Luckily, the lady of the house sat down with Clara and Danica for dinner that night, and so Clara was deprived of an opportunity to gossip any further about Robert Rowe. Instead, the conversation was confined to far more innocuous subjects, such as Danica’s plans to commission Mrs. Adams to make a few more dresses for her, and how the teaching had gone on Danica’s first day.
Clara appeared consummately bored by those topics, but she didn’t try to interrupt, and only ate her chicken and dumplings in uncharacteristic silence. She brightened a good deal, however, when Mrs. Adams said, “It appears the trustees are going to hold a harvest dance at the school this Friday evening.”
“Oh, I was hoping they would!” Clara exclaimed. “I heard Mrs. Finley talking about how they would have dances at t
