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Chapter 16
An Olive Branch
“Helena,” Clara said, stepping forward with her arms wide. Yet before she could repeat her campaign of confusion that she managed to pull off two weeks earlier, her sister folded her arms and stepped to an empty chair at the table with a humph.
“And dear Judith,” Clara said to her other half-sister, yet was met with a charmless giggle and the same evasive manoeuver that left her standing alone on the rug of the St. George ladies’ parlour.
Not missing a moment, Clara shored up her welcoming smile and turned to invite them to sit by Miss Forsythe only to see a most unwelcome sight.
“Dear, sweet Helena!” the chaperone croaked, an entirely alien tone of sweetness bubbling up in her voice. “And lovely Judith! How good of you to come!”
“We’ve missed you so terribly, Miss Forsythe,” Helena crooned as she pulled her chair closer to Miss Forsythe’s and patted her shoulder amicably. “It was so tragic that we barely even got a moment to see you at the party.”
“Oh, yes,” Judith added, sidling up to Miss Forsythe’s other flank. “As I’m sure you’ve missed us!”
Miss Forsythe leaned in and said in a conspiratorial stage whisper, “You have no idea what I’ve had to go through in your absence.” All six eyes shot to Clara, then the three women burst out in shared laughter.
Of course Miss Forsythe likes Helena and Judith, Clara screamed internally over the course of a long blink. Why should she miss any opportunity to be as horrid as possible?
“Mr Momplaisir, we will have our tea as soon as it is ready. Thank you,” Clara directed the butler, who bowed stiffly before leaving to carry out this order. Around the low table the three women laughed and chatted sotto voce, ignoring Clara save to direct a collective look of scorn at her final two words.
Clara took a brief moment to summon her resolve. I will have to spend the rest of my days dealing with these women, she said as she had a hundred times in the days preceding this appointment. Whatever our previous interactions or preconceptions, we are all reasonable Englishwomen, and there is no reason we cannot coexist in this family.
A hospitable smile returned to her face. Clara took the remaining empty seat at the table. As her sisters were busy reminiscing with Miss Forsythe about bygone days, she waited for an opening in the conversation to present itself. Yet as the tea was brought in and reminiscences turned to gossip and then to inquiries about distant relatives, Clara realized she might be waiting a long time indeed.
At last, she seized on a moment when Judith paused to catch her breath. “It was lovely seeing you both at Mr Fletcher’s party,” said Clara rapidly, before her opportunity was lost.
“Quite an uncouth man, that Mr Fletcher,” Helena said as she took a sip of her tea and winced, as though tasting something bitter.
“Oh, indeed, quite horrid,” Miss Forsythe said. Judith just laughed.
“Yes, well,” Clara continued, “it was still most pleasant to see you both. Judith, that was a lovely gown you were wearing. Wherever did you find it?”
A stony silence fell over the room like a funeral shroud. Clara could not even hear the other women draw breath as they regarded her as one would look at something foul discovered on the bottom of their shoe. She jumped as Helena finally set down her teacup with a loud clatter, still not taking her eyes off Clara.
“Here now, Clara,” Judith said in a clipped tone. “Let’s have it.”
Clara blinked. “What do you mean, ‘have it’?”
Raising her nose in the air, Helena clucked. “Don’t insult our intelligence, please. It’s apparent you don’t have any desire to have us around.”
“Around our own house, no less!” Judith chimed in, not even pretending at a laugh any longer. Miss Forsythe sniffed as she looked on with a sour smile.
“So why don’t you stop wasting our time and just get on with what it is you want,” Helena finished. “Your lot are all the same, I know it. Always looking for what you can squeeze out of your betters.”
“Or what you can take that doesn’t belong to you,” said Judith.
“Well? What is it, then? Introductions? Need help finding a bachelor poor and desperate enough to court you? Can’t get an invitation to any social events? I can hardly blame anyone for having the good sense to keep you out of polite company. I don’t suppose you could have already spent your way through Father’s money, though not for want of trying, I imagine.”
“She really is the most dreadful spendthrift, you know,” Miss Forsythe wheezed. “You should see the tremendous delivery of clothing she had delivered the very day she arrived here.”
“But that was—” Clara protested.
“Whatever it is, be quick about it,” Helena said, still barely deigning to look in Clara’s direction. “I haven’t any desire to stay in this house a moment longer than necessary.”
“If it weren’t for Miss Forsythe we should not have come at all,” Judith added, reaching over to pat the chaperone’s hand on the table top.
“Oh, you girls are so very sweet,” Miss Forsythe cooed.
