The Somerton Man

Father and Daughter

When Eleanor finally descended the stairs, she found the dark haired young woman she assumed was Clara, standing in the hall, giving orders about having her belongings brought in from the carriage to the servants, who had been caught of guard as much as Eleanor had been, and looked uncertain what they should do.

Clara now glanced round, and caught sight of Eleanor, as she was half way down the stairs, and now appraised her warily up and down with narrowed eyes

But it was the chubby middle aged woman who had been the other female who had descended from the carriage, who now approached Eleanor first, at the bottom of the stairs, looking flustered and apologetic

"I can see we have caused a bit of a flurry arriving earlier than we were suppose to" she then said, "We were meant to stop overnight at a respectable establishment but Clara was just so eager to be here she would not listen to reason, she even threaten to drive here on the carriage by herself if we refused to keep going" she finished shooting her young companion a darkening frown of disapproval "She is so wayward, sometimes there is no controlling her, that is why her Grandfather felt she would be better here with her father"

"I-I see" was Eleanor's only reply, still trying to take it all in

"Oh, I should introduce myself, I am Miss Tarlington, Clara's Governess and companion, I take it you must be the lady of the house, Clara's step mother?" she held out her hand in greeting

"Yes, I am, but forgive me, your sudden arrival has taken me by surprise. I was not expecting you for a few days yet, though we have rooms prepared for you" Eleanor replied gathering her wits together to now briefly shake her hand

"Where is my father?" Clara now demanded, finally turning her attention on Eleanor

"I am afraid he is not here right now," Eleanor replied, looking at Martha and the other servants standing around, hoping they might know of his whereabouts. But it appeared they were none the wiser, as she was just greeted with shrugs, or blank stares.

Turning her attention back to Clara, she continued, "I am afraid he left rather early this morning, so I am not sure where he is at the moment, to even try to send someone to fetch him" she admitted apologetically, "But I am sure if he had known you would be arriving today, he would have made sure to be here to welcome you" she then tried to sooth her

"You see!" this is what comes of your impetuous behaviour, throwing everyone in a tizzy, I don't know what your father will think when he comes back and finds out" Miss Tarlington now turned to scold Clara

But Clara remained unrepentant, and instead she now turned her attention back to Eleanor with a rather strange glint in her eye "Do you think my father will be happy to have me home? It's been such a long time since we have seen each other. Has he been looking forward to having me with him again? No doubt he will probably be delighted that I caused such a ruckus, because I couldn't wait to see him again after all this time?"

Eleanor did not miss the hint of mockery in the young woman's voice. It made her shift uncomfortably, recalling Daniel's reaction to the news of his daughter coming to live again at Somerton Manor. It seemed Clara apparently felt the neglect of attention from her father over the years. Much to Eleanor's dismay she was realising this was not going to be a happy reunion from both sides, and she would be the one caught in the middle of it

"Well, he will certainly be surprise to find you have arrived earlier than expected" Eleanor finally decided to reply diplomatically, "and as for myself, I have been busy getting things prepared for your arrival, and so looking forward to meeting you at last, so perhaps you would like to see your room and get settled in" she added in what she hoped was a brighter note wanting her to feel some kind of welcome