He gave a frown at her reply.  Alone?  He shook his head.  He couldn't imagine a man leaving his wife to travel alone with two small babies.  Then, even if he was unable to travel with her, to not be there to meet her when she arrived?  Or have someone meet her if he could not do so?  He did not have much good to think about the woman's husband nor family at that point.

"Niamh and Harold."  He said the names over and gave the baskets a smile.  "Nice names.  Harold is a name I have heard before but Niamh is new to me.  What country does that come from?"  He asked curiously.  "Is it a common name in England?"  He gave her a look, curiously. 

"I'm from the US myself.  Texas, specifically."  He explained to make his question maybe make more sense than it sounded.

"Ma'am," He raised a hand to scratch his forehead not sure how to ask the question that just came up to his mind.  The situation just didn't seem to be right.  Something was off, and he just felt he should ask.  "I know this is mighty forward and all that, but are you in some kind of trouble?   I haven't seen many ladies out traveling around alone with one, let alone two small babies.  You say you'll be alone there too, well, it just seems a bit off to me.  I know it isn't my business, but I was just not raised to let a lady be left in need."  He said politely with a kind look at her.

"Ireland," she murmured, "Tis an Irish name." As if on cue, one of the infants began to fuss and she pulled Niamh out of her basket to comfort. She was gentle with the little one, laying her up against her shoulder and rubbing her back softly. She did not look at the man for the moment while she was tending to the girl, but then gave a sharp look at his observations that she was in trouble. Of course she was in trouble, but not the kind of trouble he ought to be helping her for.

"I was jilted." she said bluntly. "I'm afraid a scandle was caused by me nearly elopin' with the clockmaker. Ye don't really need to be helping someone like me out. I'm trouble." And it was true to her that she was trouble even though she really wasn't most of the time.

He smiled at the reply.  Irish.  He had not spent any time there yet, though had exchanged letters about some horses a man there was breeding for racing that he had been interested in.  A plan to go take a look at the man's set up and what kinds of species he was using.

When the woman picked up the fussing baby, Lorn watched the manner the woman used with the infant.  He reminded him of Cressida and taking care of Heidi.  His eyes blinked a moment, pushing the image away.  This wasn't the time nor place to deal with his grief.  He stayed busy and focused on other things around him to avoid the grief that would crush him otherwise.  He had to stay strong and be there for Heidi and making a strong foundation for her to grow up healthy and know that she was loved.

He then heard the woman's story.  "Miss Calloway, I am right sorry to hear about that."  He frowned thinking a down low man indeed had left her like that.  He glanced at the babies thinking the man must be the father.  "He was the one that should be left out without his boots and no gun to protect himself."  He grumbled with anger at the man he didn't even know.

"Why on earth would you not get help?  You were the one hurt and the babies too.  How could a man leave behind his children and their mother?  Hell.. pardon me, ma'am."  He apologized for his language.  He had not left Heidi's mother, she had left him and not let him know she was pregnant.  He would have done the right thing had he known. 

He looked at the woman before him and tilted his head.  "Your family not going to stand by you then?"  He asked with a worried frown.  "Where will you live?"

Color filled her cheeks again at the misunderstanding. "Mrs..." she corrected almost in a strangled way, returning the infant to the basket when she was once again, sleeping. "I am a widow. A recent widow." She explained this tightly, not that the tightness was directed at him. "Me husband died before our children were born and I... had a moment of weakness." Well, more like a few months of craving human touch. "He died for another woman," she explained, "She was me best friend, and she was sick. He died taking care of her and the only person I had left was me brother, and now I don't have him either because I was stupid and fancied the clockmaker." Because she had been so damned alone.

Tears spilled over and she angrily shrugged at them. "Fred did nothin' wrong but fall fer me." Considering she wasn't even over Harold yet and wouldn't be for some time. "I don't know what I am going ta do. I have me home but I think I may have caused a stir and people are going ta talk. The shame of it all! I'll bet I am the trollup they are already speaking of." She gave a humorless laugh at the thing.

He blinked a moment at the rest of the tale.  She had been married, well, at least she didn't need to worry about the legibility of the babies.  He had done Heidi's mother wrong.  He should have been strong enough to wait until he could marry the young woman.  His daughter now had a lie, but he could never tell her that he was in truth her father.  He would be the only father she knows, but she would only know of him as the man that adopted her.  It tore at him, but it was the best he could do to provide her a reputation as she grows up.

"Sounds like your husband was a good man. You have my sympathy, ma'am."  He said solemnly.  "As to the rest, grief can make a person do some regretful things.  I lost my wife about a year ago, myself.  Nothing made sense to me other than focusing on our little girl."

"Heidi kept me from getting too far lost.  My late wife's family lived in Greece, and my folks live in Texas.   Cressida and I had moved to London when we adopted Heidi as her grandparents were there, and we wanted them to be involved in her life.  They are still there, just not set up to raise the little one."  The story was based on several truths, so it could be checked on, and he did want Heidi to be near to her grandparents.  The story about her mother dying right after giving birth was true, though that she lost her husband before giving birth had been a falsehood.

"Now, you have to focus on these two little mites.  You've stumbled and made a mistake, but grief will do that.  Those that fault you with that just have no soul."  He said the last firmly.  "The man got you up there to marry him with the babies and left you there, that he did wrong.  Mighty wrong, in my opinion, ma'am.  You were jilted not the other way around."  He reasoned.

"Are you sure your brother won't stand with you?  Help you out?"  He thought of the woman on her own.  "Is the house in your name or is it rented?  How will you make things work and take care of the babies?"  He asked leaning forward with an elbow on one knee resting his chin on that hand as he considered her situation.

"He was," she said softly. More tears spilled and she began to cry in earnest, covering her face with her hands. Lands, but she was so beyond the point of any return at that time and the carefully contracted wall that held in her grief and mortification topple. She didn't cry loudly, she sobbed quietly in her seat for several long moments before she could even come up with a form of reply.

"No, he didn't do wrong. It would have been a mistake to marry me and he left me because I am not over me Harold. I don't begrudge him." And it was true, Freddy was a good man, but marrying him would have been bad. "Me brother thinks I am bad for even entertainin' another man so soon after Harold died and made it clear he wants nothin' to do with me now." She pulled out a hanky from the inside pocket of her sweater, revealing her sunday best dress.

"I rent me home, but I could buy it if I wished." Harold had been a doctor after all.

As she started to cry in earnest, Lorn was about to find his handkerchief to hand it over to her but she had gotten her own.  Instead, he reached out. 

"Care for me to hold the baby, and let you get ahold of yourself?"  He asked quietly.  His hands were rough but large, the man was a large man period.  He usually stood taller than most men and then with the white hair, he was hard to ignore even in a crowd.

"As for the man, you are more generous about that than I would be."  Personally, he would like to punch the man, several times to be honest, but that would not help her at this moment.  He was more concerned about her current situation.

"Well, you have a place to live, and can stay there for the time meaning, that is good."  He didn't know of her financial situation, and that he figured was a privacy manner.  It did seem she was not hurting for funds though and would be able to focus on the children and not trying to work and take care of them from what she said.

"I hope your brother comes to his senses, as he has a sister, nephew, and niece.  Family is too important to let them go like that over something like that."  He stated though he knew others were not of the same kind of thinking as he was.   He couldn't even say it was one of the English snobby things, as even in the states, this kind of thing could ruin a woman.  He thought of Heidi's mother and how his actions had left her reputation ruined.

He couldn't repair that situation, other than how he had with Heidi, but looking at the woman before him, he thought he could help someone in a related situation.   "Would you take it improper or out of line if I offered you my assistance if you wanted to stay in town?"

"I live not far from town.  I bought the Gardener family place.  The one with all the land and white fence around the main house.  The older woman passed away and the heir had enough properties to take care of as it was and had it on sale about a year ago.  I needed to start over after my wife passed away, so I bought it and now breed horses there."

"Anyway, it would be improper for you to live in the proper house, but there are a few cottages at the back of the house that are for various house employees.  The housekeeper, the butler, the cook and her family and the like.  Well, there are a couple of them empty.  I was thinking I could rent them out, but haven't gotten around to it yet.   If you were to want to get out of town until you figure out what you want to do, its open to you."  He offered.

The crying slowed. She was hesitant at first but handed over the fussy baby who probably needed a new nappy, which she began to dig for because instinct told her to do so. A wet spot had formed on her sweater. "I need ta..." she indicated the baby's bottom with a shuddering sigh. "I am sorry," she went on to say, took the baby back and quickly changed her cloth diaper. The fuss ended and Niamh went back to sleep within moments. There was no situating herself, she was just handing the one baby over again when Harold Jr. began to fuss too. It was clear that she was frustrated. She made quick work of situating the boy's nappy, and then had him in his basket. By the end of all that, she was shaking.

The poor thing was so tired that it was easy to tell why she was not in her right mind at the moment, aside from getting jilted. "I told me brother I did not want to be alone but he left me alone anyways to go out and do his stupid work..." And yes, she meant stupid, for Pony sold snake oil. "He travels a lot as a salesman," she said politely.

As far as being offered a place to stay, she hesitated for a moment and then nodded, "It would do well fer me to get out of town proper I suppose. Perhaps the gossip will have a chance to die down." After all, she thought, the curtains had been left wide open and anyone could have seen the affair she had carried on with the clockmaker. Lord, but she was mortified with her own behavior.

Lorn took the tiny girl in his arms, and could tell the issue was right away.  He chuckled as the young mother took the baby back.  "It is what they are the best at I think.  We are in the process of teaching Heidi to deal with such things herself.  She is three.  It is challenging to say the least."  He wanted the woman to know he completely understood the need to deal with the diaper situation.

As the boy started acting out for the same situation, Lorn wondered how the young woman had gotten any rest at all with two of them.  One was challenging enough and Cressida had shown him how to help, and now he had the nanny helping when he was there and watch over Heidi when he went to do business.

"Well, maybe he will take the time away to get his brain on the right when it comes to dealing with family."  He replied hopefully.

"You think on it.  Rest while the little ones are quiet, and I'll keep an eye on them if you fall asleep.  There is no pressure, as I just want to help if I can.  If you come to rent the cottage, feel free to have the babies stay with Heidi in the nursery when you need some rest or to just go walk around on your own there on the property or go to town for something.  If you don't want to go to town, you give my housekeeper a list of the things you need from town.  We get so much for ourselves, I doubt what little you might need would be all that much to add to what they bring in."  He reasoned leaning back on the bench relaxing. 

"As for cost, I don't know what is the giving rent here.  You tell me what is fair, and I am sure we can make an agreement on that."  He reasoned.  "Though you might want to see it first.  It might not be what you are comfortable with."

“He is stubborn,” said Karen, “He was the same way when I married Harold, but not as bad. I doubt this time he’ll come around.” It was true. Pony was a shortsighted man when it came to his sister, but that was a story best told another time. She situated both the little ones at last and went on to say, “It doesn’t matter. I’ve been doing it on me own thus far.” She didn’t want to talk badly about Pony, but sometimes it hurt just to think about her brother.

She dabbed at her face, a face that was forced to calm down and only had the remnants of the tears and such. A tired look replaced the sad one, and she said softly, “I appreciate yer offer, Mister Vaughn… There is nothin’ to think about. I don’t want ta hear me name on everyone’s lips. Besides, I am not worried about what yer cottage looks like… I’ve seen humbler homes.” Like the cart with her brother. That was mostly home. “Ugh, I am a mess, I am sorry.” She noticed the pee stain and sighed, knowing she would have to wash that straightaway when she got home as it was her only sweater.

Karen relaxed back in the seat and nodded to him her acquiescence after she did so. The woman closed her eyes, but there was no sleeping for her… no sleep… no… and she was asleep, her hands draped, one each in the baskets.