“Darling girl, I have missed you!” She heard my voice and looked up, grinning instantly.
She pulled her hand away from the woman's and walked toward me on the tips of her toes, holding her skirts.
“You look quite lovely this evening,” I said, earning a giggle. “Would you like to help me with something? It is a very secret task, and I think we will make a perfect team.”
She nodded, her face showing she intended to take her duty seriously.
I smiled. “First, tell me, are you fond of Miss Clara?”
“Oh, yes! She is very kind and very smart. She is teaching me how to read, and how to count, and how to sing. I like her very much.”
“I am glad to hear it. And does your father care for Miss Clara?”
Sophia's forehead crinkled. “I don't know. He doesn't stay for our lessons like he did before.”
I leaned down and whispered, “That is what we need to fix. Because Miss Clara loves your papa, very much.”
Her eyes rounded. “She does?”
“Yes.”
She gasped. “Will she marry him?”
“I hope so. But first we must be sure your papa knows that Miss Clara wants to.”
“Will she tell him?” Sophia's voice was quiet now.
“She is afraid.”
A crease settled between her eyebrows. “I tell Papa I love him every day.”
The look on her face was so endearing I had to smile. “Then I suppose you are much braver than most. Clara did try to tell him, but she wrote him a letter instead. But that is the mystery, because we do not know where the letter went, or if your papa ever found it.”
Her face lit up. “Miss Clara wrote a letter for me too! I can't read it yet, but when I'm big, I'll know how to read all the writing.” She clasped her hands together and rocked back and forth.
“When did she give you the letter?” I asked with a frown.
“I was in my nightdress on my way to the kitchen, and then the letter came through the door, just for me!”
My breath caught in my throat. “What?”
“I opened it up and it said Miss Clara's name at the bottom, so I put it in my bedchamber and I will read it when I'm older.”
She was beaming now, and I was still trying to process her words. Sophia had the letter all this time? My heart thudded.
Lord Trowbridge never received it.
I bent down and touched Sophia's arm. “You must find that letter. It was for your papa.”
“It wasn't for me?” Her face fell.
“Clara will write a new one, just for you. She will even teach you to read it if you wish. But first, please find the letter and bring it back.”
She gave a quick nod of her head and hurried across the ballroom and out the opposite door, holding her skirts up with one hand, showing several inches of her stockings.
I watched her until she was out of sight, then scanned the crowd for Clara, eager to tell her of my new discovery. I found her standing alone on the outer edge of the ballroom, watching the crowd with the expression of someone who wished to be anywhere else in the world but here.
“Clara!”
