“No. With Mrs. Galbreath.” She pointed to Althea’s spot on the divan. “She is a widow. Her late husband was in the army and died at Waterloo.”
“It would be better if you did not spend too much time with her if she is a widow. You do not want Stratton thinking that you have been privy to an experienced woman’s confidences.”
Clara just looked at her. Her grandmother actually appeared chagrined.
“Yes, well, speaking of Stratton, I was told that you visited Brentworth’s stand, and Stratton was there.”
“I did, and he was.”
“You have seen quite a lot of him.”
“Not a lot at all.”
“Enough that there is talk. The best kind of talk. The world is waiting, so to speak. If he does not declare himself soon, it may reflect badly on us.”
Clara liked that “us.”
Her grandmother clasped the hilt of her parasol beneath both hands. She leaned forward, using the parasol for a support. “Here is what I think we must do. I believe that your brother should call on Stratton and put the question to him.”
“What question would that be?”
“Inquire as to his intentions, of course. As the male relative responsible for you, it would be appropriate for Theo to seek confirmation of honorable intentions. It may be just the nudge Stratton needs.”
Clara pictured that meeting. She saw Theo puffed up like somepaterfamilias, putting the question to Stratton. Then she heard Stratton telling Theo not to worry, since a proposal had been made weeks ago.
He had promised not to reveal that, hadn’t he? She surely had remembered to extract that reassurance from him, right?
“Grandmamma, I must insist that you not encourage Theo to quiz Stratton in any way. Such a conversation suggests that Theo does not trust Stratton, and in turn implies that he questions the duke’s honor. After all of your efforts to become friends with him, it would be unfortunate if things only became worse instead.”
Her grandmother chewed over that, frowning. “Normally I would disagree. Two gentlemen having such a conversation is very commonplace. However, after what Grace said about there almost being a challenge—” She speared Clara with a sharp look. “Were you there? Did you see this?”
“I was well gone by then.”
“That is unfortunate. I would so like to learn exactly what happened.”
“You could ask Stratton.”
“Ask the duke? I think not!” She stood. “What a reckless notion. Really, Clara, sometimes I do not understand my son’s insistence that you were as clever as I am. Now, I will go.” She aimed for the door, where Mrs. Finley waited to escort her. “Ask Stratton, indeed.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
“I need to go down to Drewsbarrow,” Adam said. He had arranged for Clara to visit him at Penrose House, his London home. He and Clara had indulged themselves upstairs when she arrived, and now they satisfied other appetites at dinner.
“You seduce me, then leave me so early in the affair? I think you are too sure of me when I have given no cause for such confidence.”
Her eyes reflected her displeasure at his announcement. He liked how she did not hide her reaction to his pending absence. The sophistication she showed others did not extend to him anymore.
“How long will you be gone?”
“A week perhaps.”
“That is not too long. Long enough for me to flirt with other men, however. I will have to review my invitations and choose some good ones.”
He reached for her hand and entwined his fingers through hers. “It is far too long, but necessary.”
“Then of course you must go. I will miss you, but I have matters of my own to attend that will make the days fly by.”
He had on occasion wondered how she passed her time. Her arrival in the hackney today reminded him of her use of them in the past and of meeting her on her own in town far from Mayfair when she still lived in her brother’s house.
