She tilted her head. “Did you hear that? It sounded like a child laughing.”
At that instant there was another peal of laughter; obviously there were several children laughing. Izzy and Clarissa went to investigate. They hadn’t met anyone in London yet, apart from Lady Scattergood and her household. And the Grumpy Guardian and his excellent Italian majordomo.
Rounding a corner, they came across a large spreading plane tree. A tall, slender lady and a small girl appeared to be talking to it. Giggles wafted down and, looking up, Izzy spied another two little girls up the tree. One of them wore a black-and-white cat draped around her neck. Its eyes glinted and its tail twitched, but it seemed quite content to be a living collar.
The tall lady turned, saw them and said with a smile, “How do you do? Isn’t it a glorious morning?”
They exchanged pleasantries. The lady gave Izzy a searching look. “Forgive me, but have we met before? Your face seems oddly familiar.” Then she laughed. “Oh, where are my manners? I’m sorry, I’m Alice, Lady Tarrant, and these are my stepdaughters. This is Miss Lina Tarrant, and the two in the tree are Judy and Debo Tarrant.”
“And Mittens,” said a voice from the tree.
“Yes, Mittens, a very important cat,” Lady Tarrant agreed, her eyes twinkling.
Explaining they were newly arrived in London, they introduced themselves as Clarissa and Isobel Studley and added that they were staying with Lady Scattergood.
Lady Tarrant exclaimed, “Of course, that explains my notion that we’d met before. You must be Sir Bartleby Studley’s daughter—the resemblance is really quite extraordinary.”
“Did you know my father well?” Izzy asked.
“No, not well at all,” Lady Tarrant said, rather abruptly. “He was a friend of my late husband.” Then she added, “I have recently remarried, which is how I acquired these three delightful daughters.”
“Anacat,” came a voice from the tree.
“Yes, three delightful daughters and a cat. And, of course, a very handsome and wonderful husband,” she added with a blush.
Izzy smiled. It was clear that Lady Tarrant was very much in love with her new husband.
“I’m delighted you’re going to be one of our neighbors,” Lady Tarrant said. “Have you met anyone else in Bellaire Gardens?”
“No, only Lady Scattergood.”
“Well, she doesn’t often go out, I gather. I’ve only met her a handful of times myself. But you two must come to tea. Lady Scattergood, too, of course.”
“I doubt she’ll come,” Izzy said. “But we’d love to.”
“Thank you, that would be wonderful,” Clarissa agreed.
“Four o’clock this afternoon?”
“Perfect,” Izzy said.
***
Lady Scattergood happily waved them off to tea, expressing no desire to visit her neighbor, but being otherwise quite complimentary about Lady Tarrant.
Clarissa and Izzy enjoyed themselves immensely. The tea was lavish, with cakes and fruit tarts and hot sausagerolls and all kinds of delicacies, Lady Tarrant was charming and hospitable, and the little girls—and cat—were most entertaining. As for tall, handsome Lord Tarrant, well, he was something special again.
Clarissa sighed happily as they walked back to Lady Scattergood’s afterward.
“Did you see the way he looks at her, as if he completely adores her? So lovely. And he adores his children, too—and they’redaughters.”
“Yes, it gives you hope for what’s possible, doesn’t it?” Izzy agreed. Lord Tarrant’s daughters seemed entirely confident of their father’s love and approval, and he was openly affectionate toward them. None of the girls seemed at all in awe of him—they joked with him, and he teased them back—and yet it was clear he commanded their respect as well as their love.
How different would life have been for Clarissa and her if they’d had a father like Lord Tarrant?
Clarissa sighed again. “Oh, Izzy, do you think I’ll ever find a man who looks at me like that?”
She sounded so wistful. “Of course you will,” Izzy said stoutly. “You are completely lovable.”
