Her Sisters Challenged Her To Sit Beside The Duke Whom Everyone Feared — But His Treatment Of Her Astonished Everyone

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN D: THE DAY CLARA WOULD NOT SPEAK

Clara arrived at Oak Haven’s morning room with a folded sheet of paper pressed against her chest.
William had asked Selena to join them for tea, but the child refused to sit.
“What is wrong?” he asked.
Clara shook her head.
“Did someone hurt you?”
She shook her head again.
Selena noticed that the paper had been folded into quarters and opened so often that the corners were soft.
“Would you rather show us than tell us?” she asked.
Clara hesitated, then placed the sheet on the table.
It contained a drawing of three people beneath a tree.

One was tall and dressed in black.
One wore a blue gown.
The smallest figure held a wooden bird.
“Miss Fenwick asked us to draw our families,” Clara whispered.
William examined the picture.
“It is very good.”
“That is not the trouble,” Clara said.
“What is the trouble?” Selena asked.
Clara pointed to the woman in blue.
“I drew you.”
Selena felt an unexpected ache.
“I can see that.”
“Miss Fenwick said I must ask whether you are really part of my family.”
William’s expression darkened, but he kept his voice level.
“Miss Fenwick was right that families can mean different things.

”
Clara looked miserable.
“I do not want to draw you outside the tree.”
Selena knelt beside her.
“You do not have to change your drawing to make it easier for other people to understand.”
“But you do not live here.”
“That is true.”
“And you might go away.”
Selena thought of the letter from Bath.
“I may travel sometimes,” she said.
“That does not mean I stop caring about you.”
Clara studied her face.
“Do you promise?”
Selena chose her words carefully.
“I promise that I will tell you the truth about where I am going, and I will not disappear without saying goodbye.

”
The child leaned forward and embraced her.
William looked away toward the window.
After Clara went upstairs, he remained beside the drawing.
“I have been afraid to let her become attached,” he admitted.
“I know.”
“Because people leave.”
“People do leave,” Selena said.
“But keeping them at a distance does not protect them from missing someone.”
William traced the edge of the paper with one finger.
“She has drawn us under the same tree.”
“Then perhaps we should try to deserve the picture,” Selena replied.