Chapter 6 - Tea Is Slow
There was no applause.
Nathaniel had specifically asked Elias to make sure there was none.
This was not a victory.
A relationship had died in public.
A woman had been exposed at her worst.
Another woman had been humiliated before the truth arrived.
Nothing about that deserved celebration.
Nathaniel faced his guests.
“The party is over.”
No one protested.
Within thirty minutes, the house emptied.
Clara stood alone near the kitchen doors.
Nathaniel approached carefully.
“That was a lot of truth for one night.”
She nodded.
“Too much, maybe.”
“Are you okay?”
He laughed without humor.
“I almost married a stranger.”
“No.”
Clara looked at him.
“You almost married a person you didn’t fully know.”
“There’s a difference?”
“Yes.”
She folded her hands.
“Calling her a stranger lets you pretend none of it was real.”
Nathaniel looked at her.
“She was kind to me.”
“I believe you.”
“She was generous with people.”
“I believe that too.”
“She could be funny. Thoughtful.”
“I believe you.”
He frowned.
“How?”
Clara looked toward the doorway Camille had left through.
“Cruel people aren’t cruel every minute.”
Nathaniel said nothing.
“That’s what makes it complicated.”
Clara’s voice softened.
“If she were a monster every day, you would have seen her sooner.”
He looked down.
“You’re defending her again.”
“No.”
Clara shook her head.
“I’m refusing to turn her into something simple so we can feel good about hating her.”
Nathaniel stared at her.
“And I thought I was the one watching people.”
Clara smiled.
“Maybe cameras aren’t very good at that.”
Elias entered carrying a small velvet box.
“Sir.”
Nathaniel opened it.
His mother’s magnolia brooch lay inside.
He looked at Clara.
Camille had used the last thing his mother wore to frame her.
Nathaniel removed the brooch.
“My mother had words engraved on the back.”
He turned it over.
Clara leaned closer.
The tiny letters read:
Be kind. It is the only fortune that lasts.
Clara exhaled.
“That sounds like a woman I would have liked.”
“She would have liked you.”
He offered the brooch.
Clara immediately stepped back.
“No.”
“Clara—”
“I’m not taking your mother’s jewelry.”
“I wasn’t giving it to you.”
She raised an eyebrow.
Nathaniel smiled for the first time that night.
“I was asking you to hold it for a minute.”
“Why?”
“Because tonight I don’t want to.”
She understood.
Clara accepted the brooch carefully.
It looked tiny in her palm.
Nathaniel said, “You can give it back whenever you’re ready.”
“Tomorrow.”
“That’s fine.”
“Definitely tomorrow.”
“Clara.”
“Yes?”
“Come back.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“As what?”
“Not as my employee.”
“Good answer.”
“As someone I’d like to know.”
Silence.
Nathaniel added quickly, “Slowly.”
Clara looked toward her mother.
Elaine immediately pretended to examine a painting.
Clara laughed.
“Very slowly.”
“How slowly?”
“Tea.”
“Tea?”
“Tea is slow.”
Nathaniel smiled.
“Then tea.”
Elias cleared his throat.
“I make excellent tea.”
Clara looked at him.
May you like
“You’re impossible.”
“I’ve been told.”
