But she was of very little assistance to him. She had only once visited Mr. Mudgley’s farm, on a day when Mrs. Pilling had gone to Wells to see her sister; and although she was able to describe in great detail the big kitchen there, the dear little chicks in the yard, and a calf which had licked her fingers, she had no idea how far the farm lay from Bath, or in which direction. But there had been a stream, with primroses growing beside it, and Mr. Mudgley had very obligingly stopped to let her get down from the gig to pick a great bunch of them.
The Duke felt defeated, and for a moment said nothing. Belinda sighed. “Perhaps he went away, like Maggie, and I shall never see him any more,” she said.
He did not think this was likely, and shook his head. Belinda sighed again. “I daresay he is married now, because he was very handsome, and it was such a nice house, with a garden, and beautiful red curtains in the parlour. I am very unhappy.”
Both he and Harriet said what they could to console her, but she seemed to have sunk into a mood of gentle resignation. She said simply: “I wish I was not a foundling! It is very hard, you know, because no one cares what becomes of one, and one has nowhere to go, and when I thought that Uncle Swithin would make me comfortable I was quite taken-in. And so it is always!”
This sad little speech brought the tears to Harriet’s eyes, and she took one of Belinda’s hands in hers, and clasped it, saying: “No, no, do not say so! The Duke and I will always stand your friends, I promise!”
“Yes, but it is not the same,” said Belinda unanswerably.
The Duke could only reiterate his determination to find Mr. Mudgley. Belinda smiled gratefully at him, but without conviction, and, catching Gideon’s eye, he rose to take his leave.
“Well,” said Gideon, as they walked towards Bridge Street together, “she is certainly a nonpareil, Adolphus, and I think you are wasting your time. She is destined to become a Covent Garden nun.”
The Duke compressed his lips, returning no answer. Captain Ware glanced quizzically down at him. “I have offended you, Adolphus?”
“No. I expected you to say something of the sort. You have never the least sympathy for those born in less easy circumstances than yourself—witness your contempt of Matt!”