When The Rain Falls

Chapter Twenty-Four

"Mrs Marlow! How lovely it is to see you again," Father said. His tone was lighter than usual, far brighter than the one he had used in the house only a few minutes before. He had never taken such a jovial tone with me, but I knew Father was remarkably good at pretending when he had to.

"Good evening, Mr Thorpe. Thank you so much for inviting us."

"Well, it only seems right we return the favour after you so graciously welcomed us into your home."

"We appreciated the invitation. It is nice to get out of the house every once in a while, and I am sure the girls would agree."

I looked up from my hands and towards the Marlows. Gone were the black mourning clothes they had been wearing upon our visit to theirs and instead Mrs Marlow wore a dress of emerald green, her hair pinned up elaborately on the back of her head. Behind her, Clara had changed from her black dress into a light blue one and Helen wore yellow. Helen wore her hair the same way as Alice, but Clara had hers pinned up. No doubt a show that she was mature enough to court.

After all, courtship was the reason why this supper had been arranged and there was no use in pretending that it wasn't the case. This wasn't a normal supper event, and I didn't see the point in pretending it was. Everything had been orchestrated to set up a match between me and Clara. I wasn't sure if I could sit through a supper where everyone acted as if it wasn't the reason.

Father showed the Marlows inside the house, gesturing them into the parlour whilst Alice, Mother, and I followed close behind. They all settled themselves onto one of the nearest settees whilst I sunk myself down on one of the armchairs, hoping to avoid any conversation. The room grew warmer.

"How have you been, Mrs Marlow?" Mother asked, her voice cutting through the silence. One of the servants handed around clean, cold drinking water and I gulped down almost half my glass before Mrs Marlow responded.

"Very well, thank you. This heat is rather remarkable. I have never known anything like it, especially after that storm."

"Hm, it certainly came out of the blue. Perhaps we shall have another storm before it starts to cool down. That is usually the way of things. Still, it is nice to have some warmer weather rather than the rain we are so used to."

"It is definitely a blessing." Mrs Marlow sipped her water, her eyes wandering over to me. She stared at me for a few moments before she moved on, looking around the room.

I glanced down at my hands, looking at the glass of water. Conversations about the weather were always a bad sign that perhaps things were not going the way they should have been. Polite conversation had never been a forte of mine, but I knew it would be expected of me during any potential courtship. For the moment, I just wished Andrew was attending the supper. At least he and I could pull faces at each other when the weather came up.

"And how have you been, Master Nathaniel?" Mrs Marlow asked.

I looked up. Across the room, Father glared at me. "Very well, thank you."

"Have you been up to very much these past few days?"

"Just reading. It's been too hot to do much else."

"Anything in particular? My Clara is a big fan of Austen."

I shrugged, drumming my fingers on my thigh. "I tend to read anything at my disposal. There is no one author that I am particularly favourable towards."

"Well, I am sure you and Clara will have plenty in common."

I nodded a little, taking another gulp from my glass until there was almost nothing left in the glass. Despite the smells wafting up from the kitchen, I didn't feel as hungry as I should have for someone who hadn't eaten in several hours. Nervousness bubbled in my stomach as I waited for Mrs Marlow to ask me another question, to probe more information from me that I didn't want to hand over.