“Thank you, Bates,” Clarinda smiled.
She walked across the hall into the salon. She had forgotten how small and low-ceilinged it was and knew that she was comparing it with Melburne. She also noticed the worn covers and threadbare carpets.
If she came to live here, the furnishings of the house would have to be replaced in almost every room! At the thought of it she felt a sudden constriction in her throat.
How could she live here alone? Or even with a husband?
And who would he be?
She walked from the salon and in to the study where her uncle had always sat. She could remember reading aloud to him the books he enjoyed and the long evenings when, tired out and ill, he had slept in the big armchair and she had read to herself. She had not realised how lonely she was and how ignorant of a
