Clementine Rose and the Famous Friend 7 Read Free

Lady Clarissa asked as she strained a large saucepan of vegetables.
    â€˜Is the writer lady having dinner with us?’ Clementine asked as she bundled up her pencils. She hadn’t seen Uncle Digby set the table in the dining room, which was where the guests usually ate their meals.
    â€˜No, darling. Miss Richardson has asked to have dinner taken up to her room,’ Lady Clarissa replied.
    â€˜She’s a bit ’sterious ,’ Clementine said.
    Aunt Violet walked down the back stairs into the kitchen at that moment.
    â€˜â€œMysterious” is the word you’re looking for, Clementine,’ she said as she strode over to the table. ‘You’re a big girl now. You need to start pronouncing your words correctly or I’ll enrol you in some elocution lessons.’
    Clementine stopped in her tracks. ‘Electrocution lessons! What’s that?’ Clementine’s mother and Uncle Digby had always told her to stay away from electricity because it was dangerous.
    Lady Clarissa and Uncle Digby laughed.
    â€˜Godfathers, Clementine. Elocution, not electrocution. It means learning how to speak properly. Given you’re so fond of all those silly poems Pertwhistle insists on teaching you, it would be a very good idea,’ said Aunt Violet.
    Clementine sighed with relief.
    â€˜Aunt Violet, that’s a lovely thought but I’m afraid my budget won’t stretch to soccer, ballet and elocution at the moment. Why don’t you teach Clementine? I’m sure she’d enjoy learning some more poems from you as well,’ Lady Clarissa teased.
    â€˜Clarissa, I’m no teacher and thank heavens for that,’ Aunt Violet said with a shudder. ‘You should hear some of the horrendous tales Mrs Bottomley has shared with me. No, Pertwhistle can keep instructing her and I’ll just correct them when necessary.’
    â€˜Of course she will,’ Uncle Digby whispered. He gave Clementine a wink and she smothered a giggle.
    Clementine was trying to imagine Aunt Violet standing out the front of her class. She shivered just thinking about it.
    â€˜Oh, Clarissa.’ Uncle Digby turned from where he was stirring a pot on the stove. ‘I’ve just remembered that we’re low on candles in the dining room. We’ll need them for Friday night. You might want to add them to the shopping list.’
    â€˜Thanks, Uncle Digby,’ said Clarissa. ‘I think we’re almost out of chocolates too.’ She wiped her hands on her apron and dashed over to the sideboard to add the items to her never-ending shopping list.
    â€˜Do you think I could tell the guests one of my poems at the special dinner?’ Clementine asked.
    â€˜Let’s just see how things go,’ Lady Clarissa replied. ‘Not everyone appreciates your poems as much as Granny and Grandpa and Uncle Digby and I do.’
    â€˜What special dinner?’ Aunt Violet asked.
    â€˜Aunt Violet, you remember that Uncle Digby suggested we offer a dining package with the family as part of a weekend stay?’ Lady Clarissa reminded the woman.
    â€˜No! That sounds perfectly ghastly.’
    â€˜You were there, Aunt Violet. You groaned about it when Mummy told you and you said that you’d rather eat in the kitchen with Lavender and Pharaoh than have to entertain any silly guests,’ Clementine said.
    Aunt Violet huffed. ‘Well, what of it?’
    â€˜We’re having our first dinner this week,’ Lady Clarissa explained as she drained and mashed the potatoes.
    The old woman put the back of her handon her forehead. ‘I think I can feel a fever coming on.’
    â€˜Oh no, Aunt Violet, I don’t think so,’ Clarissa chided. ‘I need you to be there.’
    Aunt Violet sighed. ‘And what do I get out of it?’
    â€˜A lovely dinner and the pleasure of our company,’ Lady Clarissa said with a grin.
    â€˜And maybe a poem too,’ Clementine said with