“It is good to see you and Sam out and about. Marriage looks good on both of you. You both have a glow,” Addie said.
Clara flushed, for the first time finding it strange to be around Sam’s former lover. As always, Addie looked exquisite. Her dress was a shocking tangerine color that molded to her curves. Only Addie could pull off such a color. Since Sam’s return, Clara hadn’t seen much of Addie and felt guilty that it had been so long.
“I am sorry, Addie, that we haven’t spent much time together recently,” Clara said.
Addie stiffened a little and Clara immediately felt worse. “Addie—”
Addie interrupted her and said with a smile, “Clara, you and I are on different paths. I’m so happy for you and Sam. You truly deserve to be happy in your marriage. My path is not yours and that is okay. Truly I mean that. I wish you nothing but the best.”
Why did Clara feel like Addie was saying goodbye to her? She didn’t want that. “Lady Hawley, if you mean to dismiss me as your friend, I can assure you that is not an option.”
Addie’s face turned pink. Yes, that was exactly what she was trying to do, Clara thought.
“Clara, I am your husband’s ex-lover.”
“As are several ladies in this room. The difference between you and them is you didn’t care if I was ruined or not, you decided to become my friend and now you are stuck with me.”
Addie laughed, and they smiled at each other. “Who would have thought the two of us would become friends?” Addie asked.
Eleanor stopped before them, interrupting their conversation. Addie smiled at her and bowed playfully. “Lady Sandsmore.”
Eleanor rolled her eyes. “I am so happy to see the two of you. Where is your husband, Clara?”
“He is playing cards.”
“I think Malcom just headed to the cardroom as well.”
“I'm sorry to hear that he is unwell,” Clara said.
Eleanor looked pained and nodded. “Yes, we plan to spend significantly more time at our country estate. I hope being away from London will do him good.” She took a deep breath, and quietly said, “If not, I don’t know what I will do. I can’t bear to think about it.”
Addie reached over and squeezed her hand. “We are here for you.”
Eleanor’s eyes watered a little, but she shook her head and said, “But tonight we won’t dwell on that. Tonight, we celebrate life and friendship.”
Clara smiled. “I agree.”
Eleanor, back to her normal cheerful self, said, “Well then both of you must walk with me. We will have all these ladies’ tongues wagging. The Ice Princess, the Village Girl, and I don’t think they have a name for you Addie.”
They all laughed. Addie’s laugh echoed through the room. Clara and Eleanor grinned at each other.
“Oh, I know my laugh is talked about, but unlike the two of you I am nickname less,” Addie said.
Eleanor held her arm out, and Addie looped hers through it. Addie smiled at Clara and said, “Coming, Ice Princess?”
Clara chuckled before pulling her shoulders back and taking on a regal appearance. “If I must,” she said jokingly.
They meandered through the room and Eleanor was right, everyone turned to watch them. Before her marriage and the scandal, Clara would have been horrified by the judgement, but she didn’t feel that now. She found herself amused at the speculative stares. Every time she glanced Eleanor or Addie’s way, they dissolved into a fit of giggles. They made their way out of the ballroom and Addie erupted with laughter.
They walked down the hallway towards the lady’s salon. Clara stopped at a painting and Eleanor and Addie stopped with her. It was a painting that could only have been done by Lady Adderly. It made her remember the cardroom she and Sam spent time in. She smiled and turned back to her friends. “Why don’t you go without me? I will meet you there.”
They stared at her confused. She said, “Go, I just want to study this painting.”
Eleanor chuckled. “It is a bunch of blobs in the countryside.”
Clara rolled her eyes. “Go, I will be there shortly.”
Eleanor and Addie continued on, and Clara watched them as they turned into the lady’s salon. She turned back to the painting, smiling, amused that Lady Adderly’s artwork seemed to be popping up all over the place. If she was honest, they were truly atrocious and only an abstraction of life, but something about them was mesmerizing. This one again was a country setting, and the blobs were clearly a lady and a man but only their shapes were distinguishable.
