2. A peasant's gift
John walked down the empty, dark street, with Hope in his arms. She was surprisingly silent, as if she knew what was going to happen to her. She wasn't asleep, but she was kept warm by her father's jacket , and the blanket around her. When they arrived at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Warner, John hesitated for a moment. Since when did he sink this low? Giving his own child away! But he knew he had to..
There was no choice.
He would give Hope a much better life.
A rich life.
She would get everything she ever dreamed of in this family.
She deserved this.
He held that thought while he walked over to the door of the big house, and placed the basket with his daughter in front of it. He kissed her on the head once more, and then knocked on the door loudly. He gave Hope one last look.. and ran off.
The pain in his heart worse then any he had ever known.
Worse then what he felt about Rebecca.
Much worse.
From the corner of his eye he saw the door being opened, and a woman stepped out. Probably the maid. She would bring his daughter into that better life, he thought.. And that was the last time he saw his girl.
Sarah, the maid, found the baby on the doorstep. She was confused, and didn't know what to do with it. But in this cold, she couldn't just let it lay there... So, she picked the baby and the basket up and brought it to the saloon. Mr. and Mrs. Warner were seated there, talking about a new play in the theatre.
'Sir, madam, ', Sarah said, not sure if what she did was the right thing. She only worked here for 2 weeks, and didn't want to be fired!
Mrs. Warner looked up, she was always very nice, and the look in her eyes comforted Sarah a little. 'What is it, Sarah? What have you got there?', she asked her in a friendly manner.
'It's.. I found it on the doorstep, ma'am. It's a.. it's a baby.', she said, hearing how very stupid that sounded, but what else could she say? It was a baby after all.
'A what? ', Mr. Warner asked, less friendly than his wife.
Mrs. Warner, Louisa, walked over. 'O George! It is a baby!', she exclaimed surprised, and lifted the baby from her basket. 'Look at that! It's God's gift to us! He heard our prayers, George!'.
Mr. Warner, or George, walked over to his wife and this strange, apparently abandoned baby. 'It's not God's gift, Louisa. That's a peasant's gift. A poor peasant who wasn't able to work a little harder to feed another mouth. That's what it is. They're too lazy. So they put it on another man's doorstep.', he shook his head. 'It's a shame, that's what it is. A shame'.
As if Hope heard the man's tough words, she started to cry, and Louise rocked her gently. 'Shh, little one. You're safe now. ', she smiled. 'You have a new mommy'. Her husband didn't seem to agree with that though...
'Don't be ridiculous. We're not keeping a peasant's baby!'. Louisa gave him a look. 'Yes we are. And you don't know if it's a peasant baby. There may be something else! And besides, she's a gift from God. He made someone put this baby on our doorstep. And we'll do as He wants us to with it, George. We'll take care of her.'.
George sighed, once his wife had something in her mind.. not an army could bring her off that idea anymore.
'How do you know it's a she?', he asked her, observing the baby in her arms.
'You can see that! This is definitely a she', she replied and put the baby in her other arm, so she could take a look at the basket. 'There is a note! '.
'A note?', George frowned. 'What does it say?'.
Louisa picked up the note and read out loud;
'Please take care of our sweet baby girl Hope.', she smiled. 'Hope. They're calling her Hope. That's a lovely name, isn't it darling?'.
'No it's not. If we keep her.. we give her another name. A name that fits our place in the society, a 'normal' name.', he decided.
Louisa sighed again, not really caring, because she was already happy enough with the fact he would let them keep this baby. She had no idea how much the name had meant to Hope's family.. She looked down at her 'daughter', and smiled again. 'Abigail. We'll call her Abigail'.