Masquerade ✔

Chapter 34

By some miracle, over the next few days Clara's work life settled down a bit. At home, however, she was not so lucky.

Emme had not taken the news about Ezra well at all. When Clara finally had a chance to tell her what had happened, she had recovered slightly from her illness, but had only gotten worse with the news. The medicine was helping, but Clara still constantly worried, especially since Emme was home alone most of the time.

But none of them really knew how to deal with Ezra's disappearance. Clara kept hoping that he would walk in one day with some logical explanation of his absence, but with every passing day, that hope grew weaker. She did her best to make sure everyone got enough to eat and that all the bills were paid, but now that there was only one of her taking care of three others, it wasn't easy.

Amyeliana and Archibald did their best to ease some of her burden, but even then, they could only take on so much.

In a strange way, work had become Clara's sanctuary. There wasn't anything she could do about Ezra while she was there, and with Araminta's new found friendly attitude, Clara almost enjoyed her job.

As Clara arrived one morning at Araminta's chambers, she was shocked by the sight of her mistress already up and dressed for travel. "Are we going somewhere today, my lady?" Clara asked.

"No, I am going somewhere," Araminta clarified. "With my parents." She made a face. "Wedding dress fitting," she spat.

Oh. "I see," Clara said cautiously. "And you won't need my assistance?"

"I have it handled. And besides, you're spending the day with Harrison."

Oh. "What?" A surge of excitement and nerves washed over Clara. "Does he know that?"

Araminta gave her an amused look. "Of course, I told him the other day, and apparently, he has something planned."

Clara scowled at her. "And you couldn't have told me a couple days ago, too?"

"I didn't want you getting cold feet and doing something like not showing up to work today." Araminta smirked. "Come on, Clara. I know you don't hate the idea of this. Why can't you actually express that?"

Clara shifted her weight back and forth on her feet. "Will he be meeting me here?" she asked.

"Yes. But after that, I'm not sure where you'll be going."

"What about Andani?" Clara asked. "Won't he think it's suspicious if I go off with him on my own?"

"Just tell him you're going to prepare something with him for when I move to his airship," Araminta said nonchalantly. "It will be fine."

"Speaking of, when are you moving?" Clara asked.

"Not any time soon," Araminta said sharply. "Now, are you going to do what you said and help get this wedding stopped, or are you backing out on my now?"

"No, no," Clara said hurriedly. "I suppose, I guess I do like the thought of spending some time with Harrison outside of this airship. Or his airship. And I'll see what I can accomplish regarding the wedding."

"Wonderful." Araminta grabbed her hat and placed it delicately on her head. "He'll be here in about an hour. I won't be back with my parents until tomorrow, we're meeting and staying with a family friend after the dress fitting. But tidy up in here before you go." She waved a hand around her chambers. "I don't want to come home to find a messy room. He'll meet you here."