Everyone in the room reacted. First, Mother yelled, “John Fredrick Merritt!” and began scolding her son to a harsh, but well-deserving, degree. Clara jumped back, her mouth gaping as her cheeks filled with a bright pink blush. She threw her eyes to the floor and refused to look up. Amanda giggled obnoxiously.
Luke was more surprised by his body’s reaction to John’s words than he was by the words themselves. For his stomach flipped and fell and twisted all at once. His heart raced. His fists clenched. The back of his neck perspired. Worst of all,his brain played a cruel trick on him, for it imagined, in great detail, what a kiss from Clara Merritt might be like, and it refused to let him think of anything else.
“It is not fair!” Clara yelled at Lord Merritt from her seat in the study. “I am just as mature as Amanda!”
“Usually, I would say you are more mature than Amanda,” Papa replied, rubbing his temples, for his daughter was certainly not acting mature at the moment.
“Then why won’t you let me out into society?” she asked, grumpily plopping her decorative teacup down on the mahogany desk. Clara’s friend had happily announced she would becoming outnext Season. Of course, Clara did not want to miss out on any sort of social event. Knowing Amanda would be open to a world she was not yet permitted was devastating.
“I have no desire to marry you off that quickly.”
“Because you do not think I am ready? I assure you, I am! You saw what I did at Luke’s-”
“Clara,” Papa interrupted gently. She released an angry sigh before folding her arms, waiting for him to continue. “Mr. Fletcher is a retired military man with seven daughters.”
The girl rolled her eyes. She was well-acquainted with Amanda’s family situation.
“You are the only daughter of an earl.” Father spoke slowly and rationally, allowing Clara to come up with her own conclusion, but she was far too emotionally invested to see logic. Papa sighed. “The Fletchers are struggling. They must match some of their daughters now so they will have fewer mouths to feed. No person should marry that young, but sometimes, for those less fortunate, it is necessary. With seven girls in the family, the sooner they start, the better chance they will have to see them all wed.”
Oh.His words fell heavy on Clara’s heart. She had viewed Amanda’s early entry into Society as a great privilege, but truly, it was quite the opposite. Circumstances necessitated her early marriage. Amanda would not be enjoying social events or entertaining multiple suitors. She was being auctioned off to the first buyer. She did not have a choice.
Lord Merritt could see his words were having an effect. “Plus, ClaraBear, Amanda will becoming outto Faversham Society. It is much different in London. Your mother and I believe you should wait until your age of majority to-”
“Twenty-one!” Clara’s fury was back at full force. “Absolutely not! Why, all of my friends shall be married by then!” She stood abruptly. “Twenty-one?” She could not believe it. “Are you mad!? You don’t even want me to marry, do you? You hope to keep me stuck here forever!”
“Clara,” Papa said comfortingly.
“Are you saying I cannot attend a ball until I am twenty-one! I will be the oldest woman there!” She was hysterical at this point.
“Actually, it is not that uncommon-” But Clara wouldn’t listen.
“I am going to be a spinster. I am going to die an old maid!” She sobbed, tears streaming down both cheeks.
Lord Merritt put a hand on her shoulder, “ClaraBear.”
“Don’t call me that!” she screamed, pushing his hand away. "Don't talk to me. I hate you! I hate you!” She stormed from the room, running straight into John and Luke who stood a few paces out the door.
“Are you all right?” John asked with concern. She simply pushed past him, racing through the corridor to her bedchamber, because, for the first time, Clara Merritt just wanted to be alone.
Lord Merritt and John always started the day on horseback. Both men loved being in the saddle. Luke did not mind it, but definitely did not believe it needful on a daily basis, and after making the long ride from Oxford to Harleston toFaversham, he did not want to get anywhere near a horse for at least a fortnight. So the next morning when John and his father headed for the stables, Luke selected a book from the library and entered the flower garden. The men always stopped there after a ride because Lord Merritt insisted on hand-picking a blossom for his countess. It seemed a good, quiet place to wait for their return.
It was early summer, so the Merritts did not have a ridiculous number of guestsyet, but still more people than Luke cared to mingle with when he did not have to. He found a small bench placed deep within the garden, and cracked open his leather book. The birds were singing their morning song. The sun was slowly marching higher into the clear blue sky. A small brook bubbled away in the distance, and Luke felt the tranquility of Rosecrest wash over him. He was thoroughly convinced no other place on earth was quite as peaceful or welcoming.
About thirty minutes into his serenity, the sound of footsteps against the gravel-lined path interrupted his reading.Oh please, just be John, he wished, but he knew not enough time had lapsed for that to be the case. While Luke’s instinct was to hide in the nearest bush, the foliage looked a bit too sparse to cover him completely, and getting caught in an uncomfortable moment of chitchat was far better than being discovered trying to escape it.
“Why, you are early,” came a high pitched voice. “I thought we were meeting at-” Amanda Fletcher rounded the corner. “Lord Maxwell!” she yelled in surprise. “What are you doing here?” Her eyes darted quickly around the small alcove.
Luke simply held up his book.
“Oh, I-” She did not finish her sentence, because around the other corner came an eager looking stableboy. Amanda’s face lit up. “You didn’t see anything.” She giggled, gripping the boy by the arm, and pulling him in the opposite direction.
I really wish I hadn’t, Luke silently replied as he pulled his book out once more. Unfortunately, it was not long until he heard footsteps again. He eyed the bushes, maybe there were more leaves than he originally thought.
“Luke,” this time it was Clara standing in front of him. “Have you seen Amanda?”
Should have tried hiding.“I … uhhh.” He did not know how to respond.
Clara didn’t seem to notice as she walked over and sat down on his bench. Luke quickly slid to the opposite end giving her as much space as possible. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. She was just as lovely as she had been the day before, maybe even more so with the sun hitting her golden hair.
