Free The Forgotten Family by Beryl Matthews Page B

was hard to breathe as she rocked back and forth in the chair she had slumped into.
    ‘You bought me? My real family sold me to strangers?’ The hurt was indescribable. ‘I’m not your daughter?’
    ‘You are!’ Albert crouched down in front of her, taking a firm hold on her hands, his eyes pleading. ‘We legally adopted you. You are our daughter.’
    Ellie never liked to cry, but now the tears were running down her face. ‘How much did I cost you?’
    ‘That doesn’t matter—’
    ‘It does. How much?’
    ‘Five guineas—’
    She surged to her feet, shaking off his hands, then ran full pelt out of the room and out of the house. She had to be alone. It was too much to discover that the parents she loved were not her real mother and father. She felt utterly bereft as she reached the pond. Sinking down, she buried her head in her hands and sobbed like a baby. Her comfortable world had just disintegrated into a million pieces.
     
    It took every ounce of Albert’s self-control to stop himself running after her. But he knew he had to give her time to adjust and think things through. He prayed that as the shock receded, she would understand that she’d had a much better life with them.
    His heart was thumping uncomfortably, making him rub his hand over his chest as he tried to control the panic.‘Think it through, my precious girl,’ he murmured. ‘Don’t turn away from me.’
    Tears gathered, blurring his vision. It was going to tear him apart if he lost her now, but if she wanted no more to do with him, then he would have to find the courage to deal with it. How bleak his life was going to be without Eleanor and Mary’s love. If this had been left to him, he would never have told her, but Nanny and Mary had opened the door by saying too much in her presence, leaving him little choice. Eleanor’s curiosity had always been insatiable.
    Pouring himself a large brandy with shaking hands, he wandered over to the window. The pond was her favourite spot, and was where he had taken her as a frightened little girl when she had just arrived. After she had been plucked from the only life and people she had known. His heart still ached when he thought about that little face gazing up at him in fear and confusion.
    ‘I’m here for you, Eleanor, just as I was that first day, and have been ever since. Come to me.’
     
    It was almost dark. Ellie shivered, not only from the cold, but also in disbelief. The family she’d been born to had sold her. How could they have done that? Were they monsters?
    She scrambled to her feet, anxious now to find out more about her real family, and about herself when she had been brought here. The person to ask would be Nanny.
    Without knocking, she rushed into the elderly woman’s room. ‘Tell me about Queenie. What was she like? Where did her family live? How many of them were there? Why was I sold? Why did they buy me?’
    Nanny managed to stand up, holding out her arms to the distraught girl. ‘He’s told you then?’
    ‘Oh, Nanny.’ Ellie sobbed on her shoulder. ‘I don’t know who I am any more.’
    ‘Come and sit down.’ Nanny hobbled over to a settee where they could sit together. ‘I’ll tell you everything.’
    Ellie listened to the story about the little girl her mistress had brought home one day and placed in her care. Slowly, the tears dried and her mouth opened in amazement. ‘All I had on was a frock?’ she gasped. ‘Father didn’t tell me that.’
    ‘Oh, yes, and when you swore at him, he fell in love with you.’
    ‘I used bad language?’
    ‘Terrible, and it took us a long time to break you of the habit.’ Nanny held on to Ellie’s hand. ‘He adores you, and so did the mistress. You are their daughter, and have been from the moment you arrived.’
    Nanny then went on to explain as much as she knew about the other family. ‘There was one brother you kept asking for. His name was Harry, or ’Arry, as you called him. I can tell you no more than