She Loved a Poor Gardener—Then Discovered He Was the Heir to a Fortune
Chapter 11
Years passed.
The garden became Clara’s favorite place.
Thomas often found her there with a book.
One summer evening, she found him kneeling beside the old rosebush.
“You still prune it incorrectly.”
He looked up.
“I’ve been doing this for ten years.”
“And you’re still wrong.”
He laughed.
She crouched beside him.
The rosebush was enormous now.
Its branches climbed over the stone wall.
Thomas touched one flower.
“Do you remember when you first saw me?”
“Unfortunately.”
“Why unfortunately?”
“You were covered in mud.”
“I was a gardener.”
“You were pretending to be only a gardener.”
Thomas smiled.
“Not pretending.”
She looked at him.
“I believe you.”
He became quiet.
Then he said:
“Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if you had learned who I was on the first day.”
Clara considered.
“I might have been frightened.”
“Of me?”
“Of the fortune.”
Thomas nodded.
“That’s what I feared.”
She reached for his hand.
“But I met you first.”
“Yes.”
“And that mattered.”
He squeezed her fingers.
A messenger approached.
“Master Reed.”
Thomas turned.
“Yes?”
“There is a family waiting at the gate.”
“What family?”
“A widow and her three children.”
“What do they want?”
“Their farm was taken years ago.”
Thomas stood.
“Bring them inside.”
Clara smiled.
He looked at her.
“What?”
“You never changed.”
Thomas looked toward the gate.
“Neither did you.”
