Chapter Sixteen
Clara didn’t wanther family to leave, but she understood the reason they had to go.
Aaron was equally torn. “I want to protect you,” he said as he pressed a kissed to her forehead. “But the sooner I get to Edinburgh, the sooner I can get you the coin you need. It will buy you good will—”
“At least for a while,” Lilah said as she looked up from the list she was making. “Plus take my dresses and give them away. There must be a seamstress here.”
“I wouldn’t go changing things too soon,” Aaron continued. “Learn how things are going and change one thing. Just one.”
“You have to keep everyone fed. The kitchen is most important.”
“And hide your coin someplace safe.”
“Carry it with you.”
“In a lockbox in the wardrobe.”
“Lord Loughton ought to carry it. They won’t attack him.”
“He can’t take everything!”
The two continued to bicker while Clara dropped onto Lilah’s bed and set her head into her hands. This was never going to work. She could never do this. Not without them. Her mother was right. She was terrible as a housekeeper. Horrid when it came to managing people. And was, in truth, completely hopeless as a woman.
She was so steeped in self-pity that she didn’t realize that the room had gone silent until Lilah wrapped her arms around her shoulders.
“This is hard,” her brother said as he set his hand on the top of her head. “I want to fix it for you.”
Lilah squeezed her tight. “Maybe we can—”
“No.” One word and it was hard to get out. She didn’t want to face her future. Her hands itched to grab the nearest book and drop herself straight inside the words. Nothing upset her there. But that was the reaction of a child. She was an adult and, apparently, a married woman. Which meant she had to take the reins, create her future, and…and…do the damn work. “I’ll never get it done if you’re here to coddle me.”
“We’re not coddling,” Lilah said. “We’re helping.” So saying she handed Clara a list of things to do when setting up a household. Good God, there were a hundred tasks written in tight letters. She didn’t even know what some of them meant. She’d never heard of a spit-boy, ewerer, or gong farmer. “How do you know about all this?”
“You know my sister Gwen had a great many passions growing up. We spent at least a month pretending to be princesses trapped in a castle. She learned all sorts of bizarre things about it.”
“Then you should be the one here, not me.”
Lilah had no response to that, except to squeeze her tighter. “Write me with any questions. There must be some sort of post around here.”
“I wouldn’t count on it,” Aaron said grimly as he held up Clara’s letters to Mr. Russell and Miss Adams. “I’ll post these for you in Edinburgh.”
Both ladies looked at him with equal expression of horror. The idea that she couldn’t get regular posts left her shaking.
“But you won’t need it,” he hastened to add. “Think of it as one of your projects. Throw yourself into it. You’ll be fine.”
He didn’t sound certain of that at all, but Clara knew better than to press for the truth. Aaron was the one soul in her life who had always allowed her to try things and fail with no recriminations. She straightened up and looked grimly out the window. It was already mid-afternoon.
“If I’m to have any kind of dinner for people, then I’d best get to the kitchen.”
“Maybe I can stay—” Lilah began, but Clara was done with all this dithering.
“You need to head to Edinburgh while there’s still light.” Then she leaned down and picked up her favorite dress. It was comfortable with soft fabric and a minimal amount of decoration. And it was the best gown she could give Deirdre to replace the one that had been shredded last night. “I’ll try to send up a footman…” She hadn’t the first idea where anyone was. Fortunately, Aaron had it well in hand.
“I’ll take care of it. You’ve only got a few hours left to learn how to bake meatpies.”
She nodded. “They must be very easy, right? Meat, dough, and an oven.”
Lilah opened her mouth, probably to give cooking instructions, but in the end, she just pasted on a bright grin and said, “You’ll figure it out. And Lord Loughton will help.”
