to use for a diaper.”
Mrs. Spratt-Williams took the damp baby gingerly, holding him away from her so as not to soil her gown. “I’ll just . . . I’ll take him downstairs.” She hurried out.
Miss Yingling closed the door.
“I don’t have my medical bag with me, but if I need something, I can always come back later,” Sarah said.
Amy cooperated completely as Sarah examined her, making sure she was none the worse for the excitements of the day.
“I’m awfully tired,” Amy said when Sarah had finished.
“That’s to be expected. I would never advise a new mother to go for a carriage ride on her first day out of bed, but you seem to be just fine otherwise. Get some rest now, and you’ll be your old self in another week or so.”
“Who’s going to help me with the baby? I can’t take care of him all by myself, you know.”
“The other women will help you, I’m sure,” Miss Yingling said. “Having a baby in the house will probably be something of a novelty.”
“What other women?” Amy asked.
“Other women like you,” Sarah said. “Women who escaped from prostitution.”
“I wasn’t a prostitute,” Amy said, a bit indignantly. “I was only in that house for my safety, until the baby was born.”
“Is that so?” Miss Yingling asked with interest. “How did you get there?”
“My baby’s father took me there.”
“A brothel seems an odd place to take a woman who’s expecting a baby,” Miss Yingling said.
Amy glared at her for a moment, and then she said to Sarah, “I want to see Mrs. Van Orner.”
“She’s too busy to see you,” Miss Yingling said.
“I want to thank her for saving me and my baby,” Amy said to Sarah, totally ignoring Miss Yingling.
“Saving you from what?” Miss Yingling scoffed. “If you weren’t a prostitute—”
“Miss Yingling, would you ask Mrs. Van Orner if she can see Amy?” Sarah asked to make peace.
Miss Yingling shook her head in dismay, but she went out in search of her employer.
“How long do you think I’ll have to stay here?” Amy asked, glancing around the room with obvious disdain.
“Miss Biafore was right, you should be grateful you have a place to live.”
“Oh, I am, but I didn’t realize it would be so . . .” She shrugged, unable to think of a word to describe it.
Sarah didn’t help her. “I’m very glad you’re in a place where you have someone to look after you until you get your strength back.”
“If everybody here is a whore, it’s not much different than the place where I was.”
“I doubt you’ll see any men here,” Sarah said.
Amy widened her eyes in appreciation of Sarah’s observation. “Oh, no, I won’t! Do you know they don’t allow men in here at all? They can’t even come through the front door. Those men who helped rescue me? One of them carried me to the door and set me down. I had to walk inside myself.”
“I’m sure they’re trying to avoid any appearance of evil.”
Amy shrugged one shoulder carelessly. “I can’t imagine how boring it must be here. I’ll bet they don’t even allow music or anything.”
Sarah was becoming annoyed at Amy’s lack of appreciation. “I’m sure they manage to amuse themselves somehow.”
“Those prigs? Not likely.”
“Do you have any idea what you’ll do when you’re recovered?” Sarah asked.
Amy looked up in surprise. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, you’ll have to make your own way in the world, and now you have a baby to support. Do you have any family who can help you?”
“My family couldn’t take care of themselves, much less me.”
“Friends, perhaps?”
Amy considered the question for a long moment. “Yes, I do have friends.”
“I’ll be happy to get in touch with them for you.”
Amy smiled mysteriously. “You’ve already done enough, Mrs. Brandt. I’ll take care of that myself.”
Before Sarah could reply, the bedroom door opened, and Mrs. Van Orner and Miss Yingling came in.
“How are you feeling, Amy?” Mrs. Van Orner asked.
“Much better, although I’m starving. That Italian girl said she’d get me something to eat, but she hasn’t come back yet.”
“I’m sure she’ll take care of you. We’re very glad to have you here.”
“I’m very glad to be here. I wanted to thank you for all your help, Mrs. Van Orner. I don’t think I thanked you before.”
“You were upset,” Mrs. Van Orner said. “That’s understandable.”
“I couldn’t believe you made me leave all my things behind,” Amy said, still aggrieved. “I don’t have a stitch to wear.”
“We’ll make sure you have everything you need, including new clothes that are more appropriate to your new life.” Mrs. Van Orner glanced meaningfully at Amy’s frilly dressing gown.
Miss Yingling had left the door open, and Mrs. Spratt-Williams walked in carrying the baby in her arms. He was wrapped in what looked like part of an old sheet.
“Here he is,” she announced to all, as proudly as if she’d just given birth to him herself. “All clean and dry. Miss Biafore tore up an old towel to make a diaper. We’ll need to get a layette for him, Vivian,” she said to Mrs. Van Orner.
“We certainly will,” she agreed, admiring the baby as Mrs. Spratt-Williams held him out for all of them to see.
“What’s the baby’s name?” Miss Yingling asked. Sarah had the oddest impression she wasn’t so much interested as she was goading Amy, although that couldn’t possibly be true.
“I haven’t named him yet,” Amy said. “I was afraid to, in case they took him away from me, you see.”
“Oh, how awful for you,” Mrs. Spratt-Williams said. “But you don’t have to worry about that anymore.” She leaned over and placed the baby in Amy’s arms. “No one’s going to take him away now.”
“No, they aren’t,” Mrs. Van Orner said.
“So you can name him now,” Miss Yingling said, her lips stretching into a mirthless smile. “Maybe you want to name him after your father.”
“That no-good bum? Not likely,” Amy said. “He lost all our money and left us to starve.”
Mrs. Spratt-Williams tut-tutted. “That’s all too common, I’m afraid. Yes, indeed, a very familiar story.”
“Perhaps there’s a man you admire,” Mrs. Van Orner suggested. “Someone you’d like your son to be like when he grows up.”
“Oh, yes, there is,” Amy agreed, admiring the boy as she spoke. “I know exactly who I want to name him for.”
“Who is that, my dear?” Mrs. Spratt-Williams asked.
“I want to name him Gregory, for his father.”
All the other women gasped, Sarah included. She couldn’t imagine why Amy would want to name the boy for the man who had seduced and betrayed her. If she could even be sure who the baby’s father was, that is.
If Amy was aware how she had shocked her audience, she gave no indication. She just continued to admire the baby, giving him her finger to grasp, and when Sarah turned her gaze to the other women, she realized that Amy’s remark had disturbed them even more than it had her.
Mrs. Van Orner had gone white. “Excuse me,” she murmured and hurried out of the room. Mrs. Spratt- Williams followed her immediately, leaving Miss Yingling, who stared at Amy with the oddest expression on her face. Sarah could have sworn it was grudging admiration, although she couldn’t imagine what she saw in Amy to admire. Then she, too, was gone.
“Yes,” Amy said to no one in particular, “I think I’ll call him Gregory. It’s such a dignified name, don’t you
