Glass Slippers [1st Draft]

9. The Dinner Party (Part One)

Chapter Nine:

The Dinner Party

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Clara was woken by the sound of loud screeching, but rather than get up, she laid back onto her bed. And so it begins, she thought to herself, trying to drown out the sounds of her step-sisters loud argument with a barely filled pillow.

The dinner party was in less than twelve hours and she could practically feel her stepfamily's stress rising up through the floorboards like steam rising from a simmering pot. Suddenly, she remembered another important event that was happening that day that caused her to sit up straight and get dressed as quickly as possible.

Mrs. Landon was leaving!

Hopping around on one foot, she finally got her shoe on, not taking any notice of the threadbare appearance of her dress or shoes as she bolted towards the attic door. Rushing down the hallway, stairs, and then to the kitchen, she finally burst through the door with her hair in flyaways around her head and her chest heaving.

"Dear lord, Miss Clara, where's the fire?" Mr. Landon joked from his seat at the small kitchen table where he, his wife, and his son, Tom, were all eating breakfast.

"I-I'm," she took a gulp of air. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to make sure I saw both of you before you left," she explained, feeling a little out of place at the obvious family moment. After all, this was Tom's last chance to eat and spend time with his family for a while.

"Good heavens, child. We're not going that far. We're only going to be about a mile's walk away towards town." This gave Clara a moment of pause.

"You are?"

"Yes!" Mrs. Landon exclaimed, smiling at Clara fondly. "We'll be working at the Revanen Estate, doing the exact same thing that we did here. Did you really think I would let that woman make me miss out on watching you and your siblings grow up?"

"Well, yes," Clara replied sheepishly causing Mr. Landon to burst out in laughter.

"Ha! That will be the day!" Mr. Landon got up from his chair, still chuckling while his wife scowled at him, although with a touch of fondness. "Right, I'm going to put the last touches on the wagon. Come along, Tom, your mother clearly has some explaining to do to Miss Corden." With that, both of the Landon males exited the kitchen, leaving Clara with Mrs. Landon.

"Miss Clara, I'm surprised at you," Mrs. Landon finally said. "You can't get rid of me that easily."

"I would never want to get rid of you!" Clara cried.

"Goodness child, you are on top form today. I know that, and your stepmother does, too. It's part of the reason why she was so upset this morning. A messenger from Lord Revanen came last night to inform us that he'd be happy to take us. He said something about being told of our predicament by Gardenia Hedgworth, you remember her I'm sure. However, I didn't tell your stepmother the news until this morning when I was serving her breakfast." By the end of her explanation, Mrs. Landon had a small smile pulling at the corner of her mouth.

It was then that Clara realized that she didn't know Mrs. Landon as well as she thought she did. She seemed to be enjoying the fact she was able to wind up Linette. Had all of Mrs. Landon's little "accidents" since Linette arrived been on purpose? Merely to get Linette's blood up? Looking at the woman across from her, Clara decided that it was a very likely probability.

She was just about to ask when the sound of little feet pounding down the hallway to the kitchen could be heard. Needless to say in full Harriet fashion, Harriet was leading the stampede and was followed swiftly by Amelia and slightly lagging James. Clara amusedly noted that they were all still in their sleepwear.