She was breathing heavily and gripping Rose’s arm more tightly than she probably intended.
Rose wanted to cry, too. Franklin must have been incredibly hurt and shocked to say such a thing, as would any man have been at hearing such a thing about his beloved. And from his heartless mother, no less.
“It sounds like a misunderstanding. A terrible one,” Rose added, “but not an irreparable rent in the fabric of your relationship. Surely, after all this time—”
Claire snorted. “Exactly.All this time. My virtue, indeed! My biggest virtue was patience, waiting for Franklin Brewster to declare himself.”
“How did you leave it with him?” Rose asked. “I mean before saying you were never setting foot in his house again?”
“Franklin said that whoever my lover was, I had better hope that man still wanted me for ...,” her voice faltered, “for he no longer does.”
Oh dear!
“You know he doesn’t mean that,” Rose said. “He was angry and hurt.”
“Franklin should have trusted me.” Claire’s tone was now one of utter disappointment. “I told him I would not dignify his filthy, mistrustful question with an answer. Let him stew in his doubts. Let him imagine me ... lying with every ... every man ... in ...”
Claire broke off and was crying again. Fat, hot tears that were splashing onto Rose’s sleeve. They were no longer strolling but striding quickly at Claire’s pace, and in another few minutes, they were at the Appleton’s front door. Many people had passed them and not once had her friend looked away or tried to disguise her tears.
Worse and worse. Truly, all of Boston would learn how Claire had been cut by the Brewsters. Even if Rose shouted all her own wickedness from the pinnacle of the State House dome — above William’s own small office — the damage to Claire had been done.
And added to it was their stroll across Beacon Hill presenting an unstable female, a public breakdown, and hysterics.
The only one who could truly fix this was Franklin Brewster, himself, if Claire was to have any future, and it would have to be done in an extremely public way.
