An Earnest Favour

XXVII

"Men can be relentless," she agrees, "when they think a woman belongs to them." Rae Carson, Walk on Earth a Stranger

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XXVII.

"Claire, you needn't have spoiled me thus!" Mrs Denham cried as she wrapped her new satin shawl around her shoulders. "Oh, my, I do not think I have ever owned something so fine!"

Claire had chosen the shawl as her mother's Christmas gift at the dressmakers in London and had been saving it. She smiled widely at her mother's delight.

Claire and Grace had travelled to Mrs Denham's house on Christmas Eve to give their gifts to their family. The Denhams were, of course, joining the Beresfords for Christmas dinner, however Cecily tended to spoil Perrie beyond anything and gifts for others were quite lost.

Claire liked this, however, as it felt like home to be with just her family. Except for Kate. Claire wondered if she ought to run down the street to fetch her. This had been a rather impromptu visit, and so an invitation had not been extended.

"Peter, this is for you," Grace announced, handing their brother a small gift wrapped in brown paper.

Peter frowned bashfully as he accepted the present. He undid the string before removing the paper to reveal a fine, leather box. He opened the box to reveal a steel tipped pen, and a very fine one, indeed. The pen itself was wooden, with gold filigree decoration.

"Adam ordered one of those pens from London for his study," explained Grace, "and he finds it so much more efficient than a quill. You don't need to sharpen them every five minutes. They are not easy to come by, but I thought you might like it."

Peter removed the pen and hefted it in his hand, a small smile of admiration spreading across his face. "I don't really need a pen if I'm going to be a blacksmith," Peter said quietly.

As he held the pen, Claire could see the soot that was caked underneath Peter's fingernails. He was nearly finished his apprenticeship with Jim. He would indeed be a blacksmith very soon. He would be able to open his own forge and earn a living with the trade.

Had their father lived, Peter would have no doubt learned Edward Denham's trade as a tailor. But Grace knew, as they all did, that Peter had a cleverness inside of him that went beyond what was expected for his life. He was quiet when it came to his intelligence, and he never advertised a desire for anything more, most likely out of respect for Jim.

Had their father lived, Claire was certain that Mr Denham would have seen Peter's potential and found a way for him to attend a proper school, a day school or somewhere he could stretch his mind. As it was, Peter was educated at the church like the rest of his siblings. He was lucky to have such natural intelligence.

"What you use it for is entirely up to you," Grace replied, "but I hope you get some use out of it."

Peter wouldn't say it, but Claire could see that he was monumentally pleased with his gift. She truly did hope he found some fulfilment with it.

As the gift exchange concluded, and Jem had already run off to find a friend to use his new tennis racquets, Claire happened to follow him by looking out the window. She gasped, and was thankfully quiet, as no one asked her what was wrong. Standing across the street, leaning nonchalantly against a wall, was Arthur.

What on earth was he doing? How had he known she would be here? What did he want her to do? As these questions flooded through Claire's head, she suddenly realised that any one of her family members could look out the window and see him. Especially Grace. After what had transpired at the assembly, she could not have Arthur hanging around and arousing Grace's suspicions. Claire needed to get him to leave, but in order to do so, she needed to leave the house for a legitimate reason.