Clementine Rose and the Surprise Visitor 1 Read Online Free

a closer look. She’d never seen a sphynx before.
    ‘I suppose I have to show myself inside then, do I, seeing that niece of mine has vanished,’ Violet tutted.
    ‘I can take you.’ Clementine walked beside the woman. ‘And I’m sorry about what I said, Aunt Violet. I didn’t recognise you. You’re much older than the lady on the wall near Grandpa.’
    ‘Don’t apologise,’ said Violet tartly. ‘In my experience most people don’t usually mean it when they say sorry, and as you’re just a child, I don’t imagine that you ever mean it.’
    Violet strode into the hall, leaving Clementine on the front steps wondering what she had meant. Clementine was sorry. She didn’t know why Aunt Violet didn’t believe her.

C lementine Rose called Lavender to come inside. As soon as she heard her name the little pig ran towards her and the two of them headed off to find her mother.
    ‘Hello Uncle Digby,’ Clementine said, as she almost bumped into him. He just managed to steady the tea tray he was carrying.
    ‘Ooh, ooh, careful, Clementine. Good afternoon, Lavender. Your mother tells me Aunt Violet has arrived a day early. I’m afraid it’s not a surprise. She never was very reliable. Have you met her yet?’ the old man asked.
    ‘Yes, just a little while ago. I think I said the wrong thing,’ Clementine said with a worried frown.
    ‘My dear girl, no one ever says the right thing to that woman,’ the butler said with a smile. ‘But don’t worry. We haven’t seen her in years and I suspect that as soon as she’s upset your mother to her satisfaction, she’ll be off and we won’t see her again for another ten years. I’d best get this tea to the guests in the front sitting room. Your mother is in the kitchen.’
    ‘She’s got a sphynx,’ Clementine informed him.
    Digby frowned. He looked at Clementine patiently and waited for her to explain further.
    ‘It’s in a bag and it hissed at me,’ Clementine said. ‘I hope it’s not dangerous.’
    Digby hoped so too.
    Clementine skipped off to the kitchen with Lavender tripping along behind her. Lady Clarissa was pulling teacups and their matching saucers down from the dresser.
    ‘Hello Mummy,’ the child said as she and Lavender entered the room. ‘Where’s Aunt Violet?’
    ‘Upstairs.’ Clarissa turned and Clementine noticed she was frowning. ‘I had planned to put her in the Blue Room on the third floor but she insisted on having the Rose Room on the second with the bathroom attached. I’d kept that for the guests arriving this evening. I can’t possibly charge the same rate for the other room. It’s much smaller and not nearly as nice.’ She bit her lip. ‘And now the guests will have to share their bathroom, which they specifically asked not to.’
    ‘Mummy, why don’t you like Aunt Violet?’ Clementine Rose asked as she pulled out a chair and sat at the kitchen table. Lavender lay down underneath and settled in for a snooze.
    ‘It’s a very long story but she was horrible to Grandpa and to me.’
    ‘What about?’ Clementine asked.
    ‘Money,’ her mother replied as she fetched the teapot from the stove.
    ‘But we don’t have any, so we don’t have to worry about it,’ Clementine said. She’d heard her mother say that to Uncle Digby lots of times.
    Clarissa laughed. ‘Yes, and I suppose that’s the problem. Aunt Violet and your grandfather fought about money. You see, he inherited Penberthy House from his parents and Aunt Violet got a small allowance and nothing more.’
    ‘But why didn’t she get the house too?’ Clementine asked.
    ‘That’s just how things worked then, I’m afraid. The eldest son got the house. But Grandpa and Aunt Violet had been very close when they were children and he always felt badly about it too, so over the years he gave Aunt Violet as much as he could. He even bought her a cottage so she’d have a home but Aunt Violet sold everything to pay for her expensive clothes and holidays.’
    Clementine