“You have been eating custards almost with every meal and even with your afternoon tea! Claire, if you are not careful, you will grow much too big for your gowns!”
Claire flushed and shot her sister a deadly glare and as it was with sisters, Trixie was largely unaffected by it.
“Do you not have your lessons to attend to?” she asked.
“Miss Ellis has given me the day off, seeing as I have been the most wonderful student she has ever had the privilege of knowing.”
“Why, what a thoroughly conceited thing to say!”
Trixie laughed. “I suppose that she felt I needed a breather after I exerted so much effort the past few days. I must have run her to exhaustion when I studied so much…”
Claire smiled fondly at her. “Well, there must be balance in everything we do in life and if Miss Ellis has decided that you have done enough, then you need to rest as well.”
“Do you think His Grace can take me out on a carriage ride this afternoon?” she asked. “I have been wanting to get out for so long and I swear I will behave myself.”
“We shall see,” Claire replied distractedly, frowning at the rough sketch she made.
Trixie was quiet for a moment and then Claire heard the distinct ruffle of skirts as she moved to her back, peering curiously over her shoulder.
“Is this your new sketch?” she asked.
Claire nodded distractedly. Ever since she had shown her drawings to Lord Draydon and only managing to squeeze a slightly favorable response from him, she had stopped trying to hide her work.
I have no more reason to hide it since I have already exposed it myself.Besides, it feels much better to be able to ask His Grace for his input on such matters. He is quite knowledgeable on the topic.
Indeed, the Duke seemed to be well-versed in a diverse array of topics. She had always known that he was an exceptionally brilliant man but it was the first time she experienced just how knowledgeable he was on something she held close to her heart.
“I could never understand it when it looks like that,” Trixie groused. “But your other drawings are really beautiful, Claire. It looks much better than those silly paintings of flowers Miss Ellis insists I should learn. I think I have drawn enough flowers to last me a lifetime.”
“Well, I did start off drawing flowers.” Claire sighed and put away her pencil and sketchbook. She would look at it later with fresh eyes.
“Why did you stop?”
“I could never match the grand architecture that the good Lord managed in creating a flower,” she smiled helplessly. “It seemed a discredit to His work that I should try to recreate it.”
Her younger sister looked at her in wonder. “I certainly never thought of it that way. Now, I can tell Miss Ellis the same thing and I just pray that she will believe me.”
Claire laughed. “But you still have to be able to draw some passable flowers, at the very least.”
“Better painting than embroidery!” her younger sister exclaimed. “Why, I have stabbed myself with a needle more times than I would care to count.”
She laughed at the petulant pout her younger sister exhibited. Truthfully, Claire herself never cared much for embroidery. In fact, she was ratherawfulat it.
“Well, it is almost time for luncheon,” she told Trixie. “And I think that is enough drawing for now. I feel that I have just run out of ideas on what to do with…this.”
“Maybe a carriage ride can help? We can tell His Grace later at luncheon and it is such a lovely day to be out…”
* * *
“That sounds like an absolutely splendid idea!”
Trixie beamed at Claire from across the table as His Grace smiled over luncheon.
“I, too, have been wanting to get out of my study for quite some time, now. A carriage ride sounds fantastic,” he said, grinning at the youngest Rowley sister. He turned to Lady Suzanna. “What do you think?”
His sister smiled helplessly at him. “Well, there are still a lot of things to be done in the house…” she trailed off.
“Oh, do you not suppose you can put it off for tomorrow, Lady Suzanna?” Trixie pleaded, her blue eyes wide. “It will not be as much fun without you!”
