by Marie Silk
Chapter 5
Clara was beaming when she returned to Davenport House the next week. Her new husband scooped her up in his arms and carried her over the threshold. Fiona observed them from the Hall and went to greet them. “Welcome back, Miss Clara,” she said, taking her coat and hat.
“You may call her Mrs. Collins now, thank you very much,” Mr. Collins said playfully.
Clara laughed to see Fiona gaping at them. “Fiona, may I introduce my husband, Mr. Collins. If you are this surprised to see us, Mary and Abigail will be twice as surprised!”
Fiona giggled nervously. “Yes, I’m certain they will be. They are shopping in town today, but should return soon.”
“Oh,” Clara frowned. “Please tell me the minute they return. My husband and I will have a walk through the gardens while we wait for them. Why don’t you bring us tea and refreshments outside.”
“Yes, Miss Clara. I mean, Mrs. Collins. Right away.” Fiona went to the kitchen to prepare the tray of tea and cakes, then took it outside to place on the outdoor table.
“Thank you, Fiona,” Mr. Collins said. “My wife tells me you are an exceptional housekeeper.”
Fiona smiled shyly and walked back to the house. Before Fiona went inside, Bridget walked out the door to greet her. “Sister, I have been looking for you. The maids said you went to the garden.”
“Yes,” Fiona answered. “Miss Clara has returned.”
Bridget leaned to the side to see past Fiona. Then she put her hand over her heart. “Fiona—he is here! Lawrence has come to see me at last!”
Fiona turned to look into the distance. “Where is he?”
“He is there!” Bridget cried in a whisper. “How do you not see him? He is sitting with Clara at the garden table.”
Fiona looked back at her sister in fright. “Bridget, that man is Mr. Collins.”
“You knew he was here and you didn’t tell me?” Bridget continued in a flustered tone. “Oh, I can barely stand up straight. How do I look, Fiona? I will go over to him at once.”
Fiona grabbed her sister’s arm and pulled her behind the bushes where they were out of sight. Bridget was displeased. “What are you doing? I want to see him this instant!”
“Miss Clara has just introduced Mr. Collins to me as her husband. They are married.”
Bridget laughed. “You are mistaken. It is Lawrence here to see me. You must have misunderstood when Clara introduced him.”
“There was no misunderstanding,” Fiona urged. “They were married in New York while Miss Clara was away.”
Bridget’s countenance fell while Fiona’s words began to sink in. “It’s not possible,” she whispered.
“I’m sorry, Bridget. Let us go back into the house.” But Mr. Collins and Clara were already approaching them.
“Bridget,” Clara said cheerfully. “May I present my husband, Lawrence Collins.” She turned to explain to Lawrence, “Bridget is a lady’s companion to Abigail.”
“Very good,” Lawrence said, tipping his hat toward Bridget. “I am pleased to make your acquaintance.”
Clara giggled when Bridget stared speechlessly at Lawrence. “It must be a great surprise, I know. I can’t wait to tell the others. We will celebrate at dinner tonight!”
After Clara and Lawrence had gone into the house, Bridget began to cry. “He acted as if he didn’t know me,” she sobbed to Fiona.
Fiona hugged her sister and wished she could think of words that might comfort her. “I’m terribly sorry, Bridget. I am confused and upset for you. I don’t understand why Mr. Collins would treat you this way.”
“Will you tell Clara that I am feeling ill and cannot come to dinner tonight?” pleaded Bridget.
“Of course I’ll tell her. Let’s get you to your room.”
When Mary and Abigail arrived at the house just before dinner, they reacted just as surprised as everyone else. “So it was you who sent Clara all those lovely things,” Mary finally said. “I was only glad that Clara shared her chocolates with me.”
“Congratulations, Clara,” Abigail said kindly. “Mary and I will be sure to make ourselves scarce so you may have privacy.”
“There’s no need for that,” Lawrence said. “I must leave town in a few days, for I have business to attend to in Pittsburgh. I hope you will keep Clara the company she deserves in my absence.”
“Of course we will,” said Mary.
“We should all wear our best dresses to dinner tonight. I have told Mrs. Malone that we intend to celebrate!” The girls agreed and went upstairs to change for dinner.
After Abigail had put on her best dress, she walked down the hallway to Bridget’s bedroom. Fiona was just coming out of the room and closing the door behind her. “Is she ready for dinner?” Abigail asked Fiona. “Clara would like to have a celebration tonight and has asked that we all wear our best clothes.”
“Bridget is not well tonight, Miss Abigail,” Fiona said, looking at the floor.
“What a shame,” Abigail replied. “I will request that William check on her after dinner.”
“Um—Miss Abigail—“ Fiona stammered. “She is not ill in that way. She had some bad news today.”
“Oh?” A look of realization crossed Abigail’s face. “Has she finally heard about her young man?”
Fiona nodded, but did not look Abigail in the eye.
“The poor dear,” Abigail remarked. “I suppose her beau is not coming for her after all.”
“No he is not, Miss Abigail.”
“Please bring a tray of dinner to her room,” Abigail said. “I don’t expect her to celebrate with us after her disappointment.”
Fiona managed a smile. “Thank you, Miss Abigail. My sister and I are grateful to you for understanding.”
After the celebration dinner, everyone retired to their rooms, weary from the day’s events. Fiona was inspecting the maids’ progress on the upstairs rooms before she could retire for bed. Just as she was about to go down the servants’ stairs, she heard a voice whisper from behind her. “Fiona!”
Fiona turned around to face Lawrence. “What can I do for you, Mr. Collins?” she asked quickly.
“I just wondered which of these bedrooms belongs to Bridget. Boy, this house is big!”
Fiona was appalled at his question. “If you wish to speak to Bridget, you must wait until the morning. Everyone has retired to bed already.”
Lawrence sighed in disappointment. “I suppose she told you about how I used to see her in Philadelphia.”
“She mentioned it,” Fiona answered curtly.
“Well, I just want to talk to her—clear up any misunderstanding there may have been today.” Lawrence scanned the bedroom doors in the hallway.
“Like I said, if you wish to speak to her, it will have to wait until the morning. Good night, Mr. Collins.”
The next morning, Clara, Mary, and Abigail had breakfast alone. “I assumed you would be having breakfast in bed today,” Abigail remarked to Clara.
“Lawrence had to go into town this morning, and I wanted to see you all anyway,” answered Clara.
“I have a birth to attend, so I cannot stay,” Mary said, rising from her seat.
“Hope all goes well, Mary,” Abigail said kindly. “I am going to look in on Serena today. I thought I would offer to care for the children if she wanted to leave the house.”
“Very well,” sighed Clara. “Then I am going back to bed. I am exhausted after all the travel and excitement. Have a good day, ladies.” Clara went upstairs and lay in bed, but felt restless. She got dressed again and decided to take a walk in the gardens.
“Clara?” called a voice.
“Joe!” she answered in surprise. “I was not sure if we would see you again.”
Joe cringed in embarrassment. “I heard you just got back from New York. I’ve been wanting to tell you how sorry I was for missing your dinner. The cows got out that night, and…well, you know how that goes.”
“It’s alright, Mr. Blake.” Clara could feel her heart pou
nding in her chest. Feelings from the past washed over her, and she remembered again how it felt when she thought that Joe was her secret admirer.
“Miss Davenport,” he began nervously, looking into her eyes. “I’ve been wanting to ask if it’s alright for me to call on you.”
“Oh,” Clara felt her cheeks turning pink. “There is something I should tell you. You see, I am Mrs. Collins now. I was married just this week.”
Joe’s tan face went pale. “You were?”
Clara nodded with a smile. “It all happened so fast. None of us expected it.”
Joe stood there awkwardly. “I see. Then I wish you well, Mrs. Collins.”
“Thank you, Mr. Blake.” Clara watched Joe walk away with his head down. She felt her heart sink into her stomach and she suddenly panicked, wondering if she had acted too soon and made a terrible mistake. She went back into the house and lay in her bed, soon drifting off to sleep. With her eyes still closed, she heard a sound like someone had entered the room. She heard the drawer to the bureau open and close, and she looked just in time to see Lawrence exiting the bedroom. Clara looked at the bureau curiously. She got out of bed and opened the top drawer of the bureau. Hidden under some handkerchiefs was a velvet box. Clara smiled when she realized it must be jewelry. She peeked inside and gasped in delight at the costly diamond necklace. Clara quickly closed the box and slid it back under the handkerchiefs in the drawer to make it look as if she had never seen the necklace at all.
At the Valentis’ farmhouse, Serena returned from her day in town. “Thank you again, Abigail,” she said gratefully. “I don’t know what I would do without you!”
“It is no trouble at all,” Abigail replied with a smile.
Serena removed several colorful bows from her handbag. “I thought Gabriella would like some of these for her hair,” she said. “This one is for Angelina. I plan to send it in the post for her.”
“You must miss her terribly,” Abigail said gently.
Serena nodded. “I wish I could visit her. My friends say I may visit at any time—” she paused and shook her head. “Even if I could afford it, I cannot leave until Phillip returns.”
“Have you heard from him?” asked Abigail.
“No,” Serena replied. “I have written to him, but I do not know if my letters ever reached him. Have you heard from your husband?”
Abigail suddenly became downcast. “I have not heard a word. I wish I could have told him goodbye properly. I feel terribly guilty for how I behaved the week he had to leave. I only hope he has forgiven me for it.”
“Surely he understands,” Serena offered. “The War can’t last for much longer. The men might return at any day.”
Abigail tried to smile. “I pray every day for the War to end so our men can come home. I nearly forgot to tell you that Clara had a surprise wedding in New York. Now she and Mary are at home with their husbands, and I am lonely in the house without mine. I do have a companion at least. She is a dear girl, but is going through a heartbreak just now.” Abigail paused, then looked up at Serena. “Thank you for talking to me. I think I feel better now.” She collected her things and returned to the house, thinking of more ways that she may help Serena.
The following day, Clara was preparing for a meeting at the town hall. “Are you certain you don’t want to come with me?” she asked Lawrence.
“I’d rather stay here, Sweetheart,” he answered, kissing her goodbye. “It’s probably time I familiarize myself with the house.”
Clara smiled. “Then I hope you will miss me dreadfully all day.”
“Of course I will,” Lawrence told her. After Clara left, Lawrence walked down the hallway straight to Bridget’s bedroom and knocked on the door.
“Come in,” Bridget answered from the other side. “Lawrence!” she cried when he entered the room. “What are you doing in here?”
“You said ‘come in’,” he answered playfully.
“I never thought it was you—you can’t be in here! What if someone sees?”
Lawrence shrugged. “Clara has a meeting in town, and I wanted to see you. I want to explain.”
Bridget looked skeptical. “You want to explain why you jilted me and married the very woman whose house I live in?”
“It was the only way, Bridget. The only way we could be together.”
“What do you mean by that?” she demanded. “We are not together! You are married to the lady of the house!”
“It’s just an arrangement. I had no way to pay for my mother’s hospital bills, and Clara has paid it all for me now. I could not have earned the money on my own, no matter how much I worked.”
“So you married Clara,” Bridget said disgustedly. “Even though you led me to believe that you wanted me.”
“I do want to be with you,” Lawrence said, stepping close to her and taking her hand. “It’s why I came to live here. Clara knows I don’t love her. She was eager to be married, and I needed funds for my mother. It’s only an arrangement. Not like the feelings I have for you.”
Bridget stared at him in disbelief. “How do you think Clara would feel if she knew you were in my room saying these things to me right now?”
Lawrence shrugged again. “She knows our marriage was only for convenience. She can’t expect me to live without a mistress. It’s the way things are done in many houses, Bridget.”
Bridget looked at Lawrence in horror. “Did you tell Clara about me?”
“No,” he laughed. “But she won’t mind as long as we are discreet.”
Bridget crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not sure what to think about anything you say now, Lawrence.”
“Then let me prove that I mean what I say.” He took her by the hand and led her into the bedroom he shared with Clara. He opened the top drawer of the bureau and removed the velvet box.
Bridget looked around the room uncomfortably. “I don’t think we should be in here,” she said.
“Then show me to a room that no one uses or looks in,” Lawrence said with a laugh. Bridget reluctantly led him to one of the guest rooms at the back of the house.
“This room was vacant for as long as I worked here,” Bridget said quietly. “I think it is too far from the stairs and other rooms to be desirable.”
“Then it will be a room for just you and me—our secret place,” Lawrence said, opening the box and removing the diamond necklace. “I bought this for you when I went to town yesterday.”
Bridget stared in awe. “Lawrence, this looks awfully expensive.”
“Then you can know how much I care for you,” he said, clasping it around her neck. “Will you meet me in our secret room tonight after everyone else has gone to sleep?”
Bridget looked into his eyes and began to remember how much she had once wanted to be alone with him. “I—I don’t know,” she said. “I have to think about it.”
“I’ll be here. Hopefully it doesn’t take you too long to think about it,” he said with a wink. Bridget nodded, then left the room quickly, hoping that no one in the house had seen them upstairs together.
Later that afternoon, Fiona brought a tray of tea to the upstairs sitting room. Bridget was seated alone in front of the fireplace. “Are you feeling any better today, Bridget?” Fiona asked softly.
“I’m not sure,” she answered, her gaze fixed on the fireplace.
“Will Miss Abigail be taking tea with you?” Fiona asked.
“She is still with Serena Valenti,” Bridget answered stoically. Fiona poured tea for Bridget and brought it to her on a saucer.
Fiona gasped when she saw the necklace. “Are those real diamonds?”
“Of course,” Bridget answered. “It was a gift.”
Fiona shook her head in wonder. “Miss Abigail was very generous. I can’t imagine how much such a piece would have cost her!”
“It wasn’t from Abigail,” Bridget said quietly, not looking Fiona in the eye.
Fiona’s heart sank. “Tell me it was not given to you by Clara’
s new husband.”
“He doesn’t love her anyway. He loves me,” Bridget replied in defense.
“I suppose that is what he told you,” Fiona said angrily. “Why would he marry her if he loves you?”
“Just because he has a rich wife doesn’t mean he can’t have a mistress.”
Fiona gasped. “You can’t be serious! Bridget, this isn’t like you. You’re too good for this! And you mustn’t wear that diamond necklace around Miss Clara—it’s not right!”
“You are the one who works for her, not me.”
“You are living in Miss Clara’s house!”
“Who are you to tell me what to do, anyway?” Bridget demanded, hot tears stinging her eyes.
“Bridget, you can’t love someone who you have no chance of being with!”
“And what about you? When I last worked at this house, you were head over heels for Mr. Valenti. I never told you that you shouldn’t be with him, even though everyone knows that he has been in love with Abigail from the beginning, and would marry her the moment he had the chance!”
The sisters heard a gasp from the doorway. When they looked to see who had just entered the room, they were aghast to see Abigail, who had returned from the Valentis’. Her expression was grave. “Fiona, I need to have a word with Bridget, please.”
“Yes, Miss Abigail.” Fiona hurried out of the room.
Bridget cowered in front of Abigail. “I’m desperately sorry. I didn’t realize that anyone had come into the room!”
“And what if it was one of the others? What if it was Ethan? What do you think it would do for my family and reputation if someone had heard you talking this way?”
“I apologize with all my heart. I should not have said it at all!”
“No, you should not have,” Abigail replied sternly. “I think you should go to your room now while I decide what to do about it.”
Chapter 6
The next morning before breakfast, Abigail was styling her hair at her vanity table when Fiona entered the room. “Miss Abigail, I must speak with you.”
“What is it?”
“It’s Bridget. She has left.”
“When will she be back?”
