Chapter 104

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 104
Chapter Title: The Hunting Party (7)
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“W-what is it?”

“I have something for you.”

Laura draped a shawl over her shoulders and walked to the door. When she opened it, Mr. Dalton was standing there in his tuxedo, not having changed after dinner. Laura became conscious of her own appearance—in her nightgown with her hair braided down loosely—and blushed.

In Mr. Dalton’s hands was a tray. On it sat a steaming bowl of soup, a small glass of wine, and cookies studded with almonds.

“You barely ate any dinner.”

“...Thank you.”

Laura took the tray and tried to close the door, but Mr. Dalton stopped it with a firm hand.

“Are you ill?”

“...”

“Please, tell me what's wrong. I’m so worried I can’t do anything.”

Laura’s heart pounded violently.

“I’m just tired. I’ll be fine after a night’s sleep. Please, leave.”

“I’ve worked you too hard. I’m sorry.”

She felt tears welling up. She squeezed her eyes shut.

“Why do you keep apologizing? You’ve done nothing wrong to me, Mr. Dalton.”

“You grant every request I make. You’re as kind and gentle as an angel. That’s why I wanted to rely on you for everything. It never occurred to me that it might be a burden for you.”

*A burden? On the contrary, being needed by you is a joy to me. I’m contemplating running away because I’m afraid of the day I’ll no longer be of use to you.*

The day she would no longer be of use to him. At the thought of it, a tear unconsciously rolled down her cheek.

Mr. Dalton’s expression hardened.

“Miss Pendleton!”

Laura quickly turned and went back into her room. She heard Mr. Dalton follow her inside.

Laura set the tray on a table and wiped her tears with her hand. She could feel Mr. Dalton standing vividly behind her.

“I want to rest. Please, go.”

“How can you ask me to leave when I see you crying?”

“It’s a problem you cannot solve, Mr. Dalton.”

“I can offer comfort.”

He took another step toward her.

“Please, talk to me. Tell me everything and lean on me. I, too...”

A certain anguish tinged his voice.

“I want to be of help to you, too. Someone you can always rely on and consult with. Someone whose absence would leave a great hole in the center of my life. A hole that nothing else could ever fill... That kind of person.”

His hand touched her shoulder.

“...Because even if I am not that person to you, you are that person to me.”

A chill ran down Laura’s spine. She felt a premonition. In his voice, in his touch.

*No. It can’t be.*

Laura denied her intuition. It was an absurd prediction, one that must not be true.

Laura wiped her face with her shawl. Then she took three steps forward.

“Being together like this in the middle of the night is improper. My reputation is already in tatters because of you, Mr. Dalton.”

“...What do you mean by that?”

“It’s only natural, acting as the lady of the house for a bachelor. I’ve been... mistaken for your mistress.”

A brief silence. Mr. Dalton's breathing seemed to stop.

“...Who said that?”

Laura shivered. His voice was as sharp and cold as an ice pick.

“Tell me.”

“And if I do?”

“I will shoot them.”

Laura spun around.

His face seemed calm at first glance, but his eyes burned dangerously, like those of a savage beast.

Laura spoke calmly.

“Let’s reflect on our own actions. Our friendship has been indiscreet and careless. Even if there are no ulterior motives between us, it’s understandable why outsiders might misunderstand.”

“...”

“Let’s get through this gathering without incident, and be more careful with each other afterward. I will no longer visit Whitefield. Your visits to Dunville Park are a proper show of affection for your nephew and sister, so I will be the one to take care. I’ll avoid you as much as possible, and we should refrain from being alone together even if we do meet.”

Laura finished her words resolutely, then walked to her dressing table and sat down. She began to unbraid her hair and brush it.

For a long while, only the sound of the brush moving through her hair filled the silence.

“...Plans are useless, it seems.”

He spun around and strode out of the room.

The door closed. Laura set down her brush. The tension left her, and her body went limp. She collapsed onto the dressing table.

*No. It can't be.*

Laura forced herself to ignore the premonition that had seized her.

*If that’s true, then Mr. Dalton has played the cruelest of jokes. It would make him thoughtless, cruel, and selfish. Mr. Dalton would never do such a thing.*

That night, after tossing and turning for a long time, Laura finally fell asleep after downing the wine Mr. Dalton had brought.

In her dream, Laura returned to her London days for the first time in a long while. The days when she was called a belle of society, a picnic in the countryside dressed in light, flowing clothes. A small path in the woods by the river. The cool summer breeze she had felt while sitting on a rock, poking the ground with her parasol. And Mr. Dalton, sitting beside her.

His intense gaze, fixed directly on her.

*‘I can imagine it. Mrs. Dalton willingly allowing you to live with us... Because if I were to marry, there would be no way for you not to live at Whitefield Hall, Miss Pendleton. Without that condition, my marriage would not happen, Miss Pendleton.’*

In her dream, she threw her arms around Ian. Holding him tightly to her chest, she cried out without hesitation.

*‘I feel the same, Mr. Dalton. I, too, cannot dream of marrying anyone but you!’*

***

The nobles and gentlemen, mad for the hunt, gathered at the hunting grounds from dawn. Due to the large number of people, they moved in six separate groups. These were alliances formed by family ties, and naturally, all the men were staking their pride on their hunting performance.

The most successful group was a party of young gentry. Each day, they returned with a considerable amount of spoils, impressing numerous ladies.

On the morning hunt of the third day, this party stunningly surpassed their achievements of the previous two days.

The newly joined Mr. Fairfax was a decent shot, but that was only a small help. The real reason was that Ian Dalton, the group’s de facto leader, was shooting like a man possessed.

Wherever he aimed, the squawk of game was invariably followed by the sound of something dropping to the ground. The members of the party all looked at Mr. Dalton with a mixture of admiration and awe. All except for his old friend, Mr. Fairfax.

On the way back to the manor after the hunt, Mr. Fairfax made sure the rest of the group was far behind before catching up to Mr. Dalton, who was walking ahead of him.

“Is something bothering you?”

“No.”

“Liar. The way you’re shooting, it looks like you’re killing animals because you can’t shoot a person. Did something happen with Miss Pendleton?”

Mr. Dalton frowned.

“Be quiet.”

*So I was right.*

“It’s your love life, so it’s not my place to interfere. Let’s talk about something else.”

Mr. Fairfax once again glanced around.

“The person who invested in the Pendleton family’s shipbuilding venture—it was you, wasn’t it?”

Instead of answering, Mr. Dalton quickly reloaded the rifle on his shoulder and fired at a branch of a fir tree to the right of the path.

With a flutter of wings, a bird tumbled into the undergrowth. At Mr. Dalton’s signal, a hunting dog that had been following them ran into the woods to retrieve the game.

“Hearing rumors of a massive capital investment, many other backers have appeared. What’s your plan?”

The hound ran back to its master with the catch in its mouth. Ian stroked the dog’s head once, then gestured toward the servants carrying the game. The well-trained hound ran in the direction its master had indicated.

“Are you asking because you, a businessman, don’t know?”

“I want to hear it from you directly.”

“I’ll pull the funds when construction is halfway complete. The business plan is a mess from the ground up, so finding fault will be easy enough.”

“...Are you really going to do it?”

“Yes. I am.”

He reloaded his rifle once more and pulled the trigger toward the thicket. Another bird fell.

“Stop it. You’re going to drive every animal on these grounds to extinction.”

“Don’t stop me. I’m barely restraining myself from shooting a person.”

“...Alright. I understand. I get it. But I have to say this. Think before you act. The Pendleton family’s lands were quartered long ago, and the income from that tiny patch of earth is all going to pay the interest on their children’s debts. If this venture fails, the Pendletons are finished. They’ll be out on the street.”

Mr. Dalton smiled coldly.

“What a pleasant prospect.”

“Would it be so pleasant for Miss Pendleton? What do you think she would say if she knew? What if she thinks you’re cruel?”

Mr. Dalton said nothing. Soon, the edge of the forest appeared, and they reached a wide plain. He shouldered his long rifle and took a silver cigarette case from his jacket’s breast pocket.

He offered the case to Mr. Fairfax. Mr. Fairfax took a cigarette and placed it between his lips. In return, he lit his friend’s cigarette.

“Loving her, I’ve discovered a side of myself I never knew.”

Mr. Dalton exhaled a plume of smoke. The whites of his eyes were red, the capillaries burst, likely from lack of sleep.

“Until now, I’ve always thought myself temperate in all things, be it desire or anger. It was all a delusion. I am thoroughly impulsive and cruel. I’m swayed by desire to a degree that makes a mockery of my religious upbringing.”

“All humans are.”

“You lost a love and overcame it well. After your proposal was rejected, you spent a few days hunting and shook it off. And then you became friends with the lady, as if it had all been a jest. But I can’t do that. Even if I spent ten years hunting every single day, I would never be able to forget her.”

“Then, why not stop this revenge against the Pendletons? It would be better to avoid the risk of losing her favor...”

“I cannot forgive the people who hurt her. If I lose her, then that is my fate. And I will not forgive myself for causing it.”

He looked up at the autumn sky, as clear as glass.

“The person I wanted to shoot today was myself.”

“...”

“I think I might lose her, William.”