And I have done so going against some of the wishes my husband had while he was alive. I’ve discovered I possess a keen ability to make sound business decisions, placing me in firm control over a comfortable future. I will not give that up for any man.’
She would never turn over control of The Fountain Head Hotel to a husband. That hotel was her security and as long as she owned it, she would never have to worry about being thrown in debtors’ prison—the way she had when her husband Robert was alive.
A murmur of voices drifted over the garden wall and Clara knew the Collingswood sisters had come out into the garden of the house their parents had recently begun leasing next door. She wondered if Mrs Col-lingswood had stood by her window and peered through her sheer muslin curtains and spied them in the garden. The girls were of marrying age and she noticed that Mrs Collingswood was fond of throwing them in Clara’s path whenever she had the opportunity. In fact, she had spotted them yesterday heading towards her in the Pump Room and had walked away from the fountain before Mrs Collingswood approached her, presumably hoping for an introduction to the blond-haired gentleman she had been speaking with—a man whose name she did not know.
Even though the sisters’ voices weren’t loud, Humphrey’s sleepy head popped up and he trotted slowly towards the garden wall between the two properties.
‘You left the Pump Room rather abruptly yesterday. I do hope nothing was amiss,’ the Dowager said, picking up her teacup.
‘No, I just saw people that I preferred to avoid and thought it best to leave before I was obligated to speak with them.’
‘Nothing troubling, I hope.’
Clara leaned closer so her voice would not carry on the breeze over the garden wall. ‘No, just my new neighbours,’ she replied in a low whisper.
The Dowager’s expression filled with interest and she, too, leaned forward. ‘Neighbours can be so trying at times. Tell me about these.’
‘It is the new family who are leasing the house next door.’ She motioned with her head to the low garden wall where Clara suspected the Collingswood sisters were instructed to spend part of the afternoon. ‘The family is nice enough, really. Except the mother seems determined to introduce her daughters to every eligible young man in Bath.’ The fact that Clara had noticed the focus was always on the prettier younger daughter made her amend the statement. ‘Well, she attempts to promote the younger one, at any rate. The older is practically ignored in those situations.’
‘What a pity for the girl. It is not easy living in the shadow of someone else.’
‘No, it isn’t. I recall feeling that way when I would attend a ball or other social engagements with my older sister, Mary. Conversing with others came very easy to her. It was not so with me when I was younger. Because of that, I often disappeared into the background like wallpaper.’
‘You? I find that hard to believe. Did you behave in such a way even with Mr Sommersby? I remember him when he was younger. He was a bit of a charmer.’
‘I was like that with everyone except him,’ Clara replied with a smile. ‘He was very easy to speak with. I do think being married to him helped me become more assertive and outgoing.’ She had been forced to become that way when she would regularly have to find ways to convince the shopkeepers that they would eventually get paid for their wares.
‘Maybe you can help Miss Collingswood?’ the Dowager suggested.
‘And they say I have a fondness for matchmaking...’
‘Oh, you know I do. Everyone knows that I do. I’ve never really made it a secret. You, however, are subtler. I have witnessed it. Perhaps you could introduce her to that gentleman you were speaking with yesterday.’
‘You mean in the Pump Room? Why would you mention him?’
‘My dear, he is a handsome man. I may be old, but I am not dead. What can you tell me about him?’
‘The truth of the matter is that I know nothing about him. We had not been introduced before we began speaking.’ Clara took a sip of tea to give her guest time to process that statement. ‘You don’t look shocked.’
‘I’m not. I suspected as much when no introductions were made.’ She tilted her head and looked Clara in the eye. The Dowager was of an advanced age, but she never seemed to miss anything that was going on around her, no matter how insignificant. ‘You did speak with him, surely you must know something about him?’
‘All I know is that he has spent some time in Tunbridge Wells.’
‘That’s all?’
Clara nodded while considering once more who he was and what had brought him to Bath.
‘Did you check the registry book? Surely he must have signed the book in the Pump Room. Everyone who comes to town knows to do that.’
‘There were a number of gentlemen who signed the book yesterday. There is no way to know which one he is.’
‘Then you do not know how long he will be staying in Bath or if he was merely passing through.’
‘I do not.’
‘What a pity.’ The Dowager’s keen eyes settled on her again. ‘I saw the way his gaze would drift to you while we stood about talking and I noticed the way you studied him when you thought none of us was looking.’
There had been a few moments when Clara was speaking with him that she had felt he was giving her his undivided attention—the way you did when you were attracted to someone. It was a lovely feeling to think it might have been possible that she had caught the eye of a handsome young gentleman at her age. Not that she was particularly old or that he was exceptionally young, but she was certainly older than he was. She knew any attraction that might have been there was short-lived and he must have forgotten all about her the moment she had walked away from the fountain.
But if she was honest with herself, she would have to admit that there was something about their encounter that had stayed with her and she even found herself looking for him in the Pump Room this morning as she stood by the fountain and was disappointed when she didn’t see him. Perhaps he had left town already.
‘I thought you wanted me to arrange for him to meet my neighbour’s daughter?’
‘Well, you’ve said you do not want to marry again. There is no sense in me matching the two of you together. Unless you are open to having an affair with him.’ That mischievous look was back on her lined face, making her appear almost childlike. ‘I can help you with that endeavour if you like. You did bother to look for his name in the book. That has to mean something.’
‘That signifies nothing and I am certainly not looking to have an affair,’ Clara replied, not even trying to hide her indignation. ‘And he is much too young for me, regardless.’
Humphrey padded down between the rose bushes from where he had been by the garden wall. The small dog stopped near one of the pots on the edge of the border that held lavender. He raised himself up on his hind legs and proceeded to thrust himself against the clay pot a number of times, eliciting a laugh from the Dowager.
‘Humphrey, no!’ Clara called out to him, while a hot flush crept up her neck. She had to repeat his name a number of times before he stopped and looked
