After exhausting every possible strategy for bringing Anneliese with him, Nicolas finally made up his mind. He would not sneak the little girl away and become a child kidnapper. He would bring her with him properly and honorably.
He made an appointment with the orphanage matron and met with her privately. Gathering his resolve and a few words for verbal sparring, he steeled himself to look straight at the matron in the orphanage director’s office. The atmosphere was utterly silent. Nicolas felt as though he were being judged from head to toe. The fifty-five-year-old woman moved her graying eyebrows, arching them and then drawing them straight as before. After Nicolas revealed his true purpose, a look of surprise and astonishment appeared on her face.
“Are you certain you want to adopt her, sir?” she asked first.
Nicolas immediately straightened. “Yes, ma’am,” he replied firmly.
The woman fell silent for a moment. She adjusted her glasses slightly, as though she wanted to see the young man more clearly. A moment later, she shook her head.
“No, sir. You don’t meet the requirements.”
“Why not?”
“First, there’s the matter of citizenship. I’m sorry, but you’re not English. We can’t give Anneliese to a foreigner, especially an immigrant from another country. We can’t guarantee that you won’t take her to France and make her a French citizen.”
“Ma’am, the political situation in France is still unstable. In circumstances like these, I can’t even return to my own country, let alone take Anneliese with me. However, I will guarantee her a life here.”
Nicolas hoped his answer would convince her. But the wrinkles on the woman’s forehead remained unchanged.
“That’s not all, sir.”
“What else?” Nicolas shot back impatiently.
The woman adjusted her glasses. Her pupils traced Nicolas from head to toe. “Mr. Guillaume, according to the information I’ve looked into, you’re unmarried. How do you intend to care for Anneliese?”
For a moment, Nicolas was stunned. Those words struck him like a blow. He felt as though he had been punched in the gut, then hurled toward the edge of an unimaginably deep abyss.
CHECKMATE!
How did things end up like this? he thought. He still had enough savings to last several months—enough to support himself and Anneliese until he found a steady job in London. But… marriage? What the hell did that have to do with anything?
“What does Anneliese’s adoption have to do with my marital status?” Nicolas grew agitated for no reason. To him, it was an overly private and completely unreasonable rhetorical question. Why was his relationship status being called into question? The person sitting across from him was a stranger, yet she was acting like an old friend trying to pry into his private life.
“Adoption is only permitted for families that have no children of their own, sir. A husband and wife bound together in marriage,” the woman replied, placing particular emphasis on the words husband and wife.
“How can you expect to care for a child when you’ve never been bound in marriage yourself?” she continued.
Nicolas flinched. What was he supposed to do now? Marriage? Who was he supposed to marry? Did he have to find a fake partner to save Anneliese?
“Poor little Anneliese. She’s been an orphan since infancy. Her mother died after giving birth to her. Since not a single relative ever came looking for her, she was passed from one orphanage to another until she was brought here. We have to make sure she gets the right foster parents.”
Nicolas was frustrated. Why did this have to be so difficult? He only wanted to do something good after being trapped in blood-soaked work for so long. He only wanted to save one life. Why did there always have to be some obstacle in his way?