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Chapter 5
A Welcome Visitor
Clara had scarcely taken the last bite of her sumptuous breakfast when Mr Momplaisir appeared at the foot of the table, as quietly and suddenly as if he had arrived by magic.
“Pardon me, Your Grace, Mr Morton,” the aged butler said in his deep, crackly voice. “There is a visitor here to see Miss Clara.”
Me? Clara wondered with a start. Who would possibly want to come and see me? She hiccupped, having taken a deep breath on such a full stomach.
“Thank you, Mr Momplaisir,” said Mr Morton. He gave a gentle nod to Christopher, who rose and was away from the table like a flash. Edward rose a hand to call him back and take his leave more appropriately, then seemed to think better of it and closed his mouth.
Turning to Clara, he asked, “Will you take your visitor here, Miss Clara, or in the salon?”
Clara blinked with confusion. “I do not even know who could possibly be here to see me. Perhaps there is some mistake, or—”
“Clara!”
Craning her neck about to see the source of this outburst, Clara drew in a gasp of joy when she saw her beloved friend Sophia Fitzroy rushing toward her, arms outstretched. No sooner had she risen from her seat than Sophia had wrapped her in a tight embrace.
“Miss Sophia!” she laughed, struggling to draw a breath from within her friend’s grasp. Casting an embarrassed eye to Mr Morton and Mr Momplaisir, she wormed her way out of Sophia’s embrace.
Sophia released her and looked her over carefully, holding Clara’s hands in her own and inspecting her clothing and hair with exuberance.
“Oh my, how lovely this is!” she cooed. “And these gloves—are these yours? Oh, and what have they done to your hair? My word, but you look so different!”
“Miss Sophia, I—”
Sophia hushed her with a finger wagged through the air. “Not a word of that, now! You are the daughter of a Duke now, and if you persist in ‘Miss Sophia-ing’ me I shall march back out this door right now and never speak to you again!”
Clara breathed out a sigh of relief, feeling her smile grow wide enough to hurt. “All right, Sophia.” She gave a titter at this. How long has it been since I could speak to her as a friend and not as an servant?
“Oh, it is so good to see you, Clara!” Sophia giggled, bouncing up and down in place. “We have so much to discuss, I feel I may burst with excitement before we touch on even a quarter of what I have to tell you.”
Mr Morton cleared his throat. “I suppose that answers your previous dilemma, Miss Clara. I shall retire to my study. Perhaps you and your visitor can explore the grounds together?”
“Oh, how rude of me!” Sophia said, and in a fluid motion, she pulled away from Clara, curtsied, introduced herself, and took Clara back up in her arms, holding her as she might a beloved pet that had just been recaptured after running away.
“The pleasure is mine, Miss Fitzroy,” said Edward, bowing gallantly. “St. George is open to you. Please, enjoy your visit with your friend…and do not hesitate to offer her any further advice in making herself comfortable here in her new home,” he added with a grin before retreating through one of the grand doors.
Sophia took Clara by the arm and began a leisurely walk back down the corridor with her, leaving Mr Momplaisir to arrange the removal of the breakfast things. “Come, Clara! Why don’t you show me the gardens? They are so lovely this time of year, especially those famous St. George roses.”
“You have been here before, then?” Clara asked.
“Oh, yes! Mother and Father brought me along to a ball here last spring. You remember, it was when they were trying to betroth me to that terrible old Viscount?”
Clara giggled. “Was that the one with the enormous goitre?”
“No, that was the other one. The one here at the St. Georges’ was the one with the stutter,” Sophia said with an exasperated sigh. “Really, Clara, they try so very hard to get rid of me I can only assume they just cannot abide my company any longer. Seven or eight more years of this and I shall have to begin taking it personally.”
Clara laughed along with her friend, immediately relieved to be in familiar company once again. She was barely paying any attention to where they were walking, but by the changing light in the unfamiliar hall, she gathered they were nearing one of the manor’s exits.
“Oh, but what am I doing, going on about myself?” Sophia asked, breaking out once again in a warm peal of laughter. “Tell me about what is happening with you, Clara! I feel I have heard nothing but your name on everyone’s lips for the last twenty-four hours, but I haven’t the faintest idea how you are holding up under all the excitement!”
With a start, Clara pieced together what her friend was telling her. “You mean I am the subject of some talk, then?”
“Some talk!” Sophia laughed. “A lowborn maid raised to riches by the last wishes of a philandering Duke? Clara, so far as I can tell you are the only thing anyone wishes to talk about now!”
Anxious imaginings came to Clara’s mind, casting a pall over the shining sunlight that poured through the crystal windows onto her new home’s beautiful furnishings and ornaments. “I’m afraid I don’t know where to start. Why don’t you tell me what you have heard, first?”
