Clara nodded and all the Kincaide ladies sat. Awkwardness hung over them as it always did when they were together. Clara always felt like they were waiting for her to share some deep dark secret about Sam.
“Clara, I wanted to apologize. We should have spent more time with you. I feel like in some ways we have failed you. We’re unsure on what to think because…well…Sam…your marriage—”
Annie rolled her eyes at Mercy and bluntly said to Clara, “We don’t know what is going on between you and Sam. We have been unsure on what to say to you. He is very tight-lipped about everything,”
“Annie!” Mercy admonished.
Annie shrugged. “I can’t go on with these awkward conversations.”
Sophia frowned at her sister. “You are always so harsh.”
Annie shrugged, and the trio turned their gaze back to Clara. Clara blushed and squeezed her hands tightly together in her lap, pondering if she should be honest or pretend everything was fine. She took a deep breath and went with the truth. “I’m not sure where we stand. He stepped in to help me from marrying someone I didn’t want to marry.”
“Why?” Annie asked, studying her.
Clearly, Mercy hadn’t shared the exact details of what happened at the Hasting’s ball. Clara flushed. “Lord Dolan acted inappropriately with me, and Sam stepped in. It was either marry Dolan or Sam.”
Sophia frowned and said, “But how did he know you were in the gardens with Dolan.”
Clara knew she was bright red. She wasn’t prepared to answer so many questions.
“Stop interrogating her,” Mercy demanded.
“We aren’t!” both Sophia and Annie said in unison.
Mercy rolled her eyes at their denial. “We were just curious if your marriage in its current state is what you want?”
Clara wanted to flee. All the Kincaide ladies' eyes were fixed on her waiting for a response. She could lie but decided to go with the truth instead. “I had hoped it would be more, but we settled on a marriage of convenience. He has given me freedom to do as I like. He feels I didn’t have a real choice because of what happened at Hasting’s ball.”
“Did he say that?” Annie asked.
Sophia smiled, delighted. “Sam is always so noble. He wants it to be your choice to pick him.”
“Do you think so?” Mercy asked Sophia.
Annie rolled her eyes. “It would be just like Sam and his damn noble ideas to want it to be her choice.”
Clara looked at them confused. “What? I think you misunderstood. He never said anything about himself. He said that he wanted me to have freedom.”
“Were you acquainted before the scandal?” Annie said.
The color rushed to Clara’s face. They had barely known each other. Still, those moments she had spent with Sam had meant everything to her even if she was unwilling to admit it out loud.
“There was already something between you,” Sophia said in an excited whisper.
Annie studied her. “I think you’re right, Soph.”
Clara shook her head. She couldn’t let them think her marriage was more than it was. “Again, I think you misunderstood. Ours is a marriage of convenience. We are friends but it isn’t more than that.”
Mercy studied her intently. “No stolen kisses.”
Clara felt her face heat up again. The Kincaide ladies smiled.
~
Sam and Jack sat at Milly’s tavern drinking ale. Sam had kept Jack’s questions at bay for the past two days, but he had the feeling that his evasion was over. The damage to theSS Delphinwas going to take more time to repair than he or Jack had expected. It would be out of use for a couple of months at least.
“So, when are you coming back to London?”
