ignored Arthur completely.
"Oh, dear, Ariadne." Mrs. Willows said fitfully. "Can I ask you to stay the night? Maybe keep the girl company? It's raining so badly just now and I think Jeffery had gone to bed already with his leg pains."
The thought of not seeing Wesley made Ariadne jump. She had never spent a night apart from her baby since he was born.
"No, Madam." She told her. "I need to go home."
"Mother's right Miss…" Arthur said. Searching for a last name he didn't know and probably didn't care to know.
"It's Stevens, Mr. Willows." She told him curtly.
Arthur rolled his eyes at her common sounding name.
"You shouldn't try and walk home in this weather." He said. "I doubt any cabs will be out."
"I have work at home that needs to be done." Ariadne said to the older woman and ignored him again.
"I can drive you." Arthur announced.
Ariadne felt a lightning bolt of fear jolt her body.
"No!" She called out a little too loudly. "No. I can walk home."
"Not in this weather, surely." Mrs. Willows told her.
"I can take you home in the carriage." Arthur said again. The way he said it, was almost like she had no choice in the matter.
Ariadne stood a little straiter and looked him in the eye.
"I said no." she told him as calmly as she could.
~ The rain soon had her soaked, even with trying to rush home. The streets were hazy with heavy rain and no a soul was out in this miserable weather.
'Why didn't I just let him take me home?' she thought to herself. An answer came back into her brain just as quickly.
'Because men like that can't be trusted. You trusted one once, didn't you? Now look what happened. You lost your place at a nice home and have a baby at home with no father.'
She shook her head.
'Yes, but better no father than his real father.' She decided.
'You know you can't trust that man. Look what he's done already. He didn't speak to his own parents for years and has taken his daughter away from her poor mother.'
She felt slightly afraid at the idea of a child being taken away from it's mother just because the father had money and the mother was poor and unmarried. What if Wesley were taken away? What if the Dawson family showed up on her door and took Wesley away just as that poor little girl was taken away?
She shook head, trying to clear away that bad thought and decided to stop arguing with herself. It was raining too hard and she needed to hurry home.
~ Back in the cozy apartment, Ariadne changed out of her wet clothes and found Wesley crawling over the pink rung where all the babies of the family learned to crawl.
"How are you, dearest?" she smiled when her baby lifted his head up to see her.
"How was work at the old lady's house?" Annabella asked.
"Fine till their long lost son showed up with a daughter Mrs. Willows didn't even know about." Ariadne told her.
"What? He got married and didn't even tell the old woman?" Annabelle laughed.
"I didn't see any wife with him, just the daughter. It was a shock to the poor lady, I can tell you." Ariadne said sadly. Mrs, Willows had been kind to her and she didn't want the woman to suffer because of the son.
"You mean and little indiscretion?" Annabelle laughed. "Well, good to know it's not just the Dawson boys who carry on."
Ariadne felt her face flush hot.
"Sorry, I wasn't thinking." Annabelle said sadly.
"He came with the girl and she asked me when she was going home. I wonder where the mother is? Do you think he just took her with him? That's so cruel." Ariadne said. Wesley was pulling on her hair right now. He was hungry and wanted feeding.
"You know more than I do." Annabelle said indifferently.
Ariadne finally voiced the fears that had been rattling around her brain on the walk home.
"Do you think Tom will try to come for Wesley one day?" she asked her sister.
Annabelle shook her head.
"No, he made it clear he doesn't care about either of you."
"He might change his mind." Ariadne said.
"Stop it." Annabelle snapped. "That whole family made their views clear on you and the baby. Tom is no better than a dog. He doesn't care about Wesley and won't be coming to claim him."
~ Arthur didn't like the way that ladies maid, Miss Stevens, had just walked past him, grabbed her coat and marched out the door. He sensed she didn't like him and he wondered what he had done to offend her.
"Why did you hire a ladies maid anyway, mother? It's a needless expense." He asked. His parents were always so frugal with money. They never hired any more staff than was needed to run a home.
A ladies maid, valet or even a nanny were not needed in this house.
"That's my business, Arthur." She told him bluntly. "It's not for you to worry about."
"I suppose she can look after Everleigh until I find a suitable nanny." Arthur mused.
"She will not be care taking that child, Arthur. The girl must be sent away at once." Mrs. Willows told her son.
Arthur looked back at his mother.
"Sent away? She's barely four years old. She just got here." He told her.
"We have relatives in Chicago. Your cousin Richard and his wife already have two boys. I'm sure with the right amount of money they will be willing to take her." Mrs. Willows said quickly.
"Mother, Everleigh is staying here. This is her home." Arthur said.
"This is not here home, Arthur. She is your illegitimate child. What were you thinking bringing her here and making a disgrace of the family?" she demanded.
"How foolish of me to think this was a family." Arthur said darkly. "I won't send her away, mother. She's had it too hard as it is. She's going to stay here and everyone will know she's my daughter."
"Arthur, you're not even married!" His mother spat.
"That doesn't matter." Arthur told her. "I've been away for years, make up any story you like. Say my wife died or something."
"And what if the girl's mother decides she wants her back?" Mrs. Willows asked.
Arthur paused and thought of Charlotte. His former lover had seemed concerned and even worried for the daughter she was forced to abandon. She had practically begged him to find the little girl.
He closed his eyes and willed the idea of Charlotte away. He didn't love her anymore. Their love affair was always doomed.
"She's not coming back for the girl, mother. She's married and had a new baby of her own. It was all done in secret." Arthur said.
"And in secret is where it should have remained!" Mrs. Willows said.
Arthur shook his head. He was too tired of hearing about his wrongs. No matter what he did right for the rest of his life, he would always be in the wrong because of Everleigh. Her mere existence was a crime enough to forever bring him shame.
He was about to leave his mother when he spotted a small figure in a long night dress standing at the tops of the stairs.
"Everleigh?" he asked. His young daughter looked a little silly with her head full of rags twisted and tied into her hair.
She said nothing. Her thin, pale face only staring back at him from the top of the stairs. He hoped she hadn't heard his mother complaining. Or at least, hoped she wouldn't understand the unforgivable state of her existence.
"What are you doing up, Everleigh?" he asked striding up the stairs and stopping so they were eye to eye.
"The lady left me." She whispered. "It's dark in that room and I'm alone."
Arthur nodded.
"Yes, it's to be your very own room, darling." He said gently. "It's just because you're not used to it yet."
He picked up her small body and took her back to the guest room.
"What are all those things in your hair?" he asked. She looked like she was wearing a crown of scrap rags on her head.
Everleigh put a hand to her head.
"Curls." She explained.
"Did the lady put them in?" he asked as he lowed her back into bed and coved her up.
She nodded.
"She said you did a bad job with my hair before." The girl told him.
Arthur felt his brows rise up in surprise.
"Did she?" he asked and Everleigh nodded.
"Well, you'll see her tomorrow and we can see how well your hair comes out." He told her.
He leaned over to kiss her goodnight. A thing his father always did with the boys when they were young, but Everleigh rolled away from him and hid her face.
"Good night, Everleigh." He said feeling rejected.
"Good night, Sir." She said.