"Is he still asleep?" Colin asked, he found himself eating Lunch all by himself, "Yes...Young master seems to be sleeping at the moment." Gertrude replied, she was standing by the dinning table while nervously glancing at Colin from time to time.
Colin could see that Gertrude was uncomfortable around him for some reason so he decided to ask, "Is something wrong Miss Gertrude?"
"I've read your wife's column this morning..." She replied, "You stayed here last night, how did she know about the gun salute?"
"Do not worry, I asked Fabian for his permission to tell Penelope then sent her someone with the information, I asked her as well to keep her issue about the Struats as vague as possible." Colin replied.
"If young master was your friend, why haven't he met your wife yet, you could have brought her with you..." Gertrude questioned.
"I thought it would be for the best if Penelope and Fabian met under better circumstances than a funeral...not to mention our child is still quite attached to his mother, so she naturally prefered to stay with him." Colin replied.
"I see..."
Sighing, "Please sit with me Miss Gertrude, I would like to speak to you for a bit, this is about Fabian." Colin said so Gertrude went to sit across from Colin.
"What is it you wish to talk about Mister Bridgerton?"
"About the late Lord Stuart, Have you heard of the will?"
"Oh yes...I suppose since you asked, you know of it as well?"
Colin nodded, "I was with Fabian when that solicitor William Smith read the will." He said.
"I see... you're curious about the 'Wife condition'." Gertrude replied.
"So You know of that condition?" Colin asked.
"I know everything that goes on and went down in this house.
I know about the Will and I know that my late mistress was supportive of it." Gertrude replied.
"But I do not understand!"
"What is it?"
"The Will says that Fabian should find a suitable wife, a woman of means and from a respectable background, and she has to be of equal standing as the Struats, in short words, Wealthy.
But from what I have heard from Fabian, his aunt, your late lady...was a maid, a woman with no means and forgive me for saying this, but a woman from questionable background." Colin said, "Why would she pressure Fabian into marrying rich, if she herself was not rich before marrying the late Lord Stuart?" He asked.
Gertrude took a deep breath, "To balance things out...Young master is man with nothing to his name, same as his aunt, in order for the family title to continue to prosper, he must marry someone that would add prosperity and wealth to the family not the opposite, or the Struat title would be given to someone else." She explained.
Sighing, "Well Fabian says he would not mind a love match however he is convinced he cannot fall for any lady of the Ton." Colin said.
"She doesn't have to be necessarily of the Ton, even a foreigner would do." Gertrude replied.
"I told him that! But he believes a woman such as mentioned in the Will could only exist amongst the Ton!"
"You seem like you want him to find a wife desperately."
"I know I seem like a traitor but I wish for Fabian to be happy, I experienced happiness through my wife, I hope he does too..." Colin replied.
Gertrude studied his face, "You have something more to add, don't you?" She asked.
"I forgot how strong a woman's intuition is." Colin said, "Yes I do have something to say... however I wish it would remain between us for the moment."
"I have a duty to be loyal to my new master, keeping secrets is contradictory to that, and forgive me for saying this, but I don't trust you mister Bridgerton." Gertrude replied.
"Well for Fabian's sake you might have to Trust me."
"Sounds serious...fine, tell me."
"I think Fabian is charmed by someone already." Colin said.
Surprised, "Already? But they only met twice at a funeral nonetheless! Must be love at first sight just like the previous Lord and Lady." Gertrude said with hand over her lips.
Confused, "Um, what do you mean...?" Colin asked.
"What do you mean what I mean? You are speaking of Safa? Am i correct?" Gertrude said.
"How did you kn-?!"
"A woman's intuition, must I explain every time Mister Bridgerton?"
"This is beyond a woman's intuition!" Colin exclaimed, "Forgive my language but you are a bloody investigator!"
Laughing, "Haha! You flatter me young man, you should already know how clever women can be especially in matter of the heart, you yourself have a clever wife, don't you?" Gertrude replied.
"So, do you think Safa would make a good match for Fabian?"
"Well that depends on those two entirely!"
"You know Safa more than I do, even if it was a little, is there anything you could tell me about her?" Colin asked.
"Well nothing worth noting, as I already mentioned two days ago, she has changed, a lot I might add.
Although I did notice she became much more social, back when I first met her, there was only Wolfgang by her side.
But it Seems she is befriending more people, men especially...she has always been comfortable around them I suppose thanks to her father and brother, so maybe she could become comfortable around young master." Gertrude said.
"Apparently she already befriended Fabian as well, he still have yet to tell me what happened that day when she requested some privacy with him, but I believe it was a good thing because Fabian was in a better spirit by the time Safa left.
He already calls her 'Safa' and 'My friend'...And considering that my wife and I began as friends, this could be a good start...well except for the fact that Fabian told me Safa has expressed no desire to be wed and even told him to not consider her as a potential option...
I do not know how he stumbled upon such information, but noticing how honest Safa was the two times I met her, I can imagine she told Fabian herself that she does not plan to marry ever." Colin replied.
Surprised, "Oh my! Safa doesn't want to marry? At all?...oh poor young master...I hope his heart doesn't cling to her after all, his aunt would've love Safa to be Fabian's wife, but if she wishes to remain a single woman, then that is her choice." Gertrude said with a sad expression.
"Do not lose hope yet! people change their minds so very often, I thought I would never court Penelope and then I ended up marrying her.
Maybe if we help Safa and Fabian to find each other, they would marry eventually!
We should start by making them meet more often!" Colin replied with a smile.
But to his surprise, Gertrude frowned at him.
"If Safa doesn't wish to marry, she doesn't wish to marry, the end.
I don't plan on helping you in any scheme! As a woman who chose not to marry herself, I can't betray another woman's desire to be alone! You gentlemen all to ought to realize that some women are the happiest when unchained!" She said adamantly.
Baffled, "What are you talking about?!" Colin replied.
But Gertrude rose from her seat, "Excuse me, I should go and try again to wake young master, he should eat something." She said and hurried away, leaving a beyond confused Colin by himself in the dinning room.
...Meanwhile...
"The boys are late...do they know the table is set?" Clara asked.
"Maybe they fell asleep, they seemed rather exhausted earlier when they laid on the grass, especially James..." Safa replied.
"Do you think they're sleeping together? In the same bed! Hehe!" Clara giggled while blushing before she took another bite of her food, "Mmm!"
"You are a strange woman indeed, although I must say...Your personality reminds me a little of James, you two do share some qualities." Safa stated.
"You think me and James are similar?" Clara questioned.
"For starters, you are both perverse ." Safa said.
"WHAT?!" Clara shouted in disbelief, "Why the surprise? Do you not understand the word? Well perverse has many meaning but the one I mean is that you have weird sexual feti-!" Safa tried to explain but Clara immediately cut her off.
"STOP!" She said with a fully red face, "I know what the word means...I read more than James does...and I'm not perverse!"
"But you seem to physically enjoy the thought of two men together? That is perversion, is it not? Your face turns red and you start smiling too much, even fidgeting in your seat." Safa said genuinely.
Beyond embarrassed, "Uhh...I know you sometimes struggle to separate between your scientist self and your regular self, but this is...really embarrassing for me...So please stop." Clara replied.
"Well there is nothing to be embarrassed about, as long as you are not harming anyone, you should not feel ashamed of having a certain fetish...although may be it, a strange fetish like yours." Safa said.
"Safa! Please...just change the subject before I die of shame!" Clara pleaded.
Sighing, "As you wish." Safa replied, "What about we talk about your hobbies? Do you do anything when you are not working?" She asked.
"Oh! I read, I already mentioned that...James let me use the library as I wish." Clara replied.
"I suppose that is better than for that poor library to go to waste since he barely reads anything...so what do you like to read?" Safa asked.
"Mostly fiction, although I do enjoy reading memoirs...I found a memoir about a traveler once, he spoke of his travels in the sea...even though I never been in the sea before, as I read and with every word I almost felt like I was on board of a ship, heading somewhere far and mysterious, there was nothing around me but books yet I could imagine the sound of birds in my ears, the crashing of waves and the voices of sailors as they sang Their hearts out to the sky." Clara said, she carried a big smile on her face that Safa matched with a sadder one.
"I wish I can imagine the sea as delightfully as you do..." Safa replied.
"Do you not like the sea?" Clara asked.
"I do not...but I know two people who did..." Safa said frowning.
There was a pause of silence between them for a moment, before Safa suddenly smiled again, "Since you are a sea enthusiast, would you like to join me, to my own library? I have something there for you to read." Safa asked.
Nodding, "Sure!" Clara replied happily.
...Few minutes later...
Clara was standing on the ladder by one of the bookshelves, Safa was guiding her on where to find a certain book.
"That one right over there!" She pointed and Clara quickly retrieved the book, it seemed rather old compared to the rest of the books, its leather cover was dusty indicating that it hadn't been touched in a good long while.
Now back on the ground, Clara carried the book in her arms and sat next to Safa.
"So should I read out loud...or..." She asked.
"Do as you wish, i merely wish to see the look on your face as you read." Safa replied.
"Alright..." Clara opened the book, she was greeted by the first page next to the cover with a handwritten title that read 'My very short-lived travels by Bernie Dino.'
Clara giggled at the name, "Bernie Dino? That's the most adorable name I have ever heard!" She then continued examining the first page.
Aside from the title, there was something else written at the bottom of the page that intrigued Clara, 'To my dearest sister, Catalina."