I also stood, but as I moved toward the door, Aunt Maude stopped me.
“We’re not finished, Clara,” she said. “Come join me on the sofa.”
My feet ached from standing in uncomfortable shoes, my back was sore from wearing such tight corsets, and my head throbbed from the incessant lessons. Night and day, Aunt Maude had pushed me beyond comprehension.
I pulled myself over to her and lowered onto the sofa as she’d instructed—perched on the edge, my back straight, my chin up, and my hands folded in my lap—trying not to let my misery show.
“Have you finishedThe Scarlet Letter?” she asked me. “I thought we could practice your diction through discussing the book tonight.”
In my spare time, when she was attending social events and wasn’t offering lessons in dancing, walking, eating, singing, embroidering, history, social etiquette, or diction, she required that I read. I had finishedThe Scarlet Letter, but at the moment, I couldn’t remember a single word I had read.
I stared at her as she looked at me.
“You haven’t finished it?”
“I have.” I finally crumpled as I bent forward and placed my face in my hands, letting the tears fall. “I’m just so tired.”
She didn’t speak for a moment, but then she finally said. “Pull yourself together, Clara. The life of a duchess will be far more grueling than this. One must never yield to the weight of her difficulties.”
The clock struck ten and I forced myself to sit up straight. I should be used to hard work, after all. I used to sit with a needle and thread in hand for twelve hours a day most of my life. But this was different. It required mental and emotional energy, as well.
“You remind me of Alec,” she said.
At the sound of his name, I rallied. Alec had been gone for almost two weeks, on business in Newport, I’d been told. I wasn’t sure when he’d return, but the house was not the same without him. We’d only had a few days together before he’d left suddenly, without saying goodbye. One morning he was there, showing me the gardens—and that evening, Aunt Maude told me he had left the city.
“How do I remind you of him?” I asked, speaking carefully—slowly.
“He was just as overwhelmed as you at the beginning. Just as exhausted as he learned what was expected of him. But headapted, and you will, too.” She touched the pearl-drop earrings at my ears, and a smile tilted her lips. “I know I am asking a lot of you, but it’s because I want this endeavor to succeed—for you, just as much as for Alec and me. You have a lifetime of education to learn in just seven months, and I cannot ease up, even just a little.”
I wanted to hear more about Alec, but I didn’t dare ask. Surely being raised by a minister and the daughter of a wealthy merchant, he should have already possessed the necessary skills to function in society.
The parlor door creaked open, and we both looked up.
As if being summoned by our conversation, Alec appeared.
My heart sped at the sight of him. The waves of his curly brown hair, the sparkle in his bright blue eyes, the way he carried himself with both ease and confidence.
I stood with Aunt Maude, conscious of my gown, my hair, my earrings—and the tremble in my hands.
“Alec,” Aunt Maude said. “I wasn’t expecting you back so soon.”
Two weeks was soon? I had waited, every day, wondering if this was the day he’d return.
“I was called back to the city,” he said to Aunt Maude as he crossed the room and took her hand before placing a kiss on her cheek. “I hope I’m not interrupting.”
“Of course not,” she said.
He pulled away from Aunt Maude and turned to me. Had he been my real cousin, perhaps he would have taken my hand and given me a kiss without hesitation.
The very thought made my cheeks burn.
“Hello, Clara,” he said and extended his hand.
I rested my hand in his.Wouldhe kiss me as he’d kissed Aunt Maude?
He lifted my hand to his lips and placed a kiss there. “You look lovely this evening.”
I was speechless as I took my hand back and laid my other one over the spot he had kissed.
