The Family Way (Molly Murphy, #12)

“I see,” I said. “Is there perhaps one of Maureen’s particular friends still here in whom she could have confided a secret plan she didn’t share with the sisters?”


“I’m not sure if any of them are still here. They are usually required to go back into the world as soon as they are fit and strong, so that we have room for another girl to take their place. Unfortunately there is always more need than we can fill in our small way. It’s a wicked world out there, as I’m sure you know.”

“Do they ever take their babies with them?” I asked.

“We discourage that strongly. There is no future for an unmarried woman with a child and Sister Jerome works wonders in finding adoptive families for the babies. Almost every one of them goes to a good home.”

“And those that don’t?”

“I’m afraid it’s the Foundling Hospital for them. But we try our very best, and there are always childless couples who long for a little one of their own, aren’t there? Luckily we’ve developed quite a reputation and so they come to us from far and wide.”

“That’s good news,” I said. “So would there be nobody here who can tell me anything more about what happened to Maureen?”

“No doubt Sister Jerome would know. She’s now in charge of the maternity cases. It used to be our dear Sister Francine but she died recently. Sister Jerome is the order’s bursar and thus responsible for the placement of the girls and their babies. She’s most efficient. She would have signed the order to release the girl.”

“Could I possibly speak to her?”

There was a distinct pause before she said, “I’m not sure if she’s occupied at this moment, or maybe still at her prayers. If you’ll open that door behind you and call for Katy for me, she can go and search for her. But I can’t guarantee that she’ll come.”

My feet echoed from the stone floor to the vaulted ceiling as I crossed the room. And even though I spoke in a low voice, it echoed into unseen darkness as I called for Katy. She appeared right away, brushing down her apron.

“Are you leaving, ma’am?” she asked.

“No, Sister Perpetua wants you to run an errand for me.”

Katy stepped into the parlor. “Yes, Sister,” she asked reverently. “What do you need?”

“This lady would like to talk to Sister Jerome,” the voice said. I still had no idea what she looked liked, whether she was large, small, old, or young. She was just a black shape with a lighter oval of featureless face that spoke. “Could you go and find her and see if she has time to come to the parlor grille?”

“Very good, Sister,” she said and I heard her neat little feet tapping away down a hall.

“That one’s a good child,” Sister Perpetua said. “They all are, at heart. Just foolish, most of them. Not evil. She’d make you a good servant in a month or so, if you’re prepared to wait.”

“Thank you,” I said. “I think that might work splendidly.” I had already taken to her.

We waited in silence. Actually I wasn’t even sure that she was still behind the grille. There was no question of small talk. At last a sharper, deeper, more powerful voice said, “Sister Perpetua tells me you want to see me.”

I stared at the grille and could make out a taller, thinner shape—so tall and thin that any hint of a face was cut off from my view above the grille.

“This lady is looking to hire a servant, Sister,” Sister Perpetua said. “And she’s inquiring after Maureen O’Byrne.”

“Maureen?” the sharp voice said. “She left us a while ago.”

“Do you know where she went, Sister?”

“We do. She was going back to the family she worked for previously. They were generous enough to forgive her sin.”

“I’ve been to visit them,” I said, “and she never came back.”

“She didn’t? Silly girl. I’m afraid she had ideas about bettering herself. I just hope she hasn’t run off to the city. No good will come of that.”

“Didn’t she just up and go without saying good-bye?” Sister Perpetua asked.

“She did, ungrateful child,” Sister Jerome answered. “Slipped out while the sisters were in chapel at matins one morning and her fellows were asleep. It wasn’t until breakfast that we realized nobody had seen her. A stupid thing to do really. She was due to be released anyway within a couple of days.”

“Is it possible she ran off with a young man?” I asked. “The baby’s father?”

Sister Jerome sucked through her teeth. “I suppose that is possible, although I got the impression that the baby’s father wasn’t in a position to marry her. A married man, I’d always thought.”