Miss Merton's Last Hope by Heather Boyd

but you would not be cruel. You would love them and care for them all.”
    “All?” She shook her head at the idea of having many. She glanced at her trapped hand, and discovered the compulsion to pull back had dimmed a great deal. “Don’t trouble yourself over my spinster state. I think the best course of action is to concentrate on you and my brother.”
    “No more dares.” A grin tugged at Julia’s lips as she sat back. “Well, not until after we’ve conquered Scafell Pike together next summer.”
    Melanie dropped her head into her hands. The pair were hell-bent on unconventionality. “Heaven help me.”
    Julia laughed and then asked the question Melanie had been dreading all week. “Why was Walter George so angry with you?”
    Melanie’s heart lurched but she’d practiced an answer well. “I suppose the idea of a woman unwilling to have children offended his sensibilities.”
    “It was more than that.”
    Melanie bit her tongue, struggling to find a reasonable explanation for Walter’s outburst that could satisfy Julia. “He was also defending his sister, as is his right.”
    “He must have been hiding that anger for a very long time,” Julia said, staring at her pointedly. “He’s never shown a hint of it before.”
    She had no answer to that. His emotions had been very high that night. She’d never known his thoughts so clearly until now and still felt the pain of his disappointment. The break in their friendship had been inevitable. “He was entitled to speak his mind, and I did ask him to.”
    Julia frowned but before she could continue, Valentine burst into the room. “There’s been an accident.”
    Walter.
    Heart in her throat, she managed to croak out a steadier question instead. “Who is it?”
    “Francis Clemens was struck by a carriage at sunrise. He’s dead.”
    “Oh, poor Jane and the children!” Melanie reeled. Relief that her first fear—that Walter had been hurt—was acute, but now sadness gripped her because she knew the family. She reached for her reticule and found additional handkerchiefs in a nearby drawer. She stuffed them inside. “I must go.”
    “Do you know them well?” Julia asked.
    “They are older acquaintances of mine.” Andy’s former friends in Brighton. Melanie had continued to seek out the family long after there was a reason. “Good and decent people, but poor. Mr. Clemens’s passing will be devastating to his wife. I must pay my respects.”
    “We’ll come with you,” Julia volunteered quickly.
    “No. Please, if you don’t mind, I should like to go alone.” She glanced between husband and wife. “Mrs. Clemens is unlikely to wish for strangers to see her and the children on such a terrible day. I will, of course, pass along your condolences.”
    Valentine nodded. “We will expect your return before dinner.”
    Melanie struggled into her blue pelisse. “I will do my best not to be too late.”

Ten

    “Mr. George, I cannot thank you enough for your generosity,” Vicar Pease enthused as they shook hands across his oak desk.
    “Think nothing of it.” Walter set his hat to his head, eager to be on his way to make preparations for moving the Clemens widow and children into their new home since they were set to be evicted by day’s end. It had been a devastating week for them.
    With Clemens gone and no surety of income ahead, their landlord had given the widow notice she’d be evicted by today. He’d been horrified when he’d learned of it this morning. “I am happy to help a family in need. If all goes well, Mrs. Clemens should be settled in her new home in a few hours. I had planned visiting her myself and passing along the news. But would you care to visit her new home with me now? I’m on my way there directly.”
    “I think that’s a fine idea. I will meet you outside in a moment.” The vicar tugged on his coat. “I’ll just inform my wife that I’m going out.”
    The vicar stepped from the room and Walter strolled out to the