Page 145 of Trade of a Lifetime (Trade Wind 1)

She laughed at the sweet but obvious lie. “Was it worth the sacrifice of your hat for the quietest carriage ride we’ve ever shared?”

He chuckled as he helped her out of the carriage. “No, no. I only want you well, Clara.”

Remember that, David, she wished.

“Fetch Molly straight away,” David instructed Loudon upon entering the house.

Her maid was already in the hallway, though, and stepped forward as Clara shuffled inside. In hushed tones, David explained about Clara’s illness. Before leaving, he kissed her forehead.

“I shall call on you tomorrow to see how you’re faring. And to speak to you,” he added meaningfully.

Despite the dread that his last comment invoked, she nodded. “Very well. And please pass my regards to your milliner, along with my personal assurance that his hats are the finest.”

He left with a smile, but as soon as the front door closed behind him, Clara feared that the ramifications of this night would be dire.

She made it upstairs before she wilted. She wasn’t just tired, she felt hopeless about forging a bond between David and James.

“I’m such a fool,” she whispered to her maid after she was undressed to her shift. After Molly’s wondering sound, she continued, “When will I learn to let matters be and not meddle?”

Her eyes were kind as they met Clara’s in the mirror. “When the sun learns not to rise, my lady.” She continued taking down Clara’s hair.

“Aunt Violet was ready to die, but I couldn’t let her go. I just brought in more physicians, tried new medicinals. It was selfish of me. Maybe she lived longer, but it meant more suffering, and death came all the same.”

Molly’s hands settled on her shoulders comfortingly.

“And now. I was so determined to influence my brother that I stirred the pot too robustly. It’s bubbled over everywhere.”

“What happened, my lady?”

Clara shared the tale, watching Molly’s face become troubled by its end. “I sought to raise James up in David’s estimation, only to bring scandal and gossip upon us all.”

“What will you say to Lord Anterleigh when he calls tomorrow?”

Clara watched the last of her dark tresses fall from their arrangement. “That I’m to be married. He shall have to decide. Will he choose to gain a brother or lose a sister?”

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