“That is the intent,” Percival explained. “You gave us quite a lot of food for thought. Here are the school buildings, including small shops where the various guilds can come in and give instruction in trades. The houses will be for families, many of whom can be employed in taking care of the children who do not have parents.”
“Will it work?” Tiffany asked.
Percival sighed. “I don’t know,” he said. “I hope it will at least help. It seems as if the poor are always about, always in need. But you mentioned the need for privacy, for a place to get clean, and for learning. I want to help people become useful citizens who have trades that will give them a respectable place and a way to earn their living.”
“I’m not sure it needs to be this grand. The grounds are wonderful, and the vegetable gardens will be a necessity. But what is this building? It seems to be made of glass.”
“It is,” Percival said. “It is an orangery. It stands to reason that if oranges, limes, and lemons are good for sailors on long voyages, that they should be good for English street children who are forever stealing fruit from carts.”
Tiffany laughed. “So you will teach them how to grow their own fruit so that they do not need to steal it off carts.”
“Indeed,” he said, his eyes crinkling up at the corners. “And perhaps create some commerce to support the orphanage so that it will not always have to live on the largesse of patrons and benefactors.”
“An interesting idea,” Tiffany said. “Will there be an end to the apprenticeships? What happens when the children become youths and then adults? It would be a hard thing to go from such a place as this to the streets.”
“I did think about that,” Percival said. “I am not on that committee, but I believe a team of lawyers are drawing up ideas about ways to give each youngster a start in life, either in a tradesman’s master shop or in a shop of their own.”
“I am not sure the tradesmen will thank you for this,” Tiffany said. “Some of the guilds are quite jealous of their skills and guard their knowledge carefully.”
“Which is why we will have master craftsmen teaching the skills that will help our residents learn trades that will suit their abilities.”
Tiffany frowned at the model, and nibbled at the corner of a nail. “It is beautiful, My Lord. But it concerns me. I wonder if you have enough freedoms built into this. There are many street urchins who will see this as a gilded cage.”
Percival chuckled. “Nice pun, Tiffany.”
“Pun?” she looked at him, puzzled.
“A play on words,” he explained.
“Yes, I know what a pun is. I made one?”
He sighed. “My mother used to tell me that I had an obscure sense of humor. I was noting the similarity of the word ‘gild’ as to coat with gold and ‘guild’ as in a trade.”
“Oh.” Tiffany thought about that for a moment. “Pun or no, it does more or less apply. Gild, as in to put street people in a beautiful place, and guild as to offer them in a structured trade. Both could come to be regarded as a cage, My Lord.”
Percival frowned. “What would you then suggest?”
“I do not think I am wise enough to answer that, My Lord. I know that I ran away from a situation that many would have envied, and that when I went, it placed Mrs. Bentley in an impossible situation. It also meant that I broke my promise to Father Bentley, for I was not able to care for her.”
“I see.” Percival thought about that. “It is possible to plan for practical things, but developing a system where children are not only given practical care, but also care for their hearts and minds. . . a much more difficult task.”
“Yes,” Tiffany said. Then she repeated, “Yes, a much more difficult task.” She felt the tears prickle at the back of her eyes, and blinked furiously.
Ods bodikins, what has gotten into me? I’ve cried more this last fortnight than I did after Father Bentley passed.
“Do you regret having run away?” Percival asked.
“I regret breaking my promise,” Tiffany replied. “I had to go. She was getting worse, and I did not want to be the instrument of her death. In the end, I am not sure that it might not have been kinder.”
“If we could find her, and set up a situation for her care, would you want that to happen?” Percival asked.
“Yes, as long as I do not have to see her.”
Percival nodded. “I will see what can be done about it. I have a meeting with a gentleman tomorrow morning who might be able to help.”
“Thank you, My Lord. I do not like the idea that she might be living in want, but I do not wish to be in her clutches again.”
Chapter 19
