Page 138 of The Seaside Homecoming
“This is my mamma. We saw her once before, on the street? Mamma, as you may recall, this is Mira Hammond.”
“Good evening, Mira. And what are you two doing?”
“Miss Claire is oiling my hair, as myammaused to do.”
“Your mother did that for you?”
The girl nodded.
“It is a tradition,” Claire explained. “Grandmothers, mothers, daughters. Sometimes all three at once.”
“What sort of oil are you using?”
“A mixture, but apparently different types are used, olive, castor, apricot ... We warm it, then massage it into the scalp and hair.”
“Is this part of your duties here?”
“No. I offered. I find it pleasant.”
“Seeing you like this reminds me of all those years ago at Finderlay, when you were such a little mother, helping with your younger sisters, brushing their hair and reading them stories and teaching them to sew. You did a good job with Sarah and Viola. I am afraid I failed with Georgiana in your absence.”
“And Emily?”
“She would rather write.”
“I remember those days too. I had no grand aspirations like Emily. I simply wanted to be a wife and mother. Like you.”
When Mamma was quiet, Claire said, “We are nearly finished, if you want to talk privately.”
“I did want to ask about ... a certain male guest recently come to stay. I passed him on the stairs.”
Claire plaited Mira’s hair and rose, helping the girl to her feet as she did so. “Why do you not go to Sonali’s room and let her know we’re through, hm? I will finish tidying up in here.”
When the girl had gone next door, Claire cleaned and dried her hands.
In a low voice, Mamma said, “How difficult it must be to have him here.”
“Yes.”
“Has he ... said anything?”
Claire took a deep breath and forced herself to meet her mother’s gaze, to watch her expression. To tell her all. She said, “He has asked me to marry him. Properly, this time.”
Mamma slowly nodded. “And have you given him an answer?”
“No, but I must soon. He is reaching an end to his patience, I can tell. The lawyers are awaiting my decision.”
“Lawyers?”
Claire told her mother about Aunt Mercer’s offer to make Lord Bertram her heir on the condition he marry her.
“Scheming woman!” Mamma fumed, then expelled a deep breath. “Although, to be honest, I might once have tried something similar, had I the funds. For your benefit, of course, not his.”
“So you ... want me to marry him?” Claire asked uneasily, bracing herself for an answer. If she did not, would she lose any ground she’d gained with her mother since arriving in Sidmouth?
Mamma hesitated, then said, “You must marry or not as your conscience dictates, and as you think God would have you do.”
“I am not certain what God wants in this instance.”
