The Scandal of it All by Sophie Jordan

Author:Sophie Jordan [Jordan, Sophie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-07-24T21:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Four days passed and she immersed herself with Clara and Enid’s visit, working diligently to distract herself with their happiness and be the mother she was before everything happened with Colin. The mother she was meant to be . . . not a wanton and reckless creature of passion.

They visited the museum, took tea with Lady Mary Rebecca and her daughters, and dined with Marcus most evenings. They even braved the cold one afternoon for a ride in the park, only to quickly return home and warm themselves by the fire with cups of chocolate. She’d missed her girls. Even Enid, reserved as she was, succumbed to gaiety as they played whist.

Colin, however, never appeared. She suspected that he might accompany Marcus on one of his visits. He often had in the past. It would not have been unusual.

His absence both disappointed and satisfied her. She really was a contrary woman

“Mama!”

She jerked in her seat, where she sat penning a letter to Poppy Mackenzie. Her friend had gone north for the winter. Poor dear. She must be freezing. At the sound of her daughter’s screech, she lurched back from her writing desk and was halfway across the salon when the doors burst open.

Clara erupted into the room, holding a tiny little ball of fur close to her chest.

Ela’s heart steadied at the sight of her daughter, hale and unmaimed, before her. It was always the same. Parenthood was a state of constant anxiety over your child’s welfare. She didn’t know if it was that way for every parent or for only her. Clara was her sole child and, according to Ela’s physician, her birth had been a miracle. Old Dr. Wilcox had told her she should count her blessings, for she would never conceive again. He had been wrong, however. She had conceived again. Twice. She had had two more miscarriages.

“Clara, you gave me a fright,” she reprimanded, flattening a hand against her racing heart.

Enid followed, entering the room at a more sedate pace, her hands clasped demurely in front of her. Her stepdaughter was not an excitable creature. Unlike Clara, Enid was quiet, most of her thoughts and emotions held tucked away inside her. She was clever and well-read. Even at the age of ten, when Graciela first met her, she had seemed wise beyond her years. Certainly, Graciela’s English had not been very strong then and she’d felt rather foolish around the ten-year-old whose vocabulary far outshone her own.

Graciela was waiting for the day when Enid might break free from her shell. She was still young. Enid might not show any interest in marriage or starting her own family, but that did not mean Graciela had given up on the prospect for her.

“Mama!” Clara stopped before her and now she could see that the furry little ball in her arms was a puppy. A small brown face with a pointy little nose lunged for Ela, its tongue slapping the air. Clara let the canine go and Ela caught the madly wiggling body.

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