Chapter 9 #3
“No, but there’s you,” he said. The words slipped out before he could understand their true meaning.
Clara whipped her head around. Their gazes locked together and for a moment everything melted away, but then the boys cried out in triumph as their ship approached the shore.
They stood at the edge of the pond, trying to meet the boat.
Clara rushed up to them, reminding them to be aware of their surroundings.
Gerald stroked his chin, wondering why he’d said such a thing.
Eventually it was time to return inside. The boys were distraught at having to leave their boat.
“It will still be there later, and tomorrow, but remember that you must come and find me before you play here,” Clara said, wagging her finger in the air and making sure both boys repeated her words and promised to do exactly that.
Teddy and Oliver almost tripped over as they kept twisting around, watching Clara bob in the pond, looking incredibly lonely.
Gerald glanced at Clara and wondered if she felt the same thing.
When they returned to the house Emily rushed up to greet them.
She and Sophie had been drawing. Agatha was dozing on a chair nearby, her soft snores barely noticeable when compared to the hammering, sawing, and other laborious noises that clanged in the air.
The builders were moving around the orphanage at will, meaning that shadows passed across the windows.
“Can you judge our pictures?” Emily asked. She grabbed Sophie’s picture before asking permission, and clutched it in her hands, showing both to Clara.
Gerald peered over her shoulder so he could see them for himself.
Emily’s drawing was of the window. She captured a builder walking past carrying a long plank of wood.
Agatha was in the corner, dozing. Gerald thought it was fortunate that Emily hadn’t asked Agatha to judge the pictures, as he couldn’t imagine that she would have found this one flattering.
Sophie’s, on the other hand, depicted an imaginary scene. Clara and Gerald were at the center of the picture, standing in front of a fireplace. Around them were the children, all four of them sitting down. It was a homely, domestic scene. In fact, they looked like a family.
“They’re both wonderful pictures. You’ve done very well, girls.
I couldn’t simply choose between them. As a matter of fact, you’ve all done well today.
Girls, you have made wonderful drawings, and boys, you have built a boat.
I think you deserve a treat. Run along to the kitchen and we can have some biscuits,” Clara said.
The children didn’t need telling twice. They raced away, as though the biscuits were in danger of disappearing. Teddy was telling the girls that they named the boat Clara.
Clara held the picture in her hands, staring at it with a pensive look on her face.
“Is something wrong?” Gerald asked when she hadn’t moved for some time.
“No… It’s just… I never pictured myself at the center of a family before.”
“Why not?”
“There has always been too much more for me to do.”
Gerald nodded without truly understanding. He assumed there was a deeper reason, but didn’t think that Clara would be inclined to share if he asked.
“It seems as though the children have no problem imagining it,” Gerald said.
“I suppose so, although there is something wrong with the picture, of course,” she said.
She didn’t need to state it outright. He knew she meant his presence.
Clara moved away and followed the children to the kitchen, where they were eagerly gathered around the biscuit tin.
Clara opened it and handed out the biscuits, and then offered Gerald one.
He slipped his hand into the tin and plucked one out, snapping it between his teeth.
The children were devoted to Clara, and she was so wonderful with them.
She might not have thought she was part of a family, but it was clear to Gerald that she had one, albeit a makeshift one.
Yet Sophie added him to the picture as well, and he feared they were getting the wrong impression.
It was one thing to fool the ton, but to mislead these children?
Perhaps he and Clara would have to have a word with them to prevent any misconceptions from occurring.
Teddy looked up at Gerald.
“Will you come by tomorrow?” he asked.
“Teddy, I’m sure His Grace has many engagements that he must keep,” Clara said. Disappointment shadowed Teddy’s face, and the sight touched Gerald’s heart.
“I promise I will,” he said.
Teddy beamed and left to be with the other children. Clara sidled up to Gerald and spoke in a quiet voice.
“You should be careful about the promises you make. These children are more sensitive than most. There have been too many disappointments in their lives already.”
It was not a chastisement, but a warning. Gerald did not take any offence to her words.
“I always keep my promises, Miss Sterling. I am a man of my word.”
“I hope so,” she said. He tilted his head down and stared into her soulful eyes, and in that moment the last thing he ever wanted to do was disappoint her. He also saw something else in her eyes, something that looked very much like the future.