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Chapter Thirty-One
David stared at her most peculiarly in the lantern-lit carriage.
What does he see? He couldn’t possibly know, could he?
“I declare, David, your stare is as terrifying as Medusa’s!”
He blinked, shaking his head as if clearing it. “Apologies. Your sapphires had me lost. I remember Mama wearing them.”
“Oh,” she breathed softly, placing a hand over the necklace.
“Our families have been friends since before you were born.” Their parents had counted Vassilis and Sirena Sideris as the dearest of friends, as now David was close to their sons, Adrian and Nicholas.
She cocked her head, perplexed at his solemnity. “Yes…”
“They’re merchants. And Greek. Yet we get on well. Don’t we?”
“We do,” she intoned curiously.
“Should anything happened to me, I trust that Vassilis and Sirena would look after you as a daughter.”
She frowned. “I’m sure they would. Why are you thinking of this tonight?”
David shifted the tall hat on the seat next to him, evading her gaze.
“David.”
“We’re due to arrive any moment. It would be poor form for us to arrive in an excitable state. No, let’s wait until after—”
“David!”
He pursed his lips. “I saw Vassilis earlier this week. He asked if I would consider a match between you and Nicholas.”
For the first time today, horror spread through Clara. The last thing she needed was her brother endorsing a suitor who wasn’t James!
Nicholas Irons—born Sideris—was the trusted face of David’s firm. Nicholas’s decision to take that position instead of work for his father’s shipping empire had temporarily estranged him from his proud father. In the years since, Vassilis accepted the decision but remained opinionated about his children’s lives.
Suddenly, awareness pierced her musings.
David was actually entertaining the possibility of marriage between their family and someone in the merchant class!
He watched her reaction closely. She schooled a pleasant expression. “Oh?”
He looked surprised. “You’ve received that news rather with aplomb.”
She cleared her throat. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“I thought that we had an understanding of late. You have your Violet House, and I’m in trade. Why, I’ve never seen you happier than this last year, Clara. There’s no need to upset things.Wouldyou be even amenable to marriage?”
Tread carefully. “I—I am surprised by the idea. Are you truly considering it?”
“At first, I was rather shocked—more so than you, apparently. They paid a fortune to marry Adrian off to the marquess’s daughter. We’ve no need for that. A few years ago, I couldn’t have considered a merchant family. But now?”
Did he mean now that she was on the shelf? “Now?”
“There’s some sense to it, isn’t there? It’s a reliable family, and they have their share of headstrong women. Nicholas could hold his own with you, trust. Now, what he’d make of your LLS…I can’t be certain, but I don’t think he’d be of a mind to stop you.”
“You…you could accept me marrying outside of our class?” She tried to look no more than curious, even though the fate of their sibling relationship hinged on the answer.
