“I will not lie to protect Father.”
Clara nodded slowly.
It was not forgiveness.
It was the beginning of an agreement between two women who had been taught to compete for scraps of approval.
Clara returned home that afternoon with a clearer understanding of what her obedience would cost.
At supper she told Arthur that she would not accept Lord Weatherby’s proposal.
He called her ungrateful.
Lady Harrington accused her of destroying the family’s future.
Clara listened until they had exhausted themselves.
Then she asked her father whether the eastern meadow was his to offer.
Arthur’s silence frightened her more than his shouting.
She packed a case that night and went to stay with the vicar’s wife.
The news traveled quickly through the parish.
Some neighbors blamed Emily for corrupting her sister.
Others remembered the servants who had left Oak Haven without their wages.
A few began to ask why the family that spoke so proudly of honor owed money to half the village.
Arthur responded with threats.
He sent letters accusing Emily of conspiring with Daniel to strip him of his property.
He told the vicar that Clara had been led astray by improper acquaintances.
He threatened to dismiss the remaining servants and sell the household silver.
Then he made the mistake of confronting Mrs. Fenwick in public.
The solicitor was leaving the post office when Arthur blocked her path.
“You have turned my daughters against me,” he said.
Mrs. Fenwick looked at the crowd gathering beside the shop.
“Your daughters are adults, Lord Harrington.”
“They have been misled.”
“Then you may present your accounts to the court and correct the misunderstanding.”
Arthur stepped closer.
“You cannot frighten me with legal jargon.”
“No,” Mrs. Fenwick replied.
“I expect the accounts will do that without my assistance.”
The postmaster coughed to conceal a laugh.
Arthur stormed away.
By evening, the entire village knew that the Harrington finances would be examined before a judge.
Emily disliked the gossip, but she refused to abandon the case to make it stop.
She began work at the reading room while the legal proceedings continued.
The building had once been a coach house beside the churchyard.
Its windows were cracked, its shelves crooked, and its floor covered with years of dust.
Emily spent the first week cleaning alongside two young women who had worked as maids at Oak Haven.
One was Sarah Bell, the housekeeper’s niece, who could read fluently but had never been permitted to borrow books from the village library.
